Listener Strikes Gold w/‘The Travel Companion’ from Travis Wood & Alex Mallis - Just Shoot It 520

Travis Wood & Alex Mallis are living the director’s dream! Their feature film "The Travel Companion" https://thetravelcompanionfilm.com/ premiered at Tribeca, they have distribution through Oscilloscope, and they’re touring theaters across the country. And now they're on to the next big thing, and this time the goal is to make one dollar on their next film.

And that’s how they start chatting with Matt and Oren about the importance of the metrics and ruler you choose to value yourself. And why that is so important as a filmmaker today.

Ten years ago, there were a lot more outlets looking for films. But if you were around then, you probably remember hearing the same thing about the market ten years before that! Fast-forward to eight years ago, and picture this – that’s the day Travis wrote an email to Oren, hoping to connect and pick his brain about how to get directing opportunities in LA.

Since then, Travis landed a Vimeo staff pick under their belt. And they took an idea they hatched at a film festival and turned it into a feature. But it was far from easy. And man, did they learn a lot about finding financiers, writing dialogue that sounds real, and how to keep having fun through the long years of waiting for people to respond and money to come in.

And Matt really keys in on the advice they have on how to keep control over your filmmaking process, even when everything seems like it’s dependent on others. This is an uplifting episode with a lot of great practical tips and ways to go about your filmmaking process in 2026!

Help Matt's film: https://wefunder.com/badfeeling

Help our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/JustShootItPod

Matt's Endorsement: Kurosawa's "High and Low" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057565/

Oren's Endorsement: The 12-liter dog poop trash can is the ideal size

Travis's Endorsement: Chip's Ahoy Cookies

Aaron's Endorsement: "Teddy Out of Tune" https://www.teddyoutoftune.com/ is re-releasing on Blu-ray

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