When the email from the streaming platform came through, I stared at my laptop screen for a solid ten minutes. This was it—the thing every indie filmmaker dreams about. A real distributor wanted my movie. The kind with a logo people recognize.
My name is Wes, and I spent two years writing, directing, and scraping together a feature film called HOW TO START A CULT IN 5-EASY STEPS. It’s a dark comedy starring Lew Temple, shot on a shoestring budget in Berwyn with a crew that believed in it more than they believed in their day jobs. We filmed at my mother’s house and around town—anywhere we could make work. We called in favors. We shot in locations that were “available” because nobody else wanted them.
And then, miraculously, it worked. We had a finished film. Festivals were interested. And then the distribution offers started coming in. Real ones. The kind sitting in my inbox with contract attachments.
So I did what any rational person would do.
I said no to all of them.
My friends thought I’d lost my mind. My mother definitely thought I’d lost my mind. “You worked this hard just to turn down the exact thing you were working toward?” Fair question. Here’s my answer:
The deals weren’t terrible; they were common. A big chunk of equity for a revenue share, but worse, the terms meant giving up control of how the film was presented, when it was released, and how audiences would find it. It meant my movie becoming one thumbnail in an endless scroll, competing with a thousand other thumbnails, all hoping someone’s finger would pause for half a second. It meant trading ownership for the comfort of saying, “Yeah, we got distribution.”
And I realized—I didn’t make this movie to be comfortable.
I made it because I had something to say. Because I wanted to prove that you don’t need Hollywood’s permission to tell a story. Because every indie filmmaker I admire started by doing something nobody thought would work.
So on November 21st, HOW TO START A CULT IN 5-EASY STEPS releases exclusively on a website I built myself: howtostartacultin5-easysteps.com. No streaming platform. No algorithm deciding who gets to see it. Just a movie, a URL, and the absolute terror of wondering if anyone will show up.
Here’s what nobody tells you about going independent: it’s not romantic. Right now, I’m cold-messaging Instagram accounts that post movie clips, asking if they’ll share a scene. I’m learning SEO at 2 AM. I’m writing articles like this one, hoping someone will care. I’m doing everything they warn you not to do in film school—trying to will an audience into existence through sheer desperation and hustle.
But here’s the thing: it’s mine. Every decision. Every risk. Every failure or success—it belongs to me and the people who made this film with me, not to a platform that could bury it in a content library tomorrow. And so far, it seems to be working.
To my own surprise, nearly every podcast, YouTube channel, and Instagram account has responded positively. “That’s amazing. How can I help?” This is the phrase I expected to receive the least, but hear the most. And I’m not talking about small profiles, but accounts with millions of eyeballs, posting clips of my movie beside reels of Tarantino and Anderson.
The lesson isn’t just “believe in yourself” or some motivational poster nonsense. It’s this: take the risk on yourself, control your own marketing, be obsessive about it, and always send that email. Always make that ask. Always reach out to that person you think is too big or too busy or too whatever.
Because the worst thing that happens is they say no. And the best thing that happens? They say yes. And in my experience—they will.
Come November 21st, we’ll find out just how many people said yes. But I already know it was worth it.
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