This is Thomas Percy Kim’s bi-weekly newsletter, your stories for independent filmmaking, permissionless storytelling, and building a sustainable creative career.

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I killed my movie.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is to wait.

👋 Hey, it's Thomas.

Last week, I made the executive decision to push my next feature film back a year.

My next $2M movie, STARING AT THE SUN was supposed to shoot this summer... the money was coming together, locations were locked, and if I'd wanted it badly enough I could have forced it into a 2026 summer schedule. And I did want it badly…

But sometimes hitting the brakes helps you win faster in the long-run.

…

One of the decision I regretted from my first feature film, ISLE CHILD (join our NY premiere Aug 1st!), was that we rushed into pre-production to get ahead of potential union strikes. I had spent nearly 4 years trying to get this project made… and my ego didn’t want to stop the project for an unknowable amount of time when I’d gotten it this far, this close to production!

So we pushed forward… and looking back, I believe it was the wrong call.

Not because the film suffered in a way that an audience would notice, but because I hired cast and crew that served my anxiety, not the best interests of the movie.

A rushed hire costs you something very expensive that never shows up on a call sheet… because you can never see the “better” version of the film you didn’t shoot.

In other words, you loose something intangible but substantial when rushing any part of the creative process.

Before I dive deeper, let me preface by saying this doesn’t mean to work slowly, to not have a deadline. In fact, one the best ways I find creative clarity (AKA good judgement, the most important trait of any leader or creative), is with a good ol’ deadline. A date on the calendar is the only reason a script gets finished or an edit gets seen by the world. Pressure is a tool of its own, and it’s a necessary ingredient in creating diamonds.

Nonetheless, there’s a difference between working hard in doing vs working hard preparing.

Roger Deakins doesn’t get paid the big bucks to sit around and move lights around. He’s not the one leveling rails for the dolly shot. He gets paid to sit in a chair with a vision and communicate it effectively to his team.

But that vision — and the way he communicates it — doesn’t magically appear the instant he finishes reading a script for the first time.

The invention of anything new requires thoughtful meditation on the problem at hand — letting our subconscious marinate and understand it deeply.

Rick Rubin says, "We can't force greatness to happen. All we can do is invite it in and await it actively." Clock the word “actively.”

Great ideas take time to digest in our minds. It’s the ingredient that can’t be rushed. You can put a deadline on pure labor… but not on creative judgement.

It’s the same exact with actors — one of my mentors shared how handing an A-list actor a script 3 weeks out from production gets you a great performance… of something they already know how to do.

Give them 4 months, and you’ll get something they’ve never done before… raw, vulnerable, fully immersed in your specific character/story/world.

It's also why when I rehearse with actors, it’s less for the script and more to connect with them a human to human level. Acting is a very vulnerable craft, and you can only be vulnerable in front of someone that you trust and are comfortable with. And that kind of trust only develops over meaningful time.

It doesn’t matter if they’ve won an Oscar or have never acted before — you can’t rush or expedite trust in any relationship. And all of directing is relationship-building, communicating the vision to your team.

Now you could argue that this is a luxury for bigger budget films — and sometimes it is. Give an A-list actor that many months to prep and they might jump for a bigger budget project that comes along last minute. But that’s a risk that I think an independent project needs to take, in order to make the best film possible and stand out amongst the sea of other low-budget, mediocre films.

So I pushed back my next feature film to Spring 2027… and I’m starting to meet with cast and crew now — 9 months in advance. I’m using this project as an excuse to meet and “date” as many talented cast and crew as possible — to find the very best, build trust, and let the story marinate in their creative subconscious.

You get one big project — a feature, TV show, even a short film — every 2-5 years, if that. Maybe 8-10 in your whole career. And all it takes is one to break you out.

So make each shot count… once your shot is actually loaded.

See you in 2 weeks,
Thomas Percy Kim
@the.vandalist

P.S. If you're in NYC, my first feature, ISLE CHILD, has its New York premiere this Saturday, August 1st. Come say hello if you’re in town!

Here’s the unofficial trailer:

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