May 27, 2026 • 28 mins
Check out our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE!
This platform brings together all of From the Heart’s Courses, Classes, Services and Resources in one convenient central hub.
Learn more and sign up at https://fromtheheartproductions.thrivecart.com/from-the-heart-thrive/
Use Coupon Code AFFPOD10 for 10% anything in the platform.
Today, we’re talking about the next evolution of that mission: From the Heart THRIVE — a new educational and membership platform designed specifically to help independent filmmakers grow, connect, and succeed in today’s rapidly changing industry.
Adam Heyes is a multidisciplinary creative and business developer, working primarily with independent filmmakers. Adam serves as Director of Development at From the Heart Productions, and has been working with the company since 2012.
He helps the organization in many way, and supports our clients with pitch decks, design, editing, film and event production, website development, marketing, crowdfunding course design, and fundraising. Adam manages several programs for From the Heart Clients including our LargoAI reports and our Grant Advance donor research system. He designed our updated website and Fiscal Sponsorship Dashboard, and now our new educational platform From the Heart THRIVE
As a producer, Adam is attached to multiple projects in development and release, including the forthcoming documentary I Believe You, and the feature film When the Voiceless Roar. Adam currently also currently serves as President of a new company called IndieHeart, which provides AI based services and proprietary platforms specifically designed for independent filmmakers.
Adam graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA’s Honors Program with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Human Complex Systems, and holds a Master’s Degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_01 (01:17):
So glad you could join us here on the Art of Film
Funding podcast.
I'm Claire Papan with myco-producer Carol Dean.
Today we're diving intosomething very exciting for
independent filmmakerseverywhere.
For more than three decades, Romthe Heart Productions has been
dedicated to helping filmmakersbring meaningful stories into
(01:41):
the world, supporting artistsnot only creatively, but also
through physical sponsorship,fundraising guidance, education,
and community.
Today we're talking about thenext evolution of that mission
from the Heart to Thrive, a neweducational and membership
(02:03):
platform designed specificallyto help independent filmmakers
grow, connect, and succeed intoday's rapidly changing
industry.
Joining us today is Adam Hayes,Director of Development at From
the Heart Productions.
Adam has been an integral partof the organization since 2012,
(02:27):
helping filmmakers witheverything from fundraising
strategy and pitch deck towebsite development, AI tools,
crowdfunding education, andinnovative systems that support
independent projects with filmworldwide.
Adam graduated at Uma Kum Laudiand Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA's
(02:52):
honors program with a degree inpsychology and a minor in human
complex systems and also holds amaster's degree in spiritual
psychology from the Universityof Santa Monica.
He currently serves as presidentof Indie Heart, a company
focused on AI-driven tools andservices for independent
(03:17):
filmmakers.
Today Adam is going to share whyFrom the Heart Thrive was
created.
What makes it different fromother filmmaking communities and
online courses, and howfilmmakers can access powerful
new educational resources,mentorship, and support systems
(03:39):
designed to help them trulythrive creatively and
financially.
We'll also talk about thedifferent membership levels,
exciting new classes,opportunities for filmmakers to
get involved, and a specialdiscount code exclusively for
our podcast listeners.
Carol, both you and Adam havebeen working on this new
(04:01):
educational platform for over ayear now, right?
Yes, Claire.
SPEAKER_02 (04:06):
It's taken that long to upload hundreds of
educational classes.
Thank you, Adam, for joining us.
SPEAKER_00 (04:14):
Thank you so much for having me here.
I'm really grateful that afterthis year of working on this, so
we can finally now share it withthe world.
It's really exciting.
SPEAKER_02 (04:23):
Yes, I know.
Well, let's start with why wechose to build a platform on
Thrivecart.
SPEAKER_00 (04:31):
We've had just so many different offerings over
the years and classes andcourses and all of our different
resources, like Largo and GrantAdvance, your mentorship and
counseling programs, consultingprograms, all in different
places.
Some is on social media, some onthe YouTube, all in kind of
different systems.
(04:52):
And we wanted to create acentralized ecosystem, a central
hub where everything can live.
Where when you sign up once andyou learn the system once, then
you can explore every offeringthat we have in one place.
It's you know, one customerservice email, it's all through
the same processing system.
(05:12):
You get your profile and youraccount so that every class that
you're enrolled for, everyservice that you sign up for,
everything is organized andeasily accessible in the same
place.
And we've been talking about anddreaming for years of creating a
film school, and this is reallythe framework for it and the
(05:33):
beginning of that, and it's onlygoing to expand more and more.
We reviewed a lot of differentplatforms and we found that
Thrivecart both had the mostcustomization in terms of what
we could do with design, theofferings that we could have,
and you know, a very highceiling that it had room to
grow, but that it was also veryuser-friendly and accessible for
(05:55):
our filmmakers.
SPEAKER_02 (05:57):
Absolutely right.
And you designed every one ofthe pages.
We have so many pages on there,uh, of and mostly it's
educational.
It's all built around how tofund your film and how to
survive in the film industrywhile you fund your film.
So let's talk about um the factthat a lot of filmmakers
(06:22):
struggle with the feeling ofisolation or feel overwhelmed
when they're making a film.
So, how does Thrive helpcreators stay motivated and
connected?
SPEAKER_00 (06:35):
Absolutely.
I mean, a lot of our classes andofferings are really designed
exactly for that and just havingthis one central system where
people can feel they're a partof from the heart.
They're learning, you know, ourmaterials and our philosophy,
connecting with other members ofour community.
And then more and more we'reoffering classes that really
(06:56):
create that sense of community,the learn producing classes, you
know, people taking thattogether, taking these live
classes together.
With the launch of Thrivecart,we're also launching a filmmaker
accountability group for ourcreator and visionary plan
members.
So that's going to be, you know,people connecting every two
weeks, two weeks to talk aboutand share their projects and
(07:18):
developing those longer-termongoing relationships.
And then groups that we'restarting, like the Quantum
Achiever Mastermind Group forthe Visionary Plan, we'll talk
about more is the same thing.
It's these very close-knitcircles of filmmakers
connecting, working together,you know, the pitch me class,
they're sharing their pitch witheach other, they're getting
(07:39):
feedback with each other.
So it's not just one-waycommunication.
They're able to connect with youand with these expert
instructors and receive thisincredible education, but
they're also able to connectwith each other, give and
receive feedback with eachother, support each other's
projects, have accountabilityand grow together over time.
(08:00):
And we think that's that'sreally important.
Um, that sense of community,it's going to foster success for
everyone's projects to be ableto participate and support each
other.
And we really think thisplatform allows that in a whole
new way.
SPEAKER_02 (08:16):
You know, Adam, I see this all the time when I'm
teaching a class.
There's an old saying that says,when the teacher uh well, the
teacher ends up learning fromthe students.
Right.
For sure.
This uh is wonderful becausewhen students or people taking
(08:36):
classes begin to talk to eachother about things they're
experiencing, good and bad, andhow they overcome them or how
they succeed, it benefits all ofus.
So having being in a group, Ithink, far associating with
other filmmakers so that you cantalk about your situation in the
(08:57):
film world is really important.
That makes it so easy for you togrow and achieve your goals.
So um let's talk about whatfilmmakers get for free when
they join the starter plan.
SPEAKER_00 (09:13):
So this was really important.
Um, especially you were veryadamant about this, Carol, that
we provide a tremendous amountof free content for people
signing up.
It's not just a reason to getpeople into the system and then
try to get them to buy thecourses.
We want people to be able to usethis platform and be able to
have a tremendous amount ofvalue from it, even if they
(09:34):
decide not to purchase orupgrade later on.
So just for joining theplatform, um, filmmakers are
going to get access to severaldifferent classes.
They're gonna get the entireFilm Funding Insider series, uh,
which is a video series that youdid, Carol, which is kind of
quick but very focused and veryrich in information, deep dives
(09:57):
into a couple different topics.
So it covers the art of thepitch, um, developing your log
lines, film financing for indiefilms, and sticky stories.
So, you know, we're reallyexcited about this offering
because it's it's it's verycondensed and action-packed.
It's like if you want to get themost information in the shortest
(10:18):
amount of time, this is this isthe best place to start.
This is a great crash course toget started with.
So everyone, you know, just forsigning up, you get that for
free.
We're also giving five freeclasses from the Everything You
Wanted to Know About FilmFunding series.
Uh, these classes cover Houseand Zoom fundraising parties,
how to crowdfund your film, filmfunding, uh, how to find film
(10:41):
funding and distribution, how tosave money when you're editing
your film, and then getting themost out of film festivals.
I don't know if you wanted toshare any more about those
specific classes, Carol, butit's a really fantastic series.
SPEAKER_02 (10:54):
Yes, I'm really proud of this because these this
is a big a basis.
People really need all of this.
The starting out with the fiveuh films I did uh with the
gentleman here uh lives inOxnard, uh, and he's from
Bulgaria.
He's a writer, director, abrilliant guy.
(11:15):
So he helped me make those uhclasses because with all the
years I've been in the filmindustry, I just needed to get
some basics across so that youhave a platform to work from.
And and I'm sharing what I'velearned over these years and
what's current now, because inour industry, it's like you're
(11:40):
standing in a river.
It's never the same day afterday, it's always changing.
But most of the things thatwe've got here in the free
classes are the basics that youneed in the film world.
Uh so I love uh house parties.
(12:00):
Fundraising house parties are awonderful way to keep yourself
in money while you're making thefilm.
And it can start with somethingas easy as Mindy Popper did this
20 years ago when she was makingher film.
She would call all her friendsand say, come over for a
(12:22):
spaghetti and salad and Frenchbread dinner because I need some
cash.
I'm making a film.
So it's$50 for the night andjoin me.
And she would bring in 10people, 12 people, talk about
her film, show the uh work she'ddone so far, and walk away with
(12:44):
some cash to keep her going.
That's the minimum.
Uh then we get into real partieswhere you can go from, I've seen
people raise between 3,000 toaround 15,000 uh in your home or
in someone else's home.
And then for the high flyers,one of our sponsored filmmakers
(13:06):
raised 600,000 in one night.
That's because she has some verywealthy friends.
So it all depends on the amountof money that the people you're
inviting have.
But summers here, springtime,fall, this is all a good time
for house parties.
(13:27):
But then uh also we have theother classes, the learn
producing classes.
So why don't you cover some ofthose, Adam?
SPEAKER_00 (13:36):
Yeah, so everyone that signs up uh for the free
plan is gonna get access toseven classes.
We have pitching high net worthindividuals with Kara
Williamson, uh film tactics andtechniques with Udi Epstein,
Mastering Trailers with MichaelTorres, who's a phenomenal
trailer editor, budgeting withJonathan M.
(13:56):
Smith, who most of you know fromour Learn Producing classes,
legal with Robert Siegel, ourentertainment attorney and one
of the top entertainmentattorneys in the in the
industry.
Uh, how to monetize your film uhwebsite.
I actually taught that class.
And we also have smart marketingstrategies with Bobby Martis,
who's a who's a student favoritefor sure.
(14:19):
Um top of the oh yeah, go ahead.
SPEAKER_02 (14:22):
He's a stand-up comedian.
That's how we make money uhstarting out, and uh he's doing
a documentary now called SideHustle about um what we all do
in the film industry to uh eatto pay our rent.
Uh we the jobs we take as a sidehustle, Adam.
(14:44):
So uh he's a great teacher.
SPEAKER_00 (14:47):
Excellent.
And on top of those seven freeclasses, there's also, I
believe, 19 free mini lessons,which are highlights, excerpts
from the Learn Producing class,just a quick deep dive and tip
videos about specific subjects,either from Carol or from one of
the guest instructors.
So those are all free foreveryone.
(15:08):
Um on top of that, if you're anewsletter subscriber, um, you
get a copy of the ebookPerfecting Your Pitch and
Proposal for free.
You'll see a little box just tocheck that says you're a
newsletter subscriber, andthat'll add it to your account.
And if you've ever applied forthe Roy W.
Dean grant at any point, you cancheck that box and you'll get a
(15:29):
copy of the Art of Manifestingaudiobook.
Um if you're a fiscallysponsored filmmaker, you get
quite a bit more.
Um you get access to the How toFund Your Film course, which you
and I made together years ago,Carol, but it it still really
holds up.
That's a nearly three-hourcourse with almost 300
PowerPoint slides.
(15:50):
It's one of the most in-depthcourses that we've ever done,
and that's really everythingthat you need to know of the
foundations of film funder inthat course.
So that's free for all fiscallysponsored filmmakers.
Um, they get an additional fiveLearn Producing classes, and you
also get access to our ongoingfilm funding guidance class and
pitch me class.
(16:11):
This has always been how we'vedone it, but now we've uh we've
set up all these classes inThrivecard.
So all you need to do is sign uponce, and then you get the
reminders, you get the classinformation, you get full access
to everything the fiscallysponsored filmmakers get.
And when you sign up, you alsoget a discount code that's good
for 15% off any future purchasesfor basically everything in
(16:33):
Thrivecard.
SPEAKER_02 (16:34):
Wow, that's marvelous.
Thank you.
So now let's get into thedifference between the starter,
uh, creator and uh visionarymembers levels.
SPEAKER_00 (16:45):
Yeah, absolutely.
Um, so people are more thanwelcome to sign up for free, and
there's plenty to to deep diveon and to learn, even just with
the film uh the free plan.
And we wanted to give people astarting base um, you know, that
they could build from, that theycould learn a lot, and then if
(17:06):
they want to go deeper, then wehave a lot more available.
And we created two levels ofpremium tier subscriptions.
These are monthly subscriptionplans.
Um, the next level up is thecreator plan, which is 28 a
month, and you get a discount ifyou subscribe annually as well.
This is gonna give you access totwo brand new classes that we're
(17:29):
gonna be starting very, verysoon, which is the Filmmaker
Accountability Circle.
Um, we mentioned earlier theseare gonna be twice a month
check-ins with filmmakers totalk about your crowdfunding,
about your pitching, yourproduction, wherever you are,
whatever you need support with.
This is gonna be support fromCarol Dean and from your
(17:50):
community as well, from otherFrom the Heart filmmakers to
stay on top of it and you know,get the best results that you
can support each other.
Uh, this subscription is alsogoing to give you access to the
full everything you want to knowabout film funding course.
I believe that's 29 classes.
You also get how to fund yourfilm in case you're not fiscally
(18:11):
sponsored, that comes with thisplan.
Uh, you'll get a copy ofPerfecting Your Pitch and
Proposal in case you don'thappen to be subscribed to the
newsletter and art manifestingif you haven't applied for the
grant.
Those are all included with thatplan.
You also get a mini course withRobert Siegel, our entertainment
attorney, uh for how to protectyour film, which is all the
(18:32):
legal basics about chain oftitle, copyrights, protecting
your film legally, which isabsolutely essential.
Uh you'll get 25% discount onthe learn producing class.
Uh if you subscribe to that, ifyou're already a subscriber,
then we can we can apply thatdiscount retroactively.
Um and you'll also get the fullyear one of our learn producing
(18:56):
class recordings, uh, whichshould be 24 classes.
And we're adding new stuff allthe time.
We really want to incentivizepeople to try out these these
premium memberships.
So we're going to be adding newclasses all the time.
And um premium subscribers aregonna get first access to
everything that comes in thefuture.
(19:17):
We also put together our ourtop-tier visionary plan.
Um, it's 98 a month or a bigdiscount if you subscribe for a
year.
And if you subscribe for a year,you also get a free Largo AI
report and a free um grantadvance report, which is
researching potential donors andleads from a massive grant or
(19:38):
database and a whole systembehind that, which is an
incredibly powerful tool forfundraising.
With this plan, you also get amonthly private 40-minute
one-on-one uh fundraisingconsultation with Carol Dean,
and you get a single 40-minutepitch development session, a
private pitch workshop withCarol as well.
We're also going to be startinga brand new Quantum Achiever
(20:00):
monthly mastermind class thatCarol's going to teach.
And this is going to be ourhighest level, most elite class
about film funding with reallydirect access and personal
attention from Carol, where shecan look at your project and
support you in a deep, very deepand intentional way with
(20:21):
whatever step that you're at,and also weaving in print uh
principles of quantum field andmanifestation, everything that
she she teaches in her art ofmanifesting book and the You are
the Magic class is woven intothat class as well.
We're gonna have a new class uhstarting soon as well from
Jonathan with AI and industrytrends.
(20:43):
We'll be able to share moreabout that soon.
Um, and we're gonna bedeveloping and adding new
classes all the time,particularly for these premium
tiers.
You're gonna get access toessentially everything in
Thrivecart with this plan.
So there's some more ebooks.
We have 23 blogs toenlightenment.
Um, and the other big thing isthat this plan includes the
Learn Subscription, uh LearnProducing Class Subscription.
(21:07):
So if you're already enrolled inthat, then we can just move you
over to the visionary plan.
Um, and then you're you wind upgetting a big discount by
bundling everything.
You also get the entire learnproducing uh class recording
archive, which I think we're upto almost 80 classes at this
point, Carol.
It's just unbelievable.
(21:28):
Um, and if any anything else inThrivecar, you also get a 20%
discount for if we releaseanything else in the future.
But this plan basically includesjust about everything.
SPEAKER_02 (21:39):
Oh, this sounds great.
Yes, you've done it.
Now they can understand why ittook a year to put all this
online.
Oh, it's wonderful.
But tell us now how does ThriveCard connect with the larger
mission of From the Heart andthe work we're doing to support
independent filmmakers.
SPEAKER_00 (21:58):
I really just see it as a natural evolution of what
we've been doing for 30 yearsand just, you know, get getting
with with our modern technologyand the times by being able to
put everything together in onerobust platform instead of
having it all just, you know, inin a lot of different places.
It gives us a lot of room forgrowth.
(22:19):
It lets us, you know, givefilmmakers a tour through
everything that we haveavailable so they get the full
from the heart experience and itgives them a way to stay
connected.
Um as we develop more and more,as we release more classes and
more courses.
It's meant to be an ongoing,evolving thing that as we
(22:41):
continue to grow, as ourfilmmakers continue to grow,
this platform can continue togrow.
SPEAKER_02 (22:47):
Exactly.
I see a pitch class that wedefinitely are doing, but the
most important thing is for meuh to hear people pitch their
film properly because that'swhere the money is.
It starts with your pitch andyour confidence when you give
it.
(23:08):
And uh the other, the nextimportant thing is your trailer.
And people think that this iseasy and simple to make, but
it's not.
And that's another thing we'regoing to improve and talk about
is creating a trailer.
What makes people donate to yourfilm?
(23:31):
Well, you start it with thepitch, but your trailer is
really what captures andmotivates people.
That's the next thing I thinkthat's of paramount importance
to have correct for achievingyour goals of getting funded,
getting your film seen by theright people.
(23:54):
So talk about any filmmakerlistening now, what um how do
they go?
Where do they go and how do theyget started with Thrive?
SPEAKER_00 (24:07):
Yeah, we'll put a link in the chat or in the
episode description for thispodcast.
But I can just say right nowit's from the
heartproductions.thrivecard.comis the main domain.
And then to um see the landingpage that kind of lays out
everything that's included inthe platform and gives you the
(24:28):
options to either sign up forthe pre plan, the free plan or
one of the premium plans that'sfrom the
heartproductions.thrivecard.comslash from the heart thrive.
And then there are hyphensbetween each of those words and
from the heart thrive.
And again, that'll be in theepisode description.
We're giving any listeners tothis podcast um a 10% discount
(24:53):
code uh to sign up for for oneof the premium plans or for any
a la carte offering that theywant to want to try.
We'll put that in the episodedescription as well.
But that code is going to be AFFPod 10, all caps.
SPEAKER_02 (25:09):
AFFPOD10.
Great.
SPEAKER_00 (25:13):
That's it.
SPEAKER_02 (25:14):
That's it.
Adam, thank you so much for thisinformation for all your work
with From the Heart.
I know from reading all theemails how much filmmakers love
working with you.
So thank you for from From theHeart and from me for all the
work you've done on this.
And I hope that thisconversation gives filmmakers
(25:37):
and listeners inspiration andencouragement and a deeper
understanding of what we'rebuilding with From the Heart
Thrive.
This is a place where filmmakerscan learn, grow, connect, and
support one another through avery through every stage of the
creative journey.
So and From the Heart, we trulybelieve that filmmakers have the
(26:01):
power to create change throughstorytelling.
That's why we're committed tocontinuing to provide education,
mentorship, tools, and heartfeltsupport for creators everywhere.
And don't forget, you are themagic.
Your voice matters, your storymatters, and the world needs the
(26:26):
unique perspective that only youcan bring.
So if you'd like to learn moreabout From the Heart Thrive,
explore the membership options,or even take advantage of the
special 10% podcast discountusing that code AFFPOD 10, all
caps, please visit From theHeart Productions.com.
(26:50):
Thank you for listening, andClaire and I will see you next
time on From the Heart Podcast.
SPEAKER_00 (26:57):
Thank you, Carol.
So glad you could join us here on the Art of Film
Funding podcast.
I'm Claire Papan with myco-producer Carol Dean.
Today we're diving intosomething very exciting for
independent filmmakerseverywhere.
For more than three decades, Romthe Heart Productions has been
dedicated to helping filmmakersbring meaningful stories into
(01:41):
the world, supporting artistsnot only creatively, but also
through physical sponsorship,fundraising guidance, education,
and community.
Today we're talking about thenext evolution of that mission
from the Heart to Thrive, a neweducational and membership
(02:03):
platform designed specificallyto help independent filmmakers
grow, connect, and succeed intoday's rapidly changing
industry.
Joining us today is Adam Hayes,Director of Development at From
the Heart Productions.
Adam has been an integral partof the organization since 2012,
(02:27):
helping filmmakers witheverything from fundraising
strategy and pitch deck towebsite development, AI tools,
crowdfunding education, andinnovative systems that support
independent projects with filmworldwide.
Adam graduated at Uma Kum Laudiand Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA's
(02:52):
honors program with a degree inpsychology and a minor in human
complex systems and also holds amaster's degree in spiritual
psychology from the Universityof Santa Monica.
He currently serves as presidentof Indie Heart, a company
focused on AI-driven tools andservices for independent
(03:17):
filmmakers.
Today Adam is going to share whyFrom the Heart Thrive was
created.
What makes it different fromother filmmaking communities and
online courses, and howfilmmakers can access powerful
new educational resources,mentorship, and support systems
(03:39):
designed to help them trulythrive creatively and
financially.
We'll also talk about thedifferent membership levels,
exciting new classes,opportunities for filmmakers to
get involved, and a specialdiscount code exclusively for
our podcast listeners.
Carol, both you and Adam havebeen working on this new
(04:01):
educational platform for over ayear now, right?
Yes, Claire.
SPEAKER_02 (04:06):
It's taken that long to upload hundreds of
educational classes.
Thank you, Adam, for joining us.
SPEAKER_00 (04:14):
Thank you so much for having me here.
I'm really grateful that afterthis year of working on this, so
we can finally now share it withthe world.
It's really exciting.
SPEAKER_02 (04:23):
Yes, I know.
Well, let's start with why wechose to build a platform on
Thrivecart.
SPEAKER_00 (04:31):
We've had just so many different offerings over
the years and classes andcourses and all of our different
resources, like Largo and GrantAdvance, your mentorship and
counseling programs, consultingprograms, all in different
places.
Some is on social media, some onthe YouTube, all in kind of
different systems.
(04:52):
And we wanted to create acentralized ecosystem, a central
hub where everything can live.
Where when you sign up once andyou learn the system once, then
you can explore every offeringthat we have in one place.
It's you know, one customerservice email, it's all through
the same processing system.
(05:12):
You get your profile and youraccount so that every class that
you're enrolled for, everyservice that you sign up for,
everything is organized andeasily accessible in the same
place.
And we've been talking about anddreaming for years of creating a
film school, and this is reallythe framework for it and the
(05:33):
beginning of that, and it's onlygoing to expand more and more.
We reviewed a lot of differentplatforms and we found that
Thrivecart both had the mostcustomization in terms of what
we could do with design, theofferings that we could have,
and you know, a very highceiling that it had room to
grow, but that it was also veryuser-friendly and accessible for
(05:55):
our filmmakers.
SPEAKER_02 (05:57):
Absolutely right.
And you designed every one ofthe pages.
We have so many pages on there,uh, of and mostly it's
educational.
It's all built around how tofund your film and how to
survive in the film industrywhile you fund your film.
So let's talk about um the factthat a lot of filmmakers
(06:22):
struggle with the feeling ofisolation or feel overwhelmed
when they're making a film.
So, how does Thrive helpcreators stay motivated and
connected?
SPEAKER_00 (06:35):
Absolutely.
I mean, a lot of our classes andofferings are really designed
exactly for that and just havingthis one central system where
people can feel they're a partof from the heart.
They're learning, you know, ourmaterials and our philosophy,
connecting with other members ofour community.
And then more and more we'reoffering classes that really
(06:56):
create that sense of community,the learn producing classes, you
know, people taking thattogether, taking these live
classes together.
With the launch of Thrivecart,we're also launching a filmmaker
accountability group for ourcreator and visionary plan
members.
So that's going to be, you know,people connecting every two
weeks, two weeks to talk aboutand share their projects and
(07:18):
developing those longer-termongoing relationships.
And then groups that we'restarting, like the Quantum
Achiever Mastermind Group forthe Visionary Plan, we'll talk
about more is the same thing.
It's these very close-knitcircles of filmmakers
connecting, working together,you know, the pitch me class,
they're sharing their pitch witheach other, they're getting
(07:39):
feedback with each other.
So it's not just one-waycommunication.
They're able to connect with youand with these expert
instructors and receive thisincredible education, but
they're also able to connectwith each other, give and
receive feedback with eachother, support each other's
projects, have accountabilityand grow together over time.
(08:00):
And we think that's that'sreally important.
Um, that sense of community,it's going to foster success for
everyone's projects to be ableto participate and support each
other.
And we really think thisplatform allows that in a whole
new way.
SPEAKER_02 (08:16):
You know, Adam, I see this all the time when I'm
teaching a class.
There's an old saying that says,when the teacher uh well, the
teacher ends up learning fromthe students.
Right.
For sure.
This uh is wonderful becausewhen students or people taking
(08:36):
classes begin to talk to eachother about things they're
experiencing, good and bad, andhow they overcome them or how
they succeed, it benefits all ofus.
So having being in a group, Ithink, far associating with
other filmmakers so that you cantalk about your situation in the
(08:57):
film world is really important.
That makes it so easy for you togrow and achieve your goals.
So um let's talk about whatfilmmakers get for free when
they join the starter plan.
SPEAKER_00 (09:13):
So this was really important.
Um, especially you were veryadamant about this, Carol, that
we provide a tremendous amountof free content for people
signing up.
It's not just a reason to getpeople into the system and then
try to get them to buy thecourses.
We want people to be able to usethis platform and be able to
have a tremendous amount ofvalue from it, even if they
(09:34):
decide not to purchase orupgrade later on.
So just for joining theplatform, um, filmmakers are
going to get access to severaldifferent classes.
They're gonna get the entireFilm Funding Insider series, uh,
which is a video series that youdid, Carol, which is kind of
quick but very focused and veryrich in information, deep dives
(09:57):
into a couple different topics.
So it covers the art of thepitch, um, developing your log
lines, film financing for indiefilms, and sticky stories.
So, you know, we're reallyexcited about this offering
because it's it's it's verycondensed and action-packed.
It's like if you want to get themost information in the shortest
(10:18):
amount of time, this is this isthe best place to start.
This is a great crash course toget started with.
So everyone, you know, just forsigning up, you get that for
free.
We're also giving five freeclasses from the Everything You
Wanted to Know About FilmFunding series.
Uh, these classes cover Houseand Zoom fundraising parties,
how to crowdfund your film, filmfunding, uh, how to find film
(10:41):
funding and distribution, how tosave money when you're editing
your film, and then getting themost out of film festivals.
I don't know if you wanted toshare any more about those
specific classes, Carol, butit's a really fantastic series.
SPEAKER_02 (10:54):
Yes, I'm really proud of this because these this
is a big a basis.
People really need all of this.
The starting out with the fiveuh films I did uh with the
gentleman here uh lives inOxnard, uh, and he's from
Bulgaria.
He's a writer, director, abrilliant guy.
(11:15):
So he helped me make those uhclasses because with all the
years I've been in the filmindustry, I just needed to get
some basics across so that youhave a platform to work from.
And and I'm sharing what I'velearned over these years and
what's current now, because inour industry, it's like you're
(11:40):
standing in a river.
It's never the same day afterday, it's always changing.
But most of the things thatwe've got here in the free
classes are the basics that youneed in the film world.
Uh so I love uh house parties.
(12:00):
Fundraising house parties are awonderful way to keep yourself
in money while you're making thefilm.
And it can start with somethingas easy as Mindy Popper did this
20 years ago when she was makingher film.
She would call all her friendsand say, come over for a
(12:22):
spaghetti and salad and Frenchbread dinner because I need some
cash.
I'm making a film.
So it's$50 for the night andjoin me.
And she would bring in 10people, 12 people, talk about
her film, show the uh work she'ddone so far, and walk away with
(12:44):
some cash to keep her going.
That's the minimum.
Uh then we get into real partieswhere you can go from, I've seen
people raise between 3,000 toaround 15,000 uh in your home or
in someone else's home.
And then for the high flyers,one of our sponsored filmmakers
(13:06):
raised 600,000 in one night.
That's because she has some verywealthy friends.
So it all depends on the amountof money that the people you're
inviting have.
But summers here, springtime,fall, this is all a good time
for house parties.
(13:27):
But then uh also we have theother classes, the learn
producing classes.
So why don't you cover some ofthose, Adam?
SPEAKER_00 (13:36):
Yeah, so everyone that signs up uh for the free
plan is gonna get access toseven classes.
We have pitching high net worthindividuals with Kara
Williamson, uh film tactics andtechniques with Udi Epstein,
Mastering Trailers with MichaelTorres, who's a phenomenal
trailer editor, budgeting withJonathan M.
(13:56):
Smith, who most of you know fromour Learn Producing classes,
legal with Robert Siegel, ourentertainment attorney and one
of the top entertainmentattorneys in the in the
industry.
Uh, how to monetize your film uhwebsite.
I actually taught that class.
And we also have smart marketingstrategies with Bobby Martis,
who's a who's a student favoritefor sure.
(14:19):
Um top of the oh yeah, go ahead.
SPEAKER_02 (14:22):
He's a stand-up comedian.
That's how we make money uhstarting out, and uh he's doing
a documentary now called SideHustle about um what we all do
in the film industry to uh eatto pay our rent.
Uh we the jobs we take as a sidehustle, Adam.
(14:44):
So uh he's a great teacher.
SPEAKER_00 (14:47):
Excellent.
And on top of those seven freeclasses, there's also, I
believe, 19 free mini lessons,which are highlights, excerpts
from the Learn Producing class,just a quick deep dive and tip
videos about specific subjects,either from Carol or from one of
the guest instructors.
So those are all free foreveryone.
(15:08):
Um on top of that, if you're anewsletter subscriber, um, you
get a copy of the ebookPerfecting Your Pitch and
Proposal for free.
You'll see a little box just tocheck that says you're a
newsletter subscriber, andthat'll add it to your account.
And if you've ever applied forthe Roy W.
Dean grant at any point, you cancheck that box and you'll get a
(15:29):
copy of the Art of Manifestingaudiobook.
Um if you're a fiscallysponsored filmmaker, you get
quite a bit more.
Um you get access to the How toFund Your Film course, which you
and I made together years ago,Carol, but it it still really
holds up.
That's a nearly three-hourcourse with almost 300
PowerPoint slides.
(15:50):
It's one of the most in-depthcourses that we've ever done,
and that's really everythingthat you need to know of the
foundations of film funder inthat course.
So that's free for all fiscallysponsored filmmakers.
Um, they get an additional fiveLearn Producing classes, and you
also get access to our ongoingfilm funding guidance class and
pitch me class.
(16:11):
This has always been how we'vedone it, but now we've uh we've
set up all these classes inThrivecard.
So all you need to do is sign uponce, and then you get the
reminders, you get the classinformation, you get full access
to everything the fiscallysponsored filmmakers get.
And when you sign up, you alsoget a discount code that's good
for 15% off any future purchasesfor basically everything in
(16:33):
Thrivecard.
SPEAKER_02 (16:34):
Wow, that's marvelous.
Thank you.
So now let's get into thedifference between the starter,
uh, creator and uh visionarymembers levels.
SPEAKER_00 (16:45):
Yeah, absolutely.
Um, so people are more thanwelcome to sign up for free, and
there's plenty to to deep diveon and to learn, even just with
the film uh the free plan.
And we wanted to give people astarting base um, you know, that
they could build from, that theycould learn a lot, and then if
(17:06):
they want to go deeper, then wehave a lot more available.
And we created two levels ofpremium tier subscriptions.
These are monthly subscriptionplans.
Um, the next level up is thecreator plan, which is 28 a
month, and you get a discount ifyou subscribe annually as well.
This is gonna give you access totwo brand new classes that we're
(17:29):
gonna be starting very, verysoon, which is the Filmmaker
Accountability Circle.
Um, we mentioned earlier theseare gonna be twice a month
check-ins with filmmakers totalk about your crowdfunding,
about your pitching, yourproduction, wherever you are,
whatever you need support with.
This is gonna be support fromCarol Dean and from your
(17:50):
community as well, from otherFrom the Heart filmmakers to
stay on top of it and you know,get the best results that you
can support each other.
Uh, this subscription is alsogoing to give you access to the
full everything you want to knowabout film funding course.
I believe that's 29 classes.
You also get how to fund yourfilm in case you're not fiscally
(18:11):
sponsored, that comes with thisplan.
Uh, you'll get a copy ofPerfecting Your Pitch and
Proposal in case you don'thappen to be subscribed to the
newsletter and art manifestingif you haven't applied for the
grant.
Those are all included with thatplan.
You also get a mini course withRobert Siegel, our entertainment
attorney, uh for how to protectyour film, which is all the
(18:32):
legal basics about chain oftitle, copyrights, protecting
your film legally, which isabsolutely essential.
Uh you'll get 25% discount onthe learn producing class.
Uh if you subscribe to that, ifyou're already a subscriber,
then we can we can apply thatdiscount retroactively.
Um and you'll also get the fullyear one of our learn producing
(18:56):
class recordings, uh, whichshould be 24 classes.
And we're adding new stuff allthe time.
We really want to incentivizepeople to try out these these
premium memberships.
So we're going to be adding newclasses all the time.
And um premium subscribers aregonna get first access to
everything that comes in thefuture.
(19:17):
We also put together our ourtop-tier visionary plan.
Um, it's 98 a month or a bigdiscount if you subscribe for a
year.
And if you subscribe for a year,you also get a free Largo AI
report and a free um grantadvance report, which is
researching potential donors andleads from a massive grant or
(19:38):
database and a whole systembehind that, which is an
incredibly powerful tool forfundraising.
With this plan, you also get amonthly private 40-minute
one-on-one uh fundraisingconsultation with Carol Dean,
and you get a single 40-minutepitch development session, a
private pitch workshop withCarol as well.
We're also going to be startinga brand new Quantum Achiever
(20:00):
monthly mastermind class thatCarol's going to teach.
And this is going to be ourhighest level, most elite class
about film funding with reallydirect access and personal
attention from Carol, where shecan look at your project and
support you in a deep, very deepand intentional way with
(20:21):
whatever step that you're at,and also weaving in print uh
principles of quantum field andmanifestation, everything that
she she teaches in her art ofmanifesting book and the You are
the Magic class is woven intothat class as well.
We're gonna have a new class uhstarting soon as well from
Jonathan with AI and industrytrends.
(20:43):
We'll be able to share moreabout that soon.
Um, and we're gonna bedeveloping and adding new
classes all the time,particularly for these premium
tiers.
You're gonna get access toessentially everything in
Thrivecart with this plan.
So there's some more ebooks.
We have 23 blogs toenlightenment.
Um, and the other big thing isthat this plan includes the
Learn Subscription, uh LearnProducing Class Subscription.
(21:07):
So if you're already enrolled inthat, then we can just move you
over to the visionary plan.
Um, and then you're you wind upgetting a big discount by
bundling everything.
You also get the entire learnproducing uh class recording
archive, which I think we're upto almost 80 classes at this
point, Carol.
It's just unbelievable.
(21:28):
Um, and if any anything else inThrivecar, you also get a 20%
discount for if we releaseanything else in the future.
But this plan basically includesjust about everything.
SPEAKER_02 (21:39):
Oh, this sounds great.
Yes, you've done it.
Now they can understand why ittook a year to put all this
online.
Oh, it's wonderful.
But tell us now how does ThriveCard connect with the larger
mission of From the Heart andthe work we're doing to support
independent filmmakers.
SPEAKER_00 (21:58):
I really just see it as a natural evolution of what
we've been doing for 30 yearsand just, you know, get getting
with with our modern technologyand the times by being able to
put everything together in onerobust platform instead of
having it all just, you know, inin a lot of different places.
It gives us a lot of room forgrowth.
(22:19):
It lets us, you know, givefilmmakers a tour through
everything that we haveavailable so they get the full
from the heart experience and itgives them a way to stay
connected.
Um as we develop more and more,as we release more classes and
more courses.
It's meant to be an ongoing,evolving thing that as we
(22:41):
continue to grow, as ourfilmmakers continue to grow,
this platform can continue togrow.
SPEAKER_02 (22:47):
Exactly.
I see a pitch class that wedefinitely are doing, but the
most important thing is for meuh to hear people pitch their
film properly because that'swhere the money is.
It starts with your pitch andyour confidence when you give
it.
(23:08):
And uh the other, the nextimportant thing is your trailer.
And people think that this iseasy and simple to make, but
it's not.
And that's another thing we'regoing to improve and talk about
is creating a trailer.
What makes people donate to yourfilm?
(23:31):
Well, you start it with thepitch, but your trailer is
really what captures andmotivates people.
That's the next thing I thinkthat's of paramount importance
to have correct for achievingyour goals of getting funded,
getting your film seen by theright people.
(23:54):
So talk about any filmmakerlistening now, what um how do
they go?
Where do they go and how do theyget started with Thrive?
SPEAKER_00 (24:07):
Yeah, we'll put a link in the chat or in the
episode description for thispodcast.
But I can just say right nowit's from the
heartproductions.thrivecard.comis the main domain.
And then to um see the landingpage that kind of lays out
everything that's included inthe platform and gives you the
(24:28):
options to either sign up forthe pre plan, the free plan or
one of the premium plans that'sfrom the
heartproductions.thrivecard.comslash from the heart thrive.
And then there are hyphensbetween each of those words and
from the heart thrive.
And again, that'll be in theepisode description.
We're giving any listeners tothis podcast um a 10% discount
(24:53):
code uh to sign up for for oneof the premium plans or for any
a la carte offering that theywant to want to try.
We'll put that in the episodedescription as well.
But that code is going to be AFFPod 10, all caps.
SPEAKER_02 (25:09):
AFFPOD10.
Great.
SPEAKER_00 (25:13):
That's it.
SPEAKER_02 (25:14):
That's it.
Adam, thank you so much for thisinformation for all your work
with From the Heart.
I know from reading all theemails how much filmmakers love
working with you.
So thank you for from From theHeart and from me for all the
work you've done on this.
And I hope that thisconversation gives filmmakers
(25:37):
and listeners inspiration andencouragement and a deeper
understanding of what we'rebuilding with From the Heart
Thrive.
This is a place where filmmakerscan learn, grow, connect, and
support one another through avery through every stage of the
creative journey.
So and From the Heart, we trulybelieve that filmmakers have the
(26:01):
power to create change throughstorytelling.
That's why we're committed tocontinuing to provide education,
mentorship, tools, and heartfeltsupport for creators everywhere.
And don't forget, you are themagic.
Your voice matters, your storymatters, and the world needs the
(26:26):
unique perspective that only youcan bring.
So if you'd like to learn moreabout From the Heart Thrive,
explore the membership options,or even take advantage of the
special 10% podcast discountusing that code AFFPOD 10, all
caps, please visit From theHeart Productions.com.
(26:50):
Thank you for listening, andClaire and I will see you next
time on From the Heart Podcast.
SPEAKER_00 (26:57):
Thank you, Carol.
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