Clay Epstein Of Film Mode Entertainment On Five Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In TV & Film
…I also strongly believe in making your own luck. You have to be in the right place at the right time, but a lot of being in the right place at the right time is you getting there, driving yourself to the right place at the right time, metaphorically. And then trusting yourself to take that leap. You have to create your own luck and build that reputation, do the hard work, learn how it all works, network, travel, and meet people. If you don’t think this meeting is going to pay off, take the meeting. Because six years later, that person may have told someone else, and now they’re running a huge fund and they say, “We’ve got to meet with Clay because five years ago when I was nobody, he sat for 35 minutes and we talked and he gave me his time.” That happens. I get those calls and those emails a lot…
I had the pleasure to talk with Clay Epstein. Clay, a prominent figure in the independent film industry, is currently the President of Film Mode Entertainment, a company he founded in March 2016. Film Mode Entertainment is a worldwide sales and production company that represents 10–15 titles annually. Epstein also holds the significant role of Chairperson for the Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA) which hosts the American Film Market (AFM).
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Epstein was exposed to the entertainment environment from a young age. This early exposure sparked his enduring passion for film and led him to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts at California State University, Northridge, where he majored in Film Production and minored in Italian Language.
Epstein began his professional journey in the entertainment industry at Kushner-Locke. He then transitioned to First Look Studios, where he managed distribution for over 300 titles to various markets including Asia, ancillary, and new media. His career path took him through several positions, at prestigious companies, including Vice President of Sales and Acquisitions at The Little Film Company, where he contributed to the success of notable films such as the Academy Award-winning “Tsotsi” and Academy Award Nominated, “The Last Station.”
Prior to establishing Film Mode Entertainment, Epstein served as Senior Vice President of Sales and Acquisitions at Arclight Films. Here, he was instrumental in acquiring and representing high-profile films like Paul Schrader’s “Dog Eat Dog” starring Nicolas Cage, and the Spierig brothers’ “Predestination” starring Ethan Hawke.
Under Epstein’s leadership, Film Mode Entertainment has enjoyed significant success. The company has been involved in producing and distributing several influential films, such as “Crypto” starring Kurt Russell, “Little Pink House” featuring Catherine Keener, and Mayim Bialik’s directorial debut “As They Made Us” with Dustin Hoffman and Candice Bergen. In addition to film production and sales, Film Mode launched a consulting division in 2021, offering producers expertise on financial models, marketing, and distribution strategies.
Epstein is an active educator and speaker, having served as an instructor at UCLA Extension, and New York Film Academy and still frequently lectures at film festivals and schools globally. He is also a member of various esteemed organizations including the Producers Guild of America (PGA), the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles (BAFTA LA), Film Independent (FIND) and the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts.
As a leader in the industry, Epstein has been pivotal in the recent decision to move the location of AFM from Santa Monica to Las Vegas, reflecting his forward-thinking approach to enhancing the market’s accessibility and appeal. His contributions extend to a deep understanding of global market trends, focusing on genres and strategies that resonate across different territories and cultures.
Clay Epstein continues to shape the landscape of independent cinema, championing innovative projects and nurturing emerging talent. His vision for Film Mode Entertainment not only encompasses commercial success but also aims to foster a producer-friendly environment, ensuring that creative integrity and artistic value are maintained across all productions.
Yitzi: Clay, it’s an honor to meet you. Before we dive in deep, our readers would love to learn about your personal origin story. Can you share the story of your childhood and how you grew up?
Clay: My personal origin story? Well, unlike many entertainment professionals, I was born, raised, and grew up in Los Angeles. I often joke that I stayed in LA to work in the movies, whereas most people come here for that reason. I was bitten very early by the entertainment bug, being exposed to it. Growing up in LA, you’d see the production trucks and the police security around sets, which was always very exciting to me. From an early age, going to the movies really touched me emotionally. I was fortunate that my family took me to plays, stage plays, and musicals, and I was always just positively affected by entertainment, whether it was live or through movies or TV.
As one of those 80s kids, I was in love with Knight Rider and the A-Team, watching TV on the floor right in front of the screen, eagerly waiting for the next episode. So, I always wanted to be in entertainment in some capacity. I just didn’t know how to navigate it, because my family was not in the industry. I think that’s common for a lot of local LA families; they’re not in the business. They’re engineers, teachers, and everything else. But I grew up in a suburb and was just a very normal local LA kid.
I tried to find a way into the industry through film school at Cal State Northridge. Everyone has a little bit of help here and there. I was all in; I wanted nothing more than to be a filmmaker or an actor. My mom’s friend was married to an actor who would take me to a few productions here and there, exposing me a bit to the acting side. He had a friend who was a producer, and they hired me when I was 20 years old to help line-produce a local Spanish-language television show in LA. I wasn’t old enough to drink with them in the evenings; the director was downing tequila shots by 5:30. But I had a huge white Mercury with a massive trunk, and for two weeks, I would pick up the crew and the director at six in the morning, load all of the equipment in the trunk, shove three guys in the back and the director in the front with me, and we would have maybe five or six interviews a day. It was grueling, right? I would carry C stands and help set things up, even appearing in shots sometimes, doing everything from getting lunch to carrying equipment. And I loved it, absolutely loved it.
I became friendly with the director who saw me as this young protégé, perhaps. I stuck with it and was very proud of working on that show, where they interviewed successful Latinos and Latinasin LA. It was really neat — actors, directors, museum executives. I was still in film school and then I studied in Italy for a year after that to kind of get exposure to the world and minored in Italian studies. I came back, finished film school, having learned a lot about myself while abroad. I was certainly a changed individual when I returned. You’re exposed to so much; Northridge is not the universe, you know. There’s a whole world out there. I always felt a bit frustrated that the film school wasn’t encouraging us to be global citizens. We were only 20 minutes from Hollywood, and yet I was the only one who would go into Hollywood to attend book signings or go to Film Independent screenings or AFI seminars. I met filmmakers like Robert Rodriguez, Gary Ross, Garry Marshall, and Joe Johnston at these events and was so inspired by these individuals. Film School lives in its own bubble but I’m fortunate enough to have been motivated to venture out.
But back then, I will never forget. I was working at Banana Republic, and there was this woman who would frequently come in and shop. She was an assistant director for TV or something along those lines. She would always chat with me about movies and one day, she told me I needed to join Independent Film Producers, which is now known as Film Independent. It was because of her that I joined, and because of her that I went to these additional seminars, networking events, and screenings. I will always remember her. I don’t recall her name, but she’s a part of my journey, someone I’m very thankful to have met.
Then I graduated from film school. I did okay. They didn’t even screen my thesis film because it featured a topless woman and all the controversy that came with it. Truth be told, it probably wasn’t that good of a film. But a cousin of mine was dating a girl who worked at a distribution company called Kushner Lock, which doesn’t exist anymore. She helped get me an interview, and I landed a job as a Hollywood runner. I was a runner, receptionist, and production assistant, so of course, I thought I had made it. It was a great company, seventy-something people, top floor of a building in Brentwood. My eyes and ears were open, and I loved every minute of it. I was running all over Hollywood, delivering scripts, picking things up, dropping them off, answering phones, meeting people, networking, and planning my next short film, which I would shoot in the offices at night and on the weekends. I loved it and met some amazing people and colleagues that I’m still in touch with today. I’ve worked with many of them since that job.
After answering phones and doing runs at Kushner Lock, the head of international, that led me to another company, similar but at a slightly higher level, in independent and international distribution. I had no interest in doing sales or distribution, but he was convincing, and after some deliberation, I took the job. Of course, taking that job was the beginning of my career. My first American film market was in 1999. Like I said, I’ve made friends and colleagues from those days that I still see today, work with, or have worked for. It’s been a really interesting path.
That job led to another one at Overseas Film Group, First Look, which also doesn’t exist anymore. But that job at First Look really laid the groundwork for my career in a much more significant way. Robbie Little owned the company at the time, and I was a coordinator — a bit higher level. I would attend some of the markets; I had more experience and was really working at a much higher level by then, eventually becoming part of the sales team.
But it was my relationship with Robbie that really set a path I could never have imagined. Everyone needs a mentor, and I was lucky to have one. Robbie Little became that mentor. It wasn’t immediate; it took a long time. He didn’t know who I was for a while and didn’t really notice me. I remember the day he really noticed me; I had made a contribution to the team that impressed him. Then Robbie left the company involuntarily. He and his wife would occasionally contact me for various things, like getting a DVD of a film we produced 15 years ago. They felt comfortable using me as a conduit, and I made sure they could rely on me, which started our friendship.
I left First Look after it went through new ownership and became a different company. Robbie called me up one day and asked, “What are you doing?” I was trying to figure things out. He said, “Why don’t you come to Berlin? I have two movies that I’m selling that I executive produced. We’re going to Berlin, and I think one of them is going to get an Oscar.” I went, and next thing I know, I’m selling a film that became the highest-grossing independent horror film that year, called ‘American Haunting’. Another film I was selling, ‘Tsotsi’, a South African foreign language film, got nominated while I was there and ended up winning an Oscar. So I went from having no job to selling an Oscar-nominated movie in Berlin. Robbie and I got on really well and had a great time doing it. Over a few months and weeks of negotiation here and there, I ended up working for Robbie for the next six or seven years, helping him build his new sales company, which was always called a little film company. He wanted to keep it small, and it was really him, myself, and an intern or two for years. I worked hard and learned a lot from him — he taught me how to run a company, produce a movie, sell a movie, raise financing, and work with banks.
Then Arclight came calling. I had a friend who was an executive at Arclight at the time, someone I had worked with at Kushner Lock. You see, so much of my career goes back to those relationships I made just answering phones and doing errands. He needed a new head of sales and asked if I was interested. It took me a long time to gather the courage to leave Robbie, which was difficult. Robbie was not pleased about it, and it was a tough time for our relationship. But it was the best thing for me because it took me to another level. I got to work on much larger movies with larger distributors and loved every day of those four years, making wonderful friends and having more fun than ever.
But I always wanted my own company. I could have stayed at Arclight and would probably still be there today, debating whether I’d be making more, the same, or less money. But I needed to achieve the dream I always had of running my own company — production, distribution, sales — everything I’ve worked towards with my own vision. That was nine years ago. Running Film Mode has been the longest job I’ve ever had. We must be doing something right. I don’t have any regrets. We’ve all had help along the way, but I do feel like I’ve earned it. I feel like I’ve paid my dues more than once. You have to pay your dues; you can’t just become something without putting in the time. Robbie will always be my mentor, and I learned an incredible amount from him. I try to run the company with the code of conduct he instilled in me — he was a very honest, transparent, likable, reputable executive. When I worked for Robbie, anytime I mentioned his name, people would say, “Oh my God, I love Robbie, he’s great, he’s so honest.” He had such a great reputation. That’s the code of conduct — do the right thing, be good at business, but do what you say you’re going to do.
Yitzi: It’s amazing. I’m sure you have some remarkable stories and anecdotes from all your years in the business, behind-the-scenes production. Can you share with our viewers one or two of your favorite, most memorable stories?
Clay: Sure, One happened when I was a runner at Kushner Lock. This story is fun because it’s something that would never happen today. I was about 21 or 22 years old, answering phones and running errands. One day, they told me I needed to go to the bank, withdraw $10,000 in cash, and deliver it to the director, Alfonso Arau. They explained it was his final payment, in cash. Naturally, I was shocked and asked, “You trust me? I trust myself, but do you trust me? What if I get into a car accident or get mugged? How will you know I didn’t steal it?” They decided to send someone with me, but ironically, they chose the skinniest, shortest guy at the company — not exactly someone who’d stop a theft.
So we went to the bank, and I was incredibly nervous handling that much cash, especially since I was so young. After the bank gave me the cash, which they counted out in hundreds and put in a bag, the guy with me said he had to return to the office and couldn’t accompany me to the director’s house. There I was, on my own, with $10,000 in my pocket. I drove up to Arau’s house in the Hollywood Hills, When I handed him the cash, he didn’t just thank me and send me on my way; he insisted on counting every bill right there. I sat there for about 20 minutes, sweating over each count, hoping he’d at least offer me at least a hundred-dollar bill for my troubles, but nothing. He just thanked me, and I left.
When I got back to the office, I immediately reported to the boss’s assistant, affirming that I hadn’t taken a cent. Thankfully, the director had already called to confirm he received the cash. That was the day I felt like I’d truly made it in Hollywood. I had one of those crazy Hollywood stories to tell.
Yitzi: It’s been said that sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Do you have a story about a humorous mistake that you made when you were first starting and the lesson that you learned from it?
Clay: Yeah, boy, there are probably a lot of them. Generally speaking, I used to overreact or get really worked up when I felt I was wronged. I saw it as an injustice and would get so worked up over it, it would take over my whole body and soul for days. I’ve calmed down a bit now. I think that’s part of aging, gaining confidence, a bit of success, and learning how to diffuse situations before they explode.
There was a particularly tough situation a few years ago during COVID. I don’t want to go into the specifics, but it was challenging. I learned that while I might not have been able to change the actual dealings, I could have managed how it affected me. That’s something you have to learn, right? Otherwise, it can just eat you up inside, and you age too quickly and become jaded.
Also, communication is very difficult and something you have to learn from. We all get tired sometimes, and you might drop your diplomacy. I try not to drop my diplomacy. I try to remain diplomatic at all times. For example, just before COVID, at a market, I had a client yell at me in a restaurant, in public during lunch. He was completely out of line, and his reaction was so inconsistent with the situation. He had been drinking, and I responded diplomatically, tried to defuse it, and took on the seller role. I apologized and tried to fix it for him, but he kept at it. I even followed up with an email trying to resolve the issue.
Who I am today, I’d probably handle it differently. I’d probably tell him, “If you don’t change your tone, I’m leaving. I’m happy to discuss this with you like an adult, but if this is how you’re going to talk, then I’m out.” You can argue for both responses being right, but I’m at a point in my life where I just don’t have the energy for it anymore. So today, I’d probably just get up and walk out. I would tell him that I’m willing to discuss things like adults, but until then, I’m out. I just don’t have time for it anymore.
Yitzi: So Clay, you have so much impressive work, so many impressive projects. Can you share with the readers some of the exciting projects that you’re working on now and maybe you’ll be working on in the future?
Clay: Yeah. One project I’m incredibly proud of, though it’s already completed, is ‘As They Made Us’ with Dustin Hoffman. I was involved very early on — helped get it financed, helped bring it to audiences, and worked closely with Mayim Bialik on set. I’m always going to be proud of that film for many reasons. At Film Mode, we do a lot of commercial films, not always prestige, but we try to balance it out. Prestige projects that really warrant all the effort it takes to push them up the mountain are few and far between.
We’re working on a few projects right now that I can’t announce yet, but one that we’ve recently brought to market is our first fully produced action film with Scott Adkins, which I’m very proud of. We got it financed, and I produced it with my partner, Craig Baumgarten, and Scott Adkins. We shot it in Colombia, and I’m really proud that it was completed safely and that no one got hurt. We’ll be premiering the first promo footage in Cannes, and it looks unbelievably good — the production value they managed to achieve in Colombia is remarkable.
We also have our killer crocodile movie, ‘Tik/Croc’, which I’m equally excited about. I love creature features, and audiences love them too. Just a year ago in Cannes, Steve Jaggi pitched us just a sentence — a logline — and a year later, we have a script, a filmmaker presentation, and are doing pre-sales. It’s amazing how much you can achieve in 12 months in the independent world. You always have to be moving forward.
Additionally, we have two new films we’re screening that I didn’t produce: ‘Laws of Man’ and ‘Decade of the Dead’. These are good, well-made genre pictures. We’re also working on a prestige documentary about the Michelin star system, pulling back the curtain on how it operates. I love this kind of material — I’m the audience for that movie. We’re still editing the film, so we’ll have to get it finished and then submit it to festivals. It’s all about pushing forward, always moving forward, which is something I take great pride in.
Yitzi: Okay, so this is our signature question that we ask in our interviews. You have a lot of experience now. Looking back to when you first started, do you have five things that you wish somebody advised you or told you that you know now, but you didn’t know then?
Clay: I don’t want to get this wrong. The whole saying of “trust your instinct” can only come into play when you’ve been doing something long enough that your instinct is correct. So it’s almost like trust your instinct, but you need to know when to trust your instinct. You can’t trust your instinct when you’re 30 or 25 or you’ve been doing something for five years. You don’t really have instinct yet. When you’ve been doing it for 24 or 25 years, now you have instinct. I’ve been given that advice, “trust your instinct,” but I finally can now trust my instinct. At 25 years in, you can trust your instinct. I think the advice is; know when you can trust your instinct.
When you are deep in the trenches working hard and you ever wonder if it’s going to pay off, it does. There is no shortcut to success unless you’re extremely wealthy or extremely good-looking, or both. I am neither. So I had to work hard and take it. A lot of people don’t want to deal with it or say, “I don’t need to take this.” Take it. You’re just paying your dues. If you stick with it long enough, it can pay off.
I also strongly believe in making your own luck. You have to be in the right place at the right time, but a lot of being in the right place at the right time is you getting there, driving yourself to the right place at the right time, metaphorically. And then trusting yourself to take that leap. You have to create your own luck and build that reputation, do the hard work, learn how it all works, network, travel, and meet people. If you don’t think this meeting is going to pay off, take the meeting. Because six years later, that person may have told someone else, and now they’re running a huge fund and they say, “We’ve got to meet with Clay because five years ago when I was nobody, he sat for 35 minutes and we talked and he gave me his time.” That happens. I get those calls and those emails a lot.
I think you have to decide what type of professional you want to be. I used to give this advice to interns and students. It’s hard for them to visualize it when they’re so young and still a student. There are people who have decided they want to be dishonest, and they’re comfortable with that. That’s who they are. Every deal they do, they want to take advantage of someone. But I hope that the majority of people out there decide they want to be honest, respectful, and reputable. If that is your decision, which I hope it is, then all of your choices need to support that. That helps guide how you’re going to treat your employees, clients, and partners. It’s all about the brand of the company, and yourself. We’re in entertainment, we all have a brand, whether we’re aware of it or not. I don’t know many other industries where you have 3,000 plus people in your contact list or go to a film market and have 150 to 170 meetings over five or six days. That’s intense. Not a lot of industries have that many meetings. So, you have a brand. We’re in entertainment; we’re not in an industry that is insular in a sense that no one knows about. We are somewhat insular in terms of how many people are doing it, but because we’re in entertainment, we’re working in windows.
Yitzi: Amazing. So this is our aspirational question. Clay, because of the platform that you’ve built and all your great work, you’re a person of enormous influence. If you could spread an idea or inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Clay: It seems, when you read the news, that it should be simple to fix any horrible thing happening in the world. What’s most upsetting is that often the worst things that happen to so many people result from the decisions of a few. In many wars, conflicts, and business dealings, thousands are laid off because a handful of people needed to profit enormously. It must be helping someone, right? And that someone is probably one or two people, or a board of directors. It’s always been the history of the world.
To say I want to spread compassion might sound naive. I think it comes back to what type of person you want to be. We all know extremely devout people in any religion who are not necessarily good people or good in business. Conversely, we know people without any faith who are fantastic to deal with. It doesn’t seem to be about anything other than the type of person you choose to be and how you interact with others.
If we could instill this understanding in students early on, regardless of their socioeconomic background, and not let these external forces push them into a moral gray area, that would be impactful. Being a good person isn’t something you decide every morning; it’s not a daily choice between good or bad. Being good doesn’t mean being a pushover, avoiding arguments, or ceding deal points. It’s about being respectful, fair, and following through on your commitments.
It’s about maintaining the community. That’s why, as the chairman of the IFTA, I strive to keep our community united and instill in it the notion that it’s not just about individual gain or your company. It’s about the greater good of the whole. This concept might seem foreign to the movie business, which wasn’t built on this ethos. We have to learn and find a way to balance this with personal success. If you can do that, you’ll be a happy person.
Yitzi: So how can our readers continue to follow your work? How can they support any of your projects?
Clay: Thank you. Well, we’re a bit old-fashioned; we have a Facebook and Instagram account. They are under Film Mode Entertainment. However, your readers should really try to come to the market if they want to be filmmakers or are filmmakers. They have to attend the American Film Market, which will be in Las Vegas this year, and they should also get to Cannes and Berlin. You have to be in it. If they can’t afford it, it’s tough because online classes and seminars make it difficult to network. It’s not a fair world or a fair industry. But, if they want to stay in touch with us, Facebook is great. Come see us at the markets; we’re always there. I don’t teach as much as I used to because of time constraints. Hopefully, I can do it again.
Yitzi: Wow, amazing. I’m sure your students are very lucky.
Clay: I don’t know about that. You’d have to ask them. There’s always one student it seems to click with, which is probably the percentage. In our business, it’s always about 1% for everything — success for an actor, a writer, a director, a film, a student.
Yitzi: Thank you so much for this.
Clay: My pleasure.
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