Meet Kipp Tribble

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kipp Tribble a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kipp, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I guess that would be from my dad and grandparents. They are the types to roll up their sleeves, put their heads down, and do the work without complaining. Some people work for a goal, such as financial or personal successes We did not come from money, nor did we have money, so work became about survival and part of our everyday lives.

It was at a very early age that I learned how hard work and ingenuity can solve problems. To this day, I do never first consider how much money I can throw at a problem, I consider how I can solve a problem with work. This is the same work ethic and approach I take in my career as well. You work for what you have because no one is going to give it to you.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I started my journey with a few years of work in radio, and used my “down time” to perform in several stage productions so I could continue to grow as an actor. After a while, I transitioned to onscreen work, primarily in feature films. That onscreen work then expanded to also include writing, directing, and producing, I sold my first feature internationally and then about a year later, produced and acted in another feature that landed a Blockbuster Video deal. And about a year after that, I relocated to Los Angeles.

I have since amassed scores of feature film credits as an actor/writer/filmmaker and my company now focuses on creating low-cost films for niche audiences. While I do write many of our projects myself, we embrace collaborating with others. Our company does acquire scripts of all genres for production as well, but we are picky!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I’m not going to be revealing any groundbreaking advice here, but I always pass along this advice:

1) First Act: You can never be too prepared.
Too often, those starting out as an actor, writer, filmmaker, etc., will dive in without properly preparing themselves for what is ahead. Aside from training – whether that be from school, a few classes, or on the job training – you need to research the job o position you want. There are many things in the day-to-day of this business that no school is going to teach you. Before I embarking on my first film, I spent about two years doing nothing but reading everything I could get my hands on about making an indie film. I picked up the phone and spoke to everyone I could about the industry and process of making an indie film. And this process does not change. Pre-production on a film is about being prepared. Rehearsals for an actor is about being prepared. Re-writing and researching for a writer is about being prepared. It takes discipline and hard work, but it is a must.

2) Second Act: Don’t compromise, but be flexible.
While you get prepared for a role, or finish your script, or prep your film, you also have to be ready to change and adapt what you have prepared for. This is oftentimes referred to as “killing your babies”. As an actor, you may have to change everything you rehearsed on the day. As a writer, you may be asked to rewrite a completely new ending and have it ready to shoot the very next day. As a filmmaker, you may have to relocate a scene from a beautiful beach house to someone’s backyard. If it does not compromise the material, character or project, then do not be precious for your sake. The project is not about you, it is a collective effort of many. So if you are being precious with a choice you make and it is not compromising the overall project, then you need to learn to let go.

3) Third Act: Manage expectations.
We all love the role we are doing, the script we have writing, or the film we are making, So you naturally expect others to love it as well. But the fact is, no one will ever be more passionate about it than you. So when the role or script you have poured your heart and soul into does not yield the response you were expecting, it is because no one was as mentally and physically invested in it as you were. That does not mean it is terrible. You have zero control over what others think and feel, so you cannot control the end result. Same goes for selling and indie film. Some great films never catch on and don’t find an audience, while other not so great films blow up and do great business. Sure, you have to do all you can to give it the best chance at doing well, but don’t play the game of “what if this makes a million dollars?” or “what if this wins a bunch of awards?” That subconsciously sets you up for disappointment later when that (likely) does not happen. Be positive and reach for the stars, but do not let that influence your expectations. Keep those grounded in reality.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
The challenge for our company and for probably 99.9% of filmmakers is funding. This has been and will likely always be the number one problem! We have worked with budgets on the super low end and multi-million dollar projects. But no matter what, it is always the biggest hurdle in getting a project made.

We are always talking with investors, looking at partnering with funding organizations, securing grants, and other unique sources of funding. The industry changes constantly and with that, so do the funding models. We are always looking for the next evolution in that area of this business.

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