Building a career in film can feel pretty lonely.
Whether you’re rostered by a big-time production company or you’re cutting your teeth on spec ads, chances are you’re probably having days where you feel alone and confused about your path.
There may be podcasts, courses, and the occasional one-off coffee meetings available to you, but when you’re facing the existential anxiety of generative AI or you’re getting devoured by fear of failure or you don’t know how to break the glass ceiling on the next tier of work, those resources just aren’t going to cut it.
We need something different.
Introducing (+ogether)
(+ogether) is an innovative group learning experience for filmmakers, blending the emotional benefits of self-disclosure and unconditional acceptance with the synergistic power of collaborative ideation and feedback.
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How does it work?
After joining (+ogether), you’ll be placed in a carefully selected cohort 0f 6-8 peers within your discipline. (+ogether) cohorts operate on a 16-week commitment cycle, consisting of 8 bi-weekly 2-hour video call sessions.
This cohort size and length of time are intentional, creating an atmosphere of intimacy, diversity, and consistency while giving the group enough runway to build connection and really unlock the full potential of the relationships.
Here, learning is not confined to the front of the room or a prescribed curriculum. Instead, it emerges organically from the dynamic interactions, discussions, and shared experiences of our diverse community.
Your cohort will be fully maintained and moderated by a (+ogether) facilitator. The facilitator will take care of organizing session scheduling and structure, equipping group members with communication tools like active listening and concise feedback, and provoking and prompting discussion where needed to empower the group to reap the maximum reward for its effort.
What to expect
from a session
During a typical session, each member will use a set time slot to communicate their most pressing need or question to the other cohort members. After listening, the group collectively works together to ask clarifying questions, offer feedback, ideate, and empower the individual to approach their obstacle in a new way. Every cohort member will have the opportunity to share and receive in every single session.
Sometimes, that need may be extremely practical like getting some know-how on directing a challenging actor or lighting a set for a niche look. Other times, that need may be more abstracted, like receiving encouragement after a particularly crushing pitch rejection or even just sharing what’s on your mind to a room full of people who care.
During the period between sessions, the (+ogether) facilitator will send out a preparation worksheet for each member to thoughtfully work through. This exercise is designed to help each member reflect, identify, and define their greatest need or question of the moment in a focused and concise manner ahead of the next session.
The success of the group will largely depend on each person’s two-way involvement—both in asking for and in giving help.
For now, (+ogether) exists specifically for people working in the role of Director or DP.
In your cohorts, you’ll always be partnered with people within your discipline - directors with directors, DPs with DPs. This is to ensure you’re building relationships with others who can uniquely share in your challenges, celebrate your wins, and understand your journey.
Meet your facilitator
My name is Bram VanderMark, and I work as a freelance director. As I’ve navigated my own path in filmmaking, I’ve faced many moments of discouragement, confusion, and frustration. I often felt alone in this experience, and tended to assume that other people must be having an easier time than me. As I began to expand my relationships in the industry, I was surprised and saddened to learn that nearly everyone regularly shares in these experiences of loneliness and confusion.
With (+ogether), I want to help change that.
I believe that there is profound power in group dynamics when people openly share with others, challenge themselves, and build trust through mutual vulnerability and acceptance. I obsessively study methods and tools that can be implemented socially to create this kind of environment and I love to test them out in my directing, events, and personal relationships.
I’m thrilled to work as a connector, an unlocker, and an enabler for you as you participate in these group cohorts. I commit to bringing a high level of structure, clarity, and commitment to guide your groups through this process in order to help you utilize the greatest tool you have at your disposal…
Each other.
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How do you join?
Membership to (+ogether) requires four monthly installments of $250 for the duration of each 16-week cohort. This comes out to about $50 / week.
As a member, you’ll receive:
- Access to a diverse and vetted pool of film industry peers, along with their connections, experiences, and insights
- Consistent and committed time on the calendar to actively engage with your cohort in group sharing, ideation, and connection
- Accelerated and long-lasting learning through a personalized, grounded, and highly engaging education process
- Transformative opportunities to understand yourself in new ways as you navigate group dynamics and practice thoughtful and effective communication
- Financial return in proactively preventing or resolving costly mistakes on-set and in a production, without having to learn the hard way
- Weekly or daily follow ups and reflection prompts from the (+ogether) facilitator to encourage sustained action and engagement between sessions
- Freedom from the headache and burden of back-end work required for the organization and management of a group