Alex: Here are two pieces of advice because I’ve always been bad about having to “choose one” :)

The first is something Director Barry Jenkins said, “find people you care about, who care about you…and build horizontally.” Stop stressing so much about “networking” and invest in people who can help you create right now. It’s what I wish I would’ve heard more of growing up because as artists, we’re constantly straddling the line between creativity and business—this idea that we have to sell ourselves or our work in a certain way to “make it”. And while that is necessary to some extent, I think nurturing your community of other creatives who have a similar drive, collaborative style, and generosity towards the work that you do is the most important thing when starting out.

And the second piece of advice is to do one thing everyday that reminds you who you are. In the entertainment industry, so many things are out of our control—most things really—so by doing one tangible thing everyday (doesn’t have to take long!) that reminds me I’m an actor/writer/producer etc.—anything from writing for 15 minutes to updating my materials or digging into work by artists I’d love to collaborate with—I’m able to take back a small piece of my agency and take steps towards my goals.

Molly: For our projects it always began with the script. For two of our short films, Infinity Girls and In The Dark, Al and Eden had been working on them for years before we’d even met, so the idea was already really solid. With Sugar, we created and wrote the script together which was an incredibly fun and collaborative process. It’s important to be flexible with the script, it’s constantly evolving as you allow new creative ideas to inform it. Pre-production for a short will take a few months minimum—the first step is drawing up a budget and then figuring out where you’ll get that money from. During this period you’ll location scout, hire your crew, and audition the cast, while the cinematographer and director will create a shot list. It’s a lot of spreadsheets and emails, which I weirdly really enjoy.

Once shooting begins, that’s the really exciting part. The months of lead up are finally realised and you have all your wonderful crew and cast together on set making the film. It’s long days, battling the elements, and there will be bumps in the road—but it’s magical.

Once production has wrapped you move into post-production. Here you work with the editor and basically make the film all over again. Eden describes it as shooting the film is where you create the hunk of marble and in the edit is when you carve it out. You work with composers to create the score, it goes through sound design, sound mixing and color grading before you have the final film. Each element is an integral piece of the puzzle.

Eden: The thing about passion projects is that they are born of pure desire. When you endeavor to make them happen, you’re not appeasing a boss or phoning it in for a paycheck, or hitting someone else’s deadline—you’re satisfying a deep and urgent desire within yourself, an itch only you can scratch. So the work isn’t a means to an end but an end in itself.

I find that the work on an independent film is often joyful, even if it’s demanding. When I’m working on a project I’m excited about and inspired by, I can lose myself happily in it for hours. I’m invigorated by the work; that’s not to say it isn’t rigorous or challenging at times, but it has a replenishing effect on my internal well of energy rather than a depleting one.

It’s all the other stuff I need to push through: errands, chores, my day job. But even these tasks become more bearable when I’m working on something I love. It’s the bright spot. At this point, I’m grateful I get to tell stories that matter to me. Before we started producing films together, I’d spent years in New York feeling aimless, always at the mercy of someone else’s yes or no. It feels empowering to know you don’t need anyone else’s permission to be an artist.