Jim Cummings is the writer-director behind Thunder Road, The Wolf of Snow Hollow, and The Beta Test—but before any of that, he made a feature he now calls “cringeworthy.” From crashing on his parents’ floor with film school friends to reinventing himself after a five-year directing hiatus, Jim has built a career by staying fiercely independent and refusing to wait for permission.

In this episode, Jim walks us through the entire journey—from making Thunder Road on Kickstarter and equity investments, to landing a surprise Amazon deal, to self-distributing the feature and making over $1 million. He shares how working at CollegeHumor and ILM sharpened his storytelling, how an Olaf balloon at the bottom of the Mariana Trench inspired one of his most biting shorts, and why he thinks the studio system is broken beyond repair. It’s equal parts filmmaker therapy, business masterclass, and creative kick in the ass.

Stick around to the very end for a quick update on Petunia, my debut feature, and where things are at as we prep for a big fundraising push this fall.