15 Years, 15 Lessons: What Building a Multi-Million Dollar Film Business Really Takes

As we stand on the edge of a new year, I know many of you are setting ambitious goals and dreaming big about what’s possible in 2025. You’re probably mapping out plans, setting targets, and feeling that familiar mix of excitement and uncertainty about what lies ahead.

Perfect timing, because I want to pull back the curtain and share something special with you - the top 15 lessons I’ve learned in 15 years of building a multi-million dollar film business.

These aren’t just any lessons.

This is the hard-won wisdom from 1.5 million miles flown, telling stories across 77 countries, and landing over 10 million in project budgets. And remember, I’m just a small-town kid with no formal film degree who bought his first camera on the way to shoot a gig…

… so if I can do this, you can too.

These are the things I wish somebody had told me when I was starting out, trying to figure it all out.

So let’s dive in…

01 - Learning to Listen for Whispers.

The biggest opportunities in your career will never announce themselves with fanfare. They whisper.

I learned this lesson early, back when I was shooting weddings in Toronto. While others waited for the perfect opportunity to land in their inbox, I started listening for subtle signals and taking bold action.

That’s how we went from shooting local weddings to creating national commercials for Canon, from filming small corporate videos to producing Emmy-nominated content for CBS and the Super Bowl, and from one-off projects to global campaigns for Four Seasons.

None of these opportunities came with an invitation.

Each started as a whisper - a subtle hint or small opening that we transformed into something bigger through initiative and bold action. The Super Bowl piece? That started with us caring deeply about telling stories in our wedding films. The Four Seasons work? That began with a simple conversation over cocktails in Austin.

The key is learning to hear these whispers and then having the courage to take that big swing.

Don’t wait for permission.

Make your own opportunities.

02 - Story First, Everything Second.

Early in my career, I had this simple test for our wedding films - I called it the mailman test. Could we show our wedding film to the person delivering our mail and have the story be strong enough to hold their attention?

This obsession with storytelling led to something remarkable: one of our wedding films caught the attention of a major brand and turned into a national commercial.

When the NFL called us (a group of Canadian wedding filmmakers…), they didn’t say “we love your technical skills“ - they literally said, “we like the way you tell stories.“

Let that sink in.

Our wedding films, of all things, opened doors to national commercial work because we prioritized story above everything else.

One well-told story can change everything.

A remarkable story can open doors you never knew existed.

03 - The Power of Desire and Conflict.

When we say “story over everything,” there’s a crucial 20% that delivers 80% of your results: deeply understanding desire and conflict.

These two fundamental forces are the engine of every great story.

Desire moves your character forward and gives your story direction.

Conflict provides resistance and, with it, pulls your audience in deeper.

Even after 15 years, thousands of films, and millions in revenue, I still study these two concepts and aim to deepen my understanding. They’re that important.

Learn how to develop these two forces in EVERY film you make and you’ll never be hunting for work…

04 - Solve Problems, Not Projects.

Here’s the truth about how we went from one project with Four Seasons to several millions of dollars of work across 30+ countries: we never just delivered videos.

We solved problems.

When they needed content from a big event, we offered same-day delivery.

When they wanted to showcase their bar, we transformed it into a film set worthy of their brand. When a new program was to be launched, we created films in days instead of the regular press releases.

By focusing on solving problems rather than just completing projects, we started getting work across departments and built deeper trust. The shift from “video creator” to “problem solver” changed everything.

This is the key in moving from $10k to $100k projects, or 6 to 7 figure work…

05 - The Power of Perceived Value.

As you evolve from project-based work to solving problems, you need to think differently about pricing.

It’s easy to say a short film is $3,000, but when you’re solving real business problems, you need to think about the size of the problem and what it’s worth to solve it.

This is where perceived value becomes crucial.

Everything you do - from your first email to your final delivery - needs to feel worth far more than what you’re charging.

I’ll never forget the handmade orange boxes we created for our wedding clients’ DVDs. When opened, they revealed the words “This is a story that nobody but you could have written.” These boxes cost us about $50 each to make, and we never advertised them - they were a surprise that always left an impression.

This obsession with details meant that the value was never in question when we asked for a $20,000 investment in a wedding film, or now a six-figure investment in a commercial project.

We built trust through every interaction, making the investment feel like a bargain for the experience we delivered.

06 - Value-Based Growth: Breaking Free from Day Rates.

There’s an old story about Picasso that perfectly captures this lesson.

A woman asks him to sketch something on a napkin. He obliges, taking mere minutes to create it. When she asks the price and he says “one million francs,” she’s shocked. “But it only took you two minutes!” His response? “No, madame. It took me 40 years to draw that in two minutes.“

This story transformed how I thought about pricing.

As we focused more on solving problems, we realized time-based pricing was holding us back. With day rates, I topped out at about $5,000 per day. The only way to make more was to work more hours or hire more people - a recipe for burnout.

But with value-based pricing, I’ve earned as much as $100,000 for a half day’s work. Why? Because we price based on the value we deliver, not the time we spend.

This isn’t just about making more money - it’s about building a business that fits your lifestyle and works for you, not the other way around.

07 - The Experience is Your Edge.

When you’re focused on value and solving problems, the experience you create becomes a massive part of that value.

Trust isn’t just built through deliverables - it’s built through how it feels to work with you.

We take this so seriously that we have code words on set and consider ourselves the Navy SEALs of filmmaking.

It might sound intense, but this obsession with experience leads to stronger stories and people who genuinely love being part of them.

When every interaction feels special, remarkable work follows naturally.

08 - The Client is the Hero, You’re the Guide.

This lesson took me years to truly understand.

Your clients have their own lives, goals, and ambitions. How they spend their marketing budget and who they bring in for a big campaign isn’t just about results - it reflects on them personally.

When you make your client the hero and position yourself as the expert guide who helps them achieve their goals, you build lifelong relationships.

Know the human on the other side of the client and help them get where they want to go. That’s next-level problem solving.

09 - Remarkable Is Non-Negotiable. Average is Taken.

To be remarkable means living at the intersection of excellence and the unexpected. Either alone isn’t enough anymore. With AI and new tools making content creation more accessible than ever, the noise level is only increasing.

Average simply won’t cut it.

Every major inflection point in our company’s history came from doing something remarkable.

It’s been our highest ROI marketing expense, our best relationship builder, and our strongest differentiator.

Don’t just aim for good.

Don’t settle for great.

Make remarkable your standard. Your ability to thrive in the coming years may depend on it.

10 - Listen Like Your Business Depends On It.

All of this - solving problems, knowing the human behind the client, being remarkable - comes back to one invaluable skill: listening.

The strongest storytellers aren’t just the best filmmakers or directors - they’re the best listeners.

Be curious.

Hear what others don’t.

Your ability to truly listen will set you apart more than any piece of gear or technical skill ever could.

11 - The Art of the Big Swing.

When you spot one of those trajectory-changing opportunities, that’s when it’s time for the big swing. It means questioning how things have been done and asking how they could be better. It means making remarkable your starting point, not your goal.

I remember flying to Estonia to make a sizzle reel for a potential documentary instead of just pitching the idea.

That effort helped raise over $1M in funding.

Or when we were on set in Spain and created a custom pitch video instead of sending a PDF like everyone else - that led to a $500k HubSpot series.

The big swing means thinking differently and having the courage to act on that thinking.

12 - Build Systems, Not Just Skills.

Here’s a truth that took me too long to learn: processes and systems are the least sexy part of your business that will make you the most successful.

The Muse Storytelling process isn’t just a method - it’s a system. It’s a structured approach that consistently leads to strong results while making it easier to train team members and educate clients.

We now have systems for everything - onboarding, creative, post-production, finances.

That’s how a small team based in Portland can have a global impact.

Roll up your sleeves and build the systems that will let you have the lifestyle you want, instead of drowning in low-leverage admin work that drains your creativity.

13 - Master the Art of Saying No.

Early in your career, it’s easy to fall into the “client is always right” mindset, saying yes to everything. But as you gain experience, you realize there’s immense value in saying no.

Saying no, with intention, shows expertise.

It allows for iteration and improvement.

Most importantly, it lets you pass on five small things that won’t move you forward so you can focus on that one big swing that could change everything.

14 - The 10X Mindset: Why Small Thinking Costs You.

I often get emails from people seeing our project budgets and dismissing them outright: “I could never do that.” I get it - if you’re charging a few thousand per film now, a six-figure project seems impossible.

But it isn’t impossible. It requires a different mindset.

Instead of asking how to move from $5k to $10k projects, ask how you could reach $50k or $100k.

This 10X thinking forces you to break current paradigms and approach things in a much bigger way. You might not hit 10X every time, but you’ll achieve far more than with incremental thinking.

15 - The Three-Year Rule.

Eight years ago, I set a clear goal: become a storytelling expert. I wanted it for myself, and I told my friends to hold me accountable.

I dove into academic journals, books, and reverse-engineered everything I could.

It didn’t happen overnight, but within about three years, not only was I different - how people approached me was different too.

The same was true for landing our first 7-figure original documentary.

These big goals take time and massive imperfect action. You need to stay consistent. But if you set your eyes on that three-year timeline, you can move mountains.

A Closing Thought - The Future-Proof Formula.

As we look ahead to 2025 and beyond, remember this: the key to future-proofing your success isn’t just about mastering the latest tech or jumping on trends. It’s about investing in yourself, pushing your perspective, and doubling down on what makes you uniquely valuable to your clients.

The world will keep changing.

Tools will evolve.

But the ability to tell remarkable stories, solve real problems, and create transformative experiences - that will always be in demand.

Here’s to your next chapter,

• Patrick