ABOUT US
Our Creed
This community runs on four pillars:
Respect, Love, Trust, and Communication
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We must all respect each other and the work that we do no matter our positions or responsibilities.
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We must all love our work and put that same energy into all that we commit ourselves too. When we have a passion for what we do, it's no longer work, but our souls expressed and manifested.
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We must trust each other and grow in that trust. We must be able to support and make the effort to understand one another. Trust is very hard to gain once lost, so we must all do our best to maintain integrity and transparency.
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Finally, we must communicate as much as possible and be patient with how we communicate criticisms, opinions, and not be afraid to give compliments and words of encouragement. Communicate often and communicate consistently.
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We are going to be working with each other, and as such, we will be asking each other to sacrifice, commit, and exert effort.
We must all be ready and willing to meet each other half-way and compromise.
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Experience and skill carry weight in our community. We must respect those that have either the experience or the skill to execute the work.
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We are all working to perfect our craft. This is a process and we need to be patient with each other.
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We are all growing and learning from the work we do with each other. Mistakes will happen, but it is our job to support and encourage each other to try harder. It is not our responsibility to berate, belittle, or condemn each other's mistakes.
OUR FOUNDER
Empowering Filmmakers
Hello, I’m Bradley Gaurano—the Founder and President of The Collective. At my core I am a passionate filmmaker with a deep love for telling amazing stories that make a profound impression on their audiences. With over 10 years of video production experience, I thrive in crafting compelling narratives and bringing unique visions to life.
My journey in filmmaking began with a solid educational foundation at the University of California, Irvine, and continued with specialized training at the Los Angeles Film School. Over the years, I’ve honed my skills in all facets of video production, from conceptualizing ideas, to storyboarding, directing, budgeting projects, production management, and continued into post-production as I edited, color corrected, and did the motion graphics to all the projects for my clientele. My expertise spans across various types of video work, including corporate projects, commercials, red carpet events, beauty pageants, music videos, and everything in between. You can get a glimpse of my work here: https://bit.ly/4c02J4C
Why Filmmaking Groups Fail
Throughout the years I have found the following problems in independent filmmaking groups:
1) Lack of proper organization, policies, and procedures. The group is treated as a volunteer non-profit group, so people don’t commit. There’s no structure or authority. A film set cannot function without order and authority. Accidents and mistakes happen that affect the entire project.
2) During production Heads of Departments are led by those without experience. This jeopardizes the entire film set. It’s okay to have production assistants and interns learning on the job, but the one running the department should have some type of experience.
3) Most filmmaking groups make amateur student films that go nowhere. In the end, there’s bad sound, bad acting, horrible plot, cliché and trope dialogue, the writing is bad, the camera work is subpar with out-of-focus shots, etc. In the end, after all resources and manpower have been spent, the group is left with a poor product that cannot be used in anyone’s portfolio and is not worthy of festival submission. The core of the project, the script, must be amazing and proper screenwriters need to be in the group.
4) Egos, envy, and drama. Countless stories of bickering and pettiness on productions, power grabs, and screwing each other over. Not to mention, not respecting the equipment that is used. Interns and Production Assistants need to be properly trained to use the equipment.
5) Sexual tension, perversion, and hook-up culture. Many times members come looking for a relationship or cause female members to feel uncomfortable and invaded. Sometimes it was consensual, and the constant flirting and advances made on set became an unwanted distraction. This caused tons of drama and sexual tension on set which affected the entire crew during production.
6) Flakes and trying to create amazing projects without strong and firm commitments. Since most of the filmmaking groups were free and volunteer based, when it came down to consistent participation, collaboration, or sacrificing certain weekends to film, most members flake. They had no true stake in the community, so it didn’t matter to them whether they fulfilled their commitments or not. A strong community is built on the commitments of its members, and there must be a social contract or agreement between members to ensure this.
7) Time and scheduling. Because there is no real commitment, most members do not prioritize production dates or flake on commitments. Within reason, this is understandable, but there has to be a certain level of time commitment and sacrifice if the community wants to get some serious projects completed. Goals and time limits need to be adhered to. A set time for pre-production, production, and post-production. I remember one time we waited 3 months for our editor to finish editing a short we produced. It was ridiculous. A proper production schedule needs to be set, and the entire team needs to adapt to that schedule.
8) Finally, lack of a professional and ethical environment. The group is treated like a hobby or non-profit and is not taken seriously. In order for any group to see success as a group and produce good products, it has to be treated like a business with purpose, procedures, and professionalism.
And so seeing all these problems in other filmmaking groups, The Collective was born.