This season of Truly Independent is supported by the Help Them See Foundation— a nonprofit dedicated to supporting feature films that inspire faith, hope, and connection. By partnering with filmmakers, Help Them See brings meaningful stories to life and shares them with audiences worldwide. Learn more or get involved: helpthemseefoundation.org.

Welcome to Season 3! I’m Garrett Batty with co-host Darren Smith. This year we go deep on the script—from spark to polished draft to scheduling, budgeting, and finally shooting. In today’s kickoff, we unpack ICVM takeaways, how to turn events into real relationships (and funding), and why low-fi read-throughs can enroll partners faster than pitch decks.

What you’ll learn

How to get 50+ legit contacts in one weekend (and what to do next).

A practical playbook for staged read-throughs that create momentum and funding.

“Enrollment events”: what they are, why they work, and how to host your own.

Recording assets early (audio/video) to supercharge pitches.

Lessons from our Where the Dog Heals table read.

Chapters (approx.)
00:00 Cold open & Season 3 focus (the script)
01:10 ICVM recap & why conferences matter
07:30 Converting events into high-quality follow-ups
13:40 Enrollment events: turning attention into action
20:45 How to run a compelling read-through (low-fi to staged)
31:20 Where the Dog Heals table read—what worked, what we’d change
39:50 Capture video/audio early to enroll partners
45:15 Action items for indie filmmakers
49:30 What’s next + how to support the mission

Support the mission
Help Them See Foundation: helpthemseefoundation.org
Subscribe for more episodes on taking your film from page to production.

Credits
Edited by Michael Bradford • Produced by Three Coin Productions