This is a bit of a change of pace from our usual projects, but we wanted to share a film we’ve been working on.

For the past few months, we’ve been working with Samuel Goldwyn Films on The Mongoose, starring Liam Neeson, which opens in theaters today. Liam plays a veteran, and we’ve worked with the film team on military and veteran engagement. The entire team—including Liam and Director Mark Vanselow—has been very supportive of including veterans in the release.

We sit on the advisory boards of two different veteran-led organizations—Veterans in Media and Entertainment (VME), who partnered with us on this effort, and Operation Snow Leopard (OSL)—so this one meant a lot to us.

VME is a professional association of U.S. military veterans working in, or aspiring to work in, media and entertainment. They connect veterans to jobs, internships, fellowships, and build community. They also serve as a talent pipeline of military talent for the industry.

OSL was founded by military veterans and civilian allies in August 2021 and focuses on the safe evacuation and resettlement of high-risk Afghans—including women leaders, human rights defenders, journalists, interpreters, lawyers, athletes, and children—left behind following the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban.

It’s been a great project to be part of, so if you’re looking for a fun action movie to see this weekend, we recommend it!

The film opens nationwide October 30th (today), and you can find where it’s playing near you by visiting https://mongoose.movie/buy-tickets.

ABOUT THE FILM

Accused of a crime he didn’t commit and with nothing to lose, a war hero (Liam Neeson) leads law enforcement on a cross-country car chase with the help of his brothers in arms and a sympathetic public rooting for his getaway.

Starring Liam Neeson, Marisa Tomei, Ving Rhames and Michael Chiklis. Directed by Mark Vanselow.

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A Night for Veterans in New York

Last week, the filmmakers hosted a private screening in New York exclusively for veterans. Every branch of the military was represented, including a 100-year-old World War II veteran, along with members of the Veterans in Media and Entertainment (VME), FDNY, NYPD, West Point and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

Liam Neeson made a surprise appearance to introduce the film, then joined director Mark Vanselow for a Q&A after the screening. He stayed afterward to take photos with every veteran in the room. It was a night none of us will forget.

Watch: A Conversation with Director Mark Vanselow

This week we hosted a virtual panel in partnership with Veterans in Media and Entertainment (VME) with Mark, who has been Liam Neeson’s stunt double for nearly 30 years and is one of the most sought-after stunt coordinators in the business. The Mongoose is his first film as a director.

Mark’s father served in the Army, and he talked with us about how he found his way into the business, what it meant to him to tell this story, and why getting the veterans in it right mattered so much. If you missed it live, the full conversation is worth your time.

Watch the Panel

Get Your Tickets

Tickets are on sale now. The link below will automatically show you the theaters closest to your location.

If you see it this weekend, please tell your friends or share this post. The filmmakers have gone out of their way to include veterans in this release, and a strong opening weekend shows Hollywood that there is an audience for these stories.

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Thank you, as always, for your support!

- Kathleen and Bonnie

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If you care about democracy, which I’m assuming you do if you’re subscribed to this newsletter, we’ve got a film you need to see.

Democracy Under Siege is a documentary directed by our good friend and colleague, Oscar-nominated director Laura Nix, with the collaboration of Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes. The film was completed and shown widely in Europe in 2024, (where it was also funded), but is finally being released in the US.

The film pairs Laura’s lens with Telnaes’ razor-sharp political cartoons—you may know her as the Washington Post cartoonist who resigned rather than have her cartoon about Jeff Bezos killed by the paper’s ownership. That act of conscience is part of the story the film is telling: what happens when the institutions we’ve trusted to hold power accountable start bending the knee instead.

Together, they bring in an extraordinary group of political minds—historian Heather Cox Richardson, Rep. Jamie Raskin, constitutional scholar Melissa Murray, legal analyst Elie Mystal, political scientist Steven Levitsky, and more—to explore the obstacles to modern democracy baked into our founding that make this current moment possible. Constitutional logjams. Executive overreach. A crisis in judicial ethics. The promise of multiracial democracy, and the forces that have always pushed back against it.

This is the sixth and final film in the award-winning Draw for Change series, which pairs female filmmakers with female cartoonists working under censorship, dictatorship, fascism, and other restrictive governments around the world. The fact that this final chapter is set in the United States says everything.

You can watch it right now!

WATCH NOW

🎬 Stream at home, set up a group screening, or gift it to someone who needs to see it — all through Kinema.

US audiences can watch today, and the film will be available in most territories worldwide on June 1st.

And if you’re moved to do more, the team is organizing screenings with pro-democracy groups across the country to mobilize action. You can join their email list, and find upcoming events at democracyundersiegedoc.org/screenings. See their Take Action page to learn more about the groups they’re partnering with, along with their suggested calls to action. https://www.democracyundersiegedoc.org/takeaction

We talk a lot in this community about films that matter. This is one of them.

You can also find them on Substack!

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Sundance has wrapped and the 2026 festival season is officially underway. It’s such an exciting time, but it can also be nerve-wracking because the game has changed so much in the last few years. It used to be that if you premiered at Sundance, it was a matter of who/what/when not if you got an acquisition deal. But with acquisitions at a seeming all-time low, the distribution game has fundamentally shifted.

I have conversations with indie filmmakers all the time about how to be strategic in this new landscape. And the same issues come up over and over. So I wanted to share the advice I always give, because these three mistakes are completely avoidable—if you know to look for them before you start production.

If you’re a first-time filmmaker or indie filmmaker, we hope this helps!

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The Question Nobody Wants to Ask

Does this sound familiar? You’re making a film. You’re pouring everything into it—time, money, energy, all of it.

You’re thinking about how to get the best possible shots. You’re pulling favors, juggling schedules, grinding through rewrites, or prepping for production.

But there’s one question too many filmmakers leave for later:

“How will anyone actually see this?”

And by the time they start asking that question, it’s usually too late to answer it easily.

We work with filmmakers every day—running impact campaigns, release campaigns, and awards campaigns. And we see the same pattern repeat. Production finishes strong but then a film stalls out because there’s no audience, no plan, and no budget left for release. Our job is to help fix that. But if we can get ahead of it during pre-production, we don’t just fix it. We unlock everything the film has the potential to become.

By the time we’re brought in, filmmakers are exhausted. The money’s dried up. And the release is rushed or limited—not because the film wasn’t good, but because no one planned for what comes next.

These three steps can change that story entirely. I’ve seen them unlock distribution, community support, screenings, sales. I’ve seen them turn passion projects into real cultural moments. These are the steps I share with every filmmaker—or wish I could—before they start production.

Here’s what I’m going to cover:

Step 1: How to raise your budget with your release already in mind
Step 2: How to define your core audience and reverse-engineer your film from day one
Step 3: How to start building your audience before you shoot a frame

Each of these steps is simple. They don’t require a huge team or extra funding right now. But they will make the difference between a film that disappears and a film that sticks.

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The Myths That Kill Momentum

I’ve worked with dozens of indie filmmakers, and no matter the genre, budget, or experience level, the same myths show up again and again. These myths don’t just slow things down, they put entire projects at risk.

Myth #1: “We’ll figure it out after the film is done.”

This is the one I hear most often. The idea is that once the film is shot, a distributor will swoop in. Or that you’ll have time later to think about marketing and release. But that window closes fast. When the edit is locked and money’s tight, it’s too late to build the foundation you need. By then, you’re not building—you’re scrambling.

Myth #2: “A distributor will handle all that.”

Maybe they used to. Not anymore. Even if a distributor comes on board, most won’t fund your campaign. They want films that come with an audience already excited to watch. Building buzz and community in advance isn’t optional anymore—it’s the cost of entry.

Myth #3: “We don’t want to share anything before it’s done.”

I get it. You want to protect your work. But indie films are not Marvel movies. You’re not risking spoilers. You’re building anticipation. Holding back doesn’t help your release—it hurts it. Early engagement builds loyalty and momentum.

Myth #4: “If we narrow the audience, we’ll lose everyone else.”

No. You don’t build a loyal audience by trying to speak to everyone. You build it by knowing exactly who you’re talking to and showing them that this film was made with them in mind. When you go deep, others still come. But your core will carry the film.

The truth is, release success doesn’t start at release. It starts in development. These three steps—protecting your marketing budget, defining your audience, and starting social early—are what separate the films that find their people from the ones that quietly fade.

Step 1: Budget for Release From the Beginning

When you’re raising money for production, set aside 10–20% for marketing, distribution, and impact (if that’s relevant for your film). Don’t reallocate it—not for post, not for overages, not even if things get tight.

This is the biggest mistake I see.

It’s tempting to finish the film first and figure out release funding later. But getting a distributor that will cover these costs is rare these days. And if you don’t have money left for your release, your film doesn’t get seen.

Having that money ready means you can move fast when the moment comes. You don’t have to delay self-distribution and miss the opportunity to capitalize on festival momentum. You can pay for a publicist, festival strategy, digital ads, social content, materials, outreach, an impact campaign.

It also makes you more attractive to buyers. A film with a built-in release plan is a film that’s less risky. That changes the conversation. And if you end up getting a distribution deal and some of the costs you’d anticipated are covered, you can reinvest those funds into screening events and audience engagement that only elevate your film further.

If you’re serious about getting your film in front of people, protect the funds that make that possible.

Step 2: Define Your Audience Early

You can’t market to everyone—and you shouldn’t try.

Every successful release I’ve worked on had a crystal-clear sense of who it was for.

That doesn’t mean other people won’t show up. But your job is to reverse engineer your film with the people most likely to love it top of mind. You have to know your core audience.

If you’re making a rom-com about people in their 30s, your core audience is probably millennial women who read romance novels and feel nostalgic for early 2000s rom-coms. Great. Where do they hang out online? What podcasts do they listen to? What do they love? For example, don’t make a film where millennials get trashed or mocked (exceptions for relatable comedic moments)—don’t alienate your audience. Instead, add in moments of nostalgia that will land.

If you’re making a film about the military, go talk to veterans. Build relationships with organizations. Let them read the script, invite them to set, host pre-screenings to get early feedback.

If your doc is about a high school theater program, partner with drama teachers. Get real theater kids to weigh in. Invite them into the process.

The sooner you define your core audience, the sooner you can start engaging them, gathering insights that pay off later, and giving your film its best chance at building real momentum.

Step 3: Start Social Early

This one’s simple but almost no one does it. Start your film’s social media in pre-production.

Set up an Instagram account just for the film (separate from your personal or filmmaker page) and start posting before you start shooting. Instagram is the best platform to start with. You don’t need to worry about TikTok or X. TikTok favors individual creators (and is in rocky terrain these days anyway), and X is becoming less relevant for films every day.

I’ve seen it too many times. A filmmaker finishes their movie and is ready to release. The team comes together about three months out... and there’s no social media presence. No audience. No buzz. They’re starting from zero, which is the hardest place to start.

You can’t build an engaged audience overnight. Social audiences grow with consistency and time. The algorithm favors accounts that have been showing up, not ones that just pop up during release. And while going viral sounds fun, it’s not a strategy.

Instead, think of your set as a content engine. Assign someone—an intern, a PA, anyone—to take photos, record behind-the-scenes moments, and grab short videos of cast, crew or subjects. If it’s a documentary, capture some of the process if you can. Bring your future audience along for the ride.

Social media is a relationship. If you want people to care when your film comes out, start caring about them now. That early investment pays off later, especially when it’s time to run ads or drive ticket sales. If the audience is already there, everything gets easier.

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What This Actually Looks Like in Practice

Once you start doing these three things, things will start to shift. You’ll have more clarity, more traction, more momentum.

But that doesn’t mean it’ll feel easy in the moment. There will be times when it feels like extra work. Like no one’s paying attention. Like you’re juggling constantly just to keep things on track.

That’s normal. And it’s temporary.

Here’s what I want you to remember: every small step you take now will pay off exponentially later. Protecting your release budget, defining your audience, and building your social presence—it’s all about giving your film the best shot when it actually matters most: release.

Because at that point? Everything moves fast. If you’ve done this early work, you’re not scrambling. You’re not stuck. You’re ready. You already have fans. You already have money set aside. You already know who you’re talking to and how to reach them. And that momentum is what gives a film staying power.

Perfection isn’t the goal. If you don’t have a huge budget for marketing, that’s okay. The point is that you’ve protected something. A small fund gives you options. It means you can hire a publicist, run ads, or book screenings. It means you’re not stuck.

Don’t have a million followers on social? Doesn’t matter. The goal is to not be starting from zero. Having some audience—even a small, engaged one—changes everything. It gives you a base. A starting point. People who care. That’s more valuable than viral moments.

You can refine and grow but only if you start.

This is part of the creative process. And it’s what sets you up to not just finish a film, but actually get it out into the world in a way that matters.

Common Questions

What if I don’t have the money yet to set aside for release?

Start with the intention. Even if you’re just beginning to raise funds, bake it into your budget now. Talk about it with investors in their language—ROI, audience targeting, risk mitigation. Explain that this is how you’re de-risking their investment from the beginning by ensuring it has a pathway to release. It signals you’re serious, and it makes your project more attractive.

What if we’re already in production?

It’s not too late. Pause and protect some funds for your release now, or continue fundraising for it even if your production funds are raised already. Start defining your audience immediately. Get your socials live, even if you’re already on set. Behind-the-scenes footage is gold—capture it and start using it.

What if I already finished my film and didn’t do any of this?

You’re not alone—most filmmakers don’t. It just means you have to work harder now to backfill. You’ll need to carve out a budget somehow, get your social started ASAP, and identify exactly who this film is for. It’s doable, but you should start today.

What if I don’t know who my audience is?

Start by asking: Who is this story for? Who would see themselves in it? Who would care enough to share it? Go specific. Not “people who love movies,” but “Latinx Gen Z high schoolers,” or “parents of children with disabilities.” The more specific you get, the easier everything becomes—outreach, ads, partnerships, messaging. It all gets clearer.

What if I don’t know what to post on social?

Start simple. Show the journey. Introduce your cast or subjects. Share behind-the-scenes moments. Post updates and ask questions. Comment on other accounts and engage with people. You’re building a relationship—treat your followers like future fans. You don’t need to be a social expert, you just need to start.

What if I don’t want to be the face of the film?

That’s okay—your film is the star. Let your story, your cast, your characters, and your setting speak. Feature others, use behind-the-scenes glimpses or short quotes from people involved. There are plenty of ways to create content without putting yourself front and center.

What if I mess it up?

You won’t. The only way to mess this up is to ignore it completely. Anything you do now, even imperfectly, will make your release stronger. Start where you are and adjust as you go. That’s how this works.

Where to Go From Here

If you’ve made it this far, you’re already ahead because you’re thinking about your release before it’s too late. You’re not waiting until the final cut is done or a distributor comes knocking.

I know how overwhelming filmmaking can be. There are so many pieces to manage and so many moving parts. But here’s the truth: release is not just the final step. It’s part of the creative process. In my experience, it’s the part many filmmakers ignore until they can’t.

By budgeting for your release early, defining your audience and reverse engineering your film, and starting your social media presence in pre-production, you’re setting your film up to actually get released and reach the people it was made for.

Will it feel like extra work at first? Yes. Will it pay off exponentially later? Absolutely.

This is how you protect everything you’ve poured into your film. It’s how you make sure it doesn’t just sit on a hard drive or get lost in the noise. It’s how you give it the best shot possible and give yourself the foundation to keep growing your career.

If you want support in the early stages, our agency—GSD Group—offers consulting to help you lock in your strategy and avoid the missteps we see constantly. But where we provide the most value—and where a film needs the most professional support—is at release. That’s when you need a real plan, the right partners, and a team that knows how to get your film in front of an audience.

We’ve run campaigns for major studios and streamers. We’ve worked on awards campaigns, broadcast premieres, and self-released indies. We care about this industry, and we’re committed to keeping independent film thriving.

If this was helpful, please share. We want a thriving industry and we know how hard it is right now to break through.

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Culture IS Political is a newsletter by impact entertainment strategists Kathleen Rodgers and Bonnie Abaunza of GSD Group. We explore how film, TV, books, and podcasts shape politics, power, and public imagination—drawing on our experience as impact producers in Hollywood.

It made sense because our company is GSD Group, which stands for Get Shit Done. That is the ethos we bring to our work every day as impact producers in Hollywood.

But as this platform grew, we realized the name felt too much like business consulting. That may describe how we work, bu…

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That’s why I’m so excited to invi…

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“The world has not yet learned that law is better than war. Law, not war, is the answer. Law continues to be humanity’s hope for a more just and peaceful world”. - Benjamin Ferencz, Prosecutor, Nuremberg Trials

Every so often, a film comes along that doesn’t just recount history—it asks us to confront it. The upcoming film Nuremberg, starring Russell Cro…

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There’s something sacred about live theater. Especially musicals. The training, dis…

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The…

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There’s been so much talk in the last few years about the “manosphere” and the trend of young men being radicalized by right-wing media. And honestly? I understand why it’s happening.

Women have spent decades—centuries, really—fighting for a more expansive vision of ou…

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We work in impact storytelling. Our whole business is built on the belief that films can do more than entertain us—they can change us.

But right now, our industry is in crisis.

You don’t need to look far to see it. Production is fleeing Los Angeles. Funding for independent films and documentaries is drying up. Even when they’re made, it has become more difficult to find distribution. The streaming boom that once promised more opportunity has instead consolidated power in fewer hands, leaving creators with fewer options, shrinking paychecks, and less creative freedom.

And let’s not even start on AI.

Don’t get us wrong—AI isn’t all bad. It’s going to create efficiencies in certain workflows. But the danger is that it becomes yet another excuse for corporations to see art as just another way to cut costs and maximize profit.

That’s the root of the crisis we’re in.

We let entertainment become only a business.

Hollywood used to take more risks. There were once pipelines that nurtured new voices, that gave us Scorsese and Spielberg. Studios invested in stories that were risky or weren’t sure things, because they knew the payoff wasn’t just at the box office. It was cultural. It was human.

Today, it's safer to greenlight another sequel, another franchise installment, another film based on existing IP. Investors want certainty in an uncertain world. But the result is an industry that feels creatively adrift.

And it's not just bad news for artists. It's bad news for all of us. Because art isn’t just some content to fill streaming queues. It’s our most powerful export.

Cultural power is real power. It’s as important as our military or our economy. It’s how we tell the world who we are—and how we see ourselves. It’s how we build empathy across borders. It’s how we connect to our own humanity.

If we lose that, we lose a critical part of what makes us human.

Art has always been a form of resistance. A resistance to apathy. To disconnection. To systems that see only dollar signs instead of people.

That’s why it matters that we protect storytelling. That we fight for an industry that doesn’t just chase profit, but nurtures true creativity and meaning.

Because here’s the truth: the biggest impact stories in history weren’t niche indie experiments. They were major studio films that dared to say something and resonated with global audiences.

Blood Diamond wasn’t just entertainment—it changed consumer behavior around conflict diamonds. Lord of War shined a light on illegal arms trade. Hotel Rwanda forced audiences to reckon with a genocide ignored by the world.

These films had impact campaigns. Studios invested in getting those messages out. Because they understood that if you want your story to leave a legacy, it has to mean something.

We need that spirit back.

We need to invest in filmmakers with original visions. We need to rebuild the pipelines that give artists opportunities. We need studios to remember that art isn’t just business—it’s the way we resist a world that wants to flatten us into being just consumers.

We also need to invest in the ecosystem that takes a film and creates real impact in the world.

What happens if the entertainment industry collapses? What happens if the only content people consume is on social media? We will lose so much.

Storytelling is essential in remembering who we are. And who we want to be. We can’t afford to lose that.

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Director James Gunn recently described Superman as an immigrant story.

That sparked debate.

Which is strange—because it’s not exactly subtle.

He’s sent away from a dying planet by parents hoping for his survival. He lands in a new world, raised by people who teach him values of service and kindness. He grows up different—literally an alien—trying to reconc…

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I did a thought experiment this week and read the Declaration of Independence—really read it—and I was unsurprised but nonetheless disheartened to find that the list of grievances against the British Crown sounds uncomf…

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Stories move us. They make us laugh, cry, rage, and hope. More than anything, they create empathy, broaden our perspectives, and inspire us to act.

Welcome to Getting Shit Done—a space for everyone who believes stories matter and can help us build a better world.

Storytelling has always been at the heart of social change. It’s how we encounter lives and e…

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