What Filmmaking Taught Me About Business

Leadership, patience, vision, collaboration — all through the lens of a director turned entrepreneur

Running a business is a lot like directing a film.
You’re balancing creative instincts with practical constraints. You’re managing people, time, budget, and vision — and trying to make something that moves people.

As a filmmaker, I learned how to tell stories. As a business owner, I’ve learned how to make those stories matter.

And the two worlds aren’t that far apart.

On set, leadership means clarity. People don’t need you to have every answer, but they need you to see the bigger picture. To be calm when things fall apart. To trust the process even when the monitor looks rough. In business, I’ve learned that same kind of steady direction builds real trust — with clients, collaborators, and teams.

Patience is another silent skill both worlds demand. In production, you’re always waiting — for light setups, for talent, for render times. And in business? You wait for the right client to call back, the right moment to scale, the right idea to hit. Filmmaking taught me that even when things feel stalled, momentum is building underneath. Stay ready.

Vision is where everything begins. In film, it starts with a feeling — a mood, a frame, a line of dialogue — and you chase it until it’s real. In business, vision becomes your north star. It’s not always tangible, but when you hold onto it, it shapes how you hire, how you pitch, how you grow. A clear vision is magnetic.

Collaboration is the engine. No great film is made alone, and no business scales in a silo. As a director, your job is to bring out the best in your crew. As a founder, your job is the same — build a team that elevates the work. Trust people who see what you can’t. Empower them. Let the final product be greater than the sum of your control.

And through it all — the story matters. Whether I’m behind the camera or behind a sales pitch, story is the tool that cuts through the noise. It connects, it persuades, it lasts. Filmmaking taught me to care about what people feel. Business taught me to make that feeling actionable.

So no — filmmaking and business aren’t separate lives. They’re the same craft, just lit differently.

One is framed in 2.35:1.
The other is built in real time.
But they both demand vision, resilience, and a deep respect for the people you build with.

That’s the real story. And I’m still directing it.