Remsy Atassi

director • dp • artist | my studio RA IMAGING produces documentary, commercials, films, & photography in Chicago

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

The thing that quietly bugs me about the FX6 is that it is full frame only with no clean way to use my Super 35 glass. For a lot of shooters that is a real limitation, and it is the kind of thing you only feel once you own the camera.

#filmmaking #indiefilm

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

Filmmaking is a business of freelancers and school taught me almost nothing about that side of it. Networking, taxes, finding clients, running yourself like a small business, all the stuff you actually live in. That is the part nobody hands you a...

#filmmaking #indiefilm

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

For a long time I chased the distribution deal as the finish line. What actually gave me runway was building an audience, doing my own screenings, selling directly to the people who care. An audience funds the next film. A one time deal...

#filmmaking #indiefilm #thefilmlife

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

Make work that can stand on its own. The gravitas comes from how you treat it, not from a festival jury validating it.

#filmmaking #indiefilm #thefilmlife

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

The technical barrier to making something good is basically gone. An iPhone and a couple of decent mics is enough, and people are building real audiences doing exactly that. The gatekeeping was always more about access than talent.

#filmmaking #indiefilm

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

The Canon C400 with the 24 to 105 f2.8 is the first camera in a while that makes me look sideways at the FX6. Bigger codecs, raw, 6K. Sony has had this space to itself and that is starting to change.

#filmmaking #indiefilm

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

I had the NYU dream, no scholarship, and a program that honestly was not very good. One of my professors straight up told me I should drop out, so I did and started building a company instead. I do not regret it, but it took me years to be okay with...

#filmmaking #indiefilm

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

We finished Bad Animal back in 2022 and went the festival and distribution route before deciding to just put it out ourselves. Self distributing it changed how I thought about every project that came after. It is the reason I stopped...

#filmmaking #indiefilm #thefilmlife

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

I didn't submit The Wilted Flower to a single film festival

#filmmaking #indiefilm #thefilmlife #wiltedflower

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

The FX6 does 4K 120 beautifully and it is the one place I always felt the FX9 came up short. If slow motion is part of how you shoot, that gap matters more than the spec sheet makes it look.

#filmmaking #indiefilm

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

Film school made sense when the technology was the gatekeeper. You went because that was the only way to get your hands on the gear and learn how it actually worked. That barrier is basically gone now, and the whole industry has shifted toward content,...

#filmmaking #indiefilm

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

I sold my RED a while back and honestly nobody could tell. In a real color suite the FX6 ProRes 444 held up next to footage that cost five times as much. At some point you stop paying for the badge.

#filmmaking #indiefilm

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

We finished Bad Animal in 2022 and the distribution deals on the table weren't worth taking. So we self-distributed.

#filmmaking #indiefilm #thefilmlife #badanimal

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

Fame means nothing

#filmmaking #indiefilm

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

Short films run 30 to 50 dollars a submission, features push past 100. Apply to a dozen or two and that is thousands of dollars that never shows up on screen. They are always happy to take it though.

#filmmaking #indiefilm #thefilmlife

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

A distribution deal gives you a one-time check (or not... more likely). An audience gives you runway and room to negotiate

#filmmaking #indiefilm #thefilmlife

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

THE WILTED FLOWER - Available now on my site for the price of a cup of coffee.

#filmmaking #thefilmlife

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

Most festivals are pay to play. You buy a laurel, nobody screens the film, and there is nothing waiting on the other side. The money goes one way and the work never gets seen.

#filmmaking #indiefilm #thefilmlife

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

A clip from Bad Animal, my first feature. The cast and crew on this one were the reason it ever got finished. These people will always hold a special place in my heart.

#filmmaking #chicagofilmmaker

[Remsy Atassi @Remsy_Atassi]

For most of what filmmakers actually shoot, an iPhone is enough. Not a hot take, just true now.

#filmmaking #indiefilm