Watch Joe Swanberg 2016 SXSW Film Keynote

“The only way you’re ever going to make any money is if you’re investing in your own movies.” - Joe Swanberg

Watch Joe Swanberg, director of 20 feature films including Hannah Takes The Stairs, Drinking Buddies, and Happy Christmas, discuss money and how to piece together a living as a filmmaker as part of his Keynote at the 2016 SXSW Film Conference.

During his honest recount of his filmmaking career, Swanberg offers a plethora of advice, including three truths about money:

  1. “It’s actually better to have no money, than some money.”

  2. “The less you need money, the more people want to give it to you. And then in a really sick perverse kind of way, the more you need it, the less anybody wants to give it to you.”

  3. “Time is money and you do have to value your time as being worth money. But also…happiness is money too.”

View more 2016 Keynotes, Red Carpets, Q&As, sessions and more on our YouTube channel, or listen to more Film Sessions on SoundCloud.

Photo by Jason Bollenbacher/Getty Images for SXSW

By Christina Wiese

05/10/2016