Nothing But Yes

Making movies is hard. But it’s also a lot of fun. Some people (not many) make a lot of money doing it. And lots of people want to do it. Actors, writers, and directors arrive daily in Los Angeles. And it’s no longer limited to Los Angeles.

Now that you can make movies on your phone, people are doing it all over the world. My seven-year-old son knows the grammar of cinema almost as well as he knows how to read. But… there’s only so much need for movies. The marketplace is limited.

And so filmmaking is a World of No.

Like I said, you can shoot, record, edit and export a movie in your pocket. But there are still loads of No’s to be overcome. Budgets. Logistics. Stars. Distribution.

That is why I am astounded on a daily basis that this film has been nothing but YES from the time we began a few months back.

Our initial investor approached US!

We reached out to every distiller that we wanted to feature. Every single one said “sure.” The same was true of every expert and writer we approached.

It wasn’t by leveraging contacts or marketing teams. We got to one distiller through a friend of a friend of a friend… who gave me his home phone number.

We have had importers, bars, and brand representatives offer to help us raise awareness about our film and the story we want to tell. The team at Alexander Murray & Co. and The Lost Property Bar hosted a tasting event for us after meeting us ONE time.

I am not writing this to brag. I don’t do that.

I am writing this because I am humbled and grateful that we have been so warmly embraced by the people in the whisky industry. With so many corporate drinks giants now calling the shots at distilleries, we expected to have to jump through hoop after hoop in a maze of marketers and publicists. Pitch decks flying all around. Nope.

There is a bonhomie in the whisky world that seems to span the globe. I have yet to detect the slightest trace of any territorial disputes or vindictive competitiveness. People speak as highly of their competitors as they do of their own whisky.

I am sure that part of that is that all boats rise in a tide. Whisky is booming and there’s plenty of “tide” for everyone right now. But the generosity of spirit seems to run deeper than that.

And that will be one of the things that we hope to show on screen when the time comes.