Having Trouble Financing Your First Film? Werner Herzog Suggests a Sex Club

Making movies is an expensive task. One that requires a lot of savings, maybe a Kickstarter, and sometimes rich parents. But if you're trying to get your first movie off the ground, getting enough money to make your dreams come true can feel insurmountable.Enter famed director Werner Herzog, someone we love around here for his raconteur personality and his willingness to go the extra mile to make a movie. In a recent interview with CBS, Herzog talked about a workshop he leads which he calls a "film school for rogues."His advice to these rogues is pretty simple. Herzog says, “For the rogues, I also say, ‘You are able-bodied. Earn money to finance your first films. But don’t earn it with clerical works in an office.” Herzog continued, “‘Go out and work as a bouncer in a sex club. Work as a warden in a lunatic asylum. Go out to a cattle ranch and learn how to milk a cow. Earn your money that way, in real life.'”Herzog added, “You do not become a poet by being in a college. […] You have to go outside of what the norm is. You have to have a certain amount of, I say, good criminal energy [to make a film.]”Despite the salacious title of the article, I think this is pretty good advice. It's basically just to live your life and make money. I think many of us get bogged down by the idea that we have to be making something every second. and sometimes, that makes us miss out on the lives and experiences that would make us better filmmakers. Lived experiences offer truth. These truths can be developed into story. And once we have those stories, we have the basis for what all film can be. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Mar 24, 2025 - 23:17

Having Trouble Financing Your First Film? Werner Herzog Suggests a Sex Club

Making movies is an expensive task. One that requires a lot of savings, maybe a Kickstarter, and sometimes rich parents.

But if you're trying to get your first movie off the ground, getting enough money to make your dreams come true can feel insurmountable.

Enter famed director Werner Herzog, someone we love around here for his raconteur personality and his willingness to go the extra mile to make a movie.

In a recent interview with CBS, Herzog talked about a workshop he leads which he calls a "film school for rogues."

His advice to these rogues is pretty simple.

Herzog says, “For the rogues, I also say, ‘You are able-bodied. Earn money to finance your first films. But don’t earn it with clerical works in an office.” Herzog continued, “‘Go out and work as a bouncer in a sex club. Work as a warden in a lunatic asylum. Go out to a cattle ranch and learn how to milk a cow. Earn your money that way, in real life.'”

Herzog added, “You do not become a poet by being in a college. […] You have to go outside of what the norm is. You have to have a certain amount of, I say, good criminal energy [to make a film.]”

Despite the salacious title of the article, I think this is pretty good advice. It's basically just to live your life and make money.

I think many of us get bogged down by the idea that we have to be making something every second. and sometimes, that makes us miss out on the lives and experiences that would make us better filmmakers.

Lived experiences offer truth. These truths can be developed into story. And once we have those stories, we have the basis for what all film can be.

Let me know what you think in the comments.