Short advice for filmmakers: producing beautiful, cinematic work alone won't guarantee higher pay. Clients pay for solutions to real business problems and measurable results; filmmakers who prioritize solving bigger client problems earn more, regardless of purely aesthetic quality.
If you have really good work, but you're still struggling to make more money, here's why. And the harsh truth is, is that great work is not enough. You can deliver the most beautiful cinematic video ever, but if it's not solving a big problem for your clients, they're still going to hesitate to pay what you're worth. You can pour your heart and soul into something, but until you actually solve a real problem for that business, they're not going to pay you over a certain amount. And that's why you see people who have worse work than you make more money. And it's because they solved a bigger problem. And the client doesn't care as much about whether it's cinematic or beautiful like you as the filmmaker care about that. Your clients do not care about that. They want it to look respectable and they want it to solve a real business problem. And I think a lot of filmmakers get in their head and they have too much ego and pride around the actual content they're creating than actually solving a problem and getting a client a result. Because if you're not getting clients results, then there's literally no point in creating anything.
