I saw Christopher Nolan at a coffee shop in Hollywood this week. He was wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops while chatting up an acquaintance unknown.

Christopher Nolan drinks his coffee just like a normal person. From a paper cup, outside in the sun with his fellow (wo)man.

Christopher Nolan is just like you and me, except for one crucial difference:

He’s got a hell of a lot more leverage than either of us.

Media As Leverage.

While Christopher Nolan sips his cappuccino - or does anything for that matter, his movies work for him. He directed:

• Oppenheimer (2023) - honestly, I was a little bored.

• Tenet (2020)

• Dunkirk (2017)

• Interstellar (2014) - one of my favorite sci-fi movies

• The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

• Inception (2010) - didn’t understand a thing that happened

• The Dark Knight (2008) - the best Batman movie ever IMO

• The Prestige (2006)

• Batman Begins (2005)

• Insomnia (2002)

• Memento (2000) - great movie

• Following (1998)

He also wrote all but one (Insomnia) and produced all but three. That means every time anyone, anywhere, watches one of his movies, he gets paid in residuals three times - as a writer, a director, and a producer.

He spends about two years actively working on a project. And then once he’s finished, that project makes him money for the rest of his life. I can’t imagine a better use of your time.

I wrote this in 2020, and it’s as true as it ever was:

Permissioned vs. Permissionless Media Leverage.

I have media leverage too. Tara and I just released our third comedy sketch, which you can watch here:

@tripteepictures

Who needs rent or groceries when you can just shop local? #pov #sketchcomedy #shoplocal #life #comedyvideo #foryou

So, what’s the difference between the leverage Christopher Nolan has built, and what Tara and I are building?

Simple: We’re building permissionless leverage (smaller videos with the resources I already have) while Christopher Nolan is building permissioned leverage (media costing hundreds of millions of dollars from outside financiers).

Christopher Nolan is actually a great example of the protective MOAT (competitive advantage) Hollywood has built.

No industry around the world does big budget blockbuster movies better by combining ALL the different kinds of leverage together: money, labor, and media.

And few directors do it as well as Christopher Nolan. He’s in the club, and he’s got access to the Hollywood leverage machine.

Use One Kind Of Leverage To Get The Other.

But hold on a second. Tara and I aren’t just building leverage with comedy sketches. We also write movie scripts.

So while we build permissionless leverage, we are actively trying to get permissioned leverage too. We write the blue print for a movie in the hopes that someone will hand us (and the producers we partner with) the money and labor to make that movie.

And here’s the critical part: our permissionless leverage (cheap scalable media) should us help get permissioned leverage (capital and labour) in Hollywood.

By producing stuff we think is funny under our own names, Tara and I help build our brand as we wait for someone to take a chance on us.

Christopher Nolan did the same thing. He made a short film in 1989 called Tarantella. He produced, directed, wrote, shot, and edited it himself.

It would take almost another decade before he’d get to direct his first feature film in 1998 (Following). He also produced, directed, wrote, shot, and edited that film.

See the trend? It takes time to build trust to get people to give you leverage. You have to prove yourself first. Christopher Nolan had to do it. Tara and I are doing it. You have to do it as well.

So start now. And keep going.

Thanks for reading.

-Thomas

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