Michael J. Murphy on Moving Past Studio Roadblocks to Make an Independent Film

Michael J. Murphy first began making short films before he was old enough to drive. Since then, he has expanded his creative tentacles into social media and branded digital content. In between gigs, he attempted to set up his feature projects at a major studio until it eventually fell apart. Although disappointed, he wasn’t deterred. He persisted and subsequently set up his film at another production company. His film will go into production later this year. Michael spoke with Creative Screenwriting Magazine about building a sustainable career in the business.

What do you tell people you do for a living? 

I think at first, I’d tell people I was a filmmaker. I’d keep it general. That question is often followed up by “Anything I’ve seen?” which is just a painful segue into trying to explain to them how your short film got views on YouTube, and one time you did a commercial with someone they might’ve heard of. But as my career started to find its legs and gained more confidence in the work I do, I started to answer, “Writer/ Director.” Writer always first. I think in many ways it legitimizes the things I direct and has been such a valuable tool of mine from the very beginning of my career.

What are your current active projects and how are you helping them get industry traction?

I am currently working on my debut feature (which I wrote and will direct), and I am in the process of writing what I hope will be my sophomore film. My debut feature has been quite the… experience… over the last 8 years. I finished the first draft at the end of 2018, sold it to a studio in 2021, went into turnaround in 2023, and then went on to find independent producers who fell in love with the project in 2025. I’ve always been pushing for this film’s success. It’s personal, in my voice, and entirely the film I want to debut with.

What’s funny, though, is that when I had originally brought the film back out to the market in 2024, I received a lot of “no’s.” An elevated YA/ Romance is hard to stunt cast. It’s a very specific audience, and often the producers and execs I had been meeting with just didn’t know what to do with it. It wasn’t until I reached out to a producer friend of mine, who I had been ADing and editing for a few commercials, that the film ended up finding its second home. I went to visit her at her new office, and she confided in me that she was currently looking for a feature that felt magical as their next big project. I turned and said, “Boy, do I have the film for you!”

As for my sophomore film, I am going to be making a short film/ proof of concept with a studio that comes with a first-look deal on the feature. This came through my relationships with the studio exec, as well as my management at 3 Arts.

A lot of what has helped me gain traction on any of these projects is a combination of two things: taking any job outside of writing and directing (ADing, editing) and working your ass off while doing it, building relationships along the way; and putting out as much work as you possibly can. My commercial career has taken off throughout 2025 and allowed for me to release more work that people see and enjoy. It started with spec commercials for Spotify and Tinder and eventually blossomed into big-budget commercials for the Super Bowl and clients like MyFitnessPal and Carl’s Jr. My main piece of advice: Impress. And then, always stay in touch.

How did you initially set up your film at a studio and what progress was made?

I was repped at Authentic Literary back in 2018, and they helped me get the film out to the right people at the studio. For the first year or so, we were doing notes on the script based on suggestions that came up while pitching the project to them. Then we eventually landed a deal to continue developing it as part of a larger slate of films they planned to produce in 2022.

During our stint there, we endlessly developed the film. I look back on the experience very fondly. We had some great executives who knew the script well and cared that it would end up being a great film. We did two massive rewrites on the project, and truthfully I don’t think it would be as great of a script as it is today without them. We worked on those notes through COVID, staying up late at night, rewriting scenes from scratch. It was truly the biggest learning experience I’ve had in my career thus far and has completely reframed the way I see writing as a whole.

Our shooting date was pushed continuously due to COVID, acquisitions and eventually the writer’s strike. I had a very nice conversation with my executive at the time and ultimately decided that it would be best for us to take the film back out to the market on our own. At first, I felt terrified, thinking the work was for nothing. But it was only a few months later that I realized everything we did made the film so much better.

At the time, I was quite young, in my early 20s, and there were doubts about me directing the film. I wasn’t attached as part of this deal and was instead given a “first chance” to pitch to direct it. I stayed up all week leading up to the meeting and put together an incredibly personal pitch that ended up attaching me as the director in early 2022.

 What is its current status?

We are currently about to enter the casting phase of my film. The script is fully locked, I’ve already done my initial scouting in North Carolina, and I’ve finished my very very long shot list.

Describe your working relationship with your management?

My manager, Luke Maxwell, at 3 Arts is a big believer in me. He’s a tough guy when the moment is right and otherwise a big softy. I am honest with him about hardships, can ask him questions about things as I learn, and find that he is always looking out for me in any situation. He’s always the first person to read my material and is extremely proactive once I’ve put the work in on my side.

Something I really appreciate that he does is, at the end of every year he sends out a long list of questions to each of his clients. The questions range from goals, people you want to meet, things we can improve on together, and how he can hold you accountable. It was one of the most thorough things I’ve received from a representative  in my career and actually made me very excited as I stepped into the new year.

How do you stay motivated, effective, and productive in this business?

Motivation comes and goes. To me, it’s important to take advantage of those waves and act on them when you’re feeling it. Otherwise, it comes down to productivity.

After writing my first film, my co-writer, Jessica Martinez, and I hit a high. We wrote three more features in the two years following, constantly inspired, flooded by the free time COVID had provided us. But as soon as real life returned and I started my business, and my co-writer took on a salaried 9-to-5, writing consistently became much harder.

There was this feeling that our first feature was the one. It was so special and personal, and it made every other concept we had feel so small and incomplete by comparison. We couldn’t move on until we saw our main love come to fruition. And we definitely couldn’t find anything as special to capture in another script. We took a major pause, writing a few short films, commercials, and a TV pilot that we never fully developed over the course of three years. We just couldn’t get ourselves to step into another project at that scale.

It wasn’t until late 2025 that something finally clicked. A story tripped and fell into my mind and it actually excited me. I felt for the first time that I was able to understand what my co-writer and I were good at writing – relationships – and really focus on how that affects our approach to story and outlining. We started writing again, consistently, despite our first film’s updates. This was a whole new world for us, and we’ve been very protective of it since. I’m hopeful that this continues, and that eventually we can set this next film up and start working on the next without any more major pauses.

How do you network to attract the right people to your projects?

There are unspoken rules about what to do and what not to do, and I think a lot of people miss that mark. “What can you do for me?” should rest at the back of your mind. It should instead be about relationships – people who care about you and your career, who are excited to see your work and celebrate your wins. At the end of the day, the majority of this town is made up of people who grew up watching films and TV, who one day wanted to make great films and TV. It’s about finding those people who are as inspired as you and clinging on to them. It’s a spirit you can find in fellow filmmakers, executives, and producers, no matter their role.

Apart from having a story to tell, what are the traits of the most successful filmmakers?

I think being a filmmaker is 50% creative and 50% business. It’s so important to hone your voice, your skillset, and your creative relationships to make better work. But it’s also important to understand the financials of this business: how to pitch your work, how to build the correct relationships, and most importantly, what it takes to bring something to life.

The greatest tools I have in my pocket are the ones I learned on set doing every other job but my own. I’ve line produced, gripped, AD’d, key PA’d – every job under the sun. It helped me understand every role on set and informed my writing when I am trying to back into a budget. I have a keen understanding of what I am asking of my crew, as well as a financial understanding of what I’m asking my producer for when I’m conceptualizing a project. This is one of the most expensive art forms out there, from a pure material and labor perspective. Every single job comes with limitations and roadblocks, I think being able to fully understand how to be creative under the conditions presented is more powerful than any good idea or perfect cut.

Should screenwriters have a career plan?

Every writer should have a plan, yes. It’s a hard business to break into, and it rarely becomes much easier. But no matter what challenges are presented to you, it’s vital that you remember there is always time. If you’re faced with challenges that force you to enter into a 9-to-5 like my co-writer, or onto a project you’re not remotely passionate about, even sitting down and working on that script you’re in love with for an hour a day means that you are still a writer.

It’s important to have dreams and even bigger goals. Amazing things happen to the careers of writers every day. But it’s also important to really live. Feel your wins, your losses, your struggles, and your challenges. The hardships are what should make you feel alive. And at the end of the day, what would you write about if you don’t truly live?

by Staff Writer

From our in-house editorial team.