From the Heart Productions Inc

🎬 New AI tools seem to appear every week.

Some promise to write scripts.

Some promise to create trailers.

Some claim they'll replace entire production teams.

But which tools actually help independent filmmakers?

And which ones waste your time?

Join filmmaker, producer, and actor Jonathon M. Smith for a practical session designed to help filmmakers cut through the noise and discover AI tools that can support real-world filmmaking.

In this class you'll explore:

✅ AI tools filmmakers are using right now

✅ Which programs are worth learning—and which aren't

✅ Ways AI can help with research, marketing, planning, and production

✅ Opportunities and limitations filmmakers should understand before investing time or money

✅ Live Q&A to ask your AI and filmmaking questions

Jonathon has worked in film and television for more than 15 years, with credits including Disney promotions, Hannah Montana, Greek, Numb3rs, Heart of Dixie, and The Mandalorian. He is currently producing and starring in the feature film The Terrible Children, which has already secured distribution ahead of its release.

📅 Saturday, June 27, 2026

If you've been curious about AI but aren't sure where to start, this class can help you separate useful tools from expensive distractions.

Learn more at https://buff.ly/JCOznZ1

Registration for Story of Your Budget is now open.

Do you know the story of your budget? Because that's what grant funders are seeking to understand in your grant application.

What are your priorities? How will you accomplish the film? Who will steward its completion? These stories should all be conveyed in your budget.

But many filmmakers rush through this element of the process when often its the most integral part of the applicatiion answering questions of:

Why do I need the funds?
What will the funds do and how will they be spent?
And how does the funding ensure successful completion?

This workshop helps you to see your budget as granters will see it; and to take steps to make the budget workings clear and cohesive with the rest of the application.

Register today on Eventbrite.

July 17 and 18th, 5-8p and 10-2p pst
https://buff.ly/Ign6n0p

This is part of the Filmmakers At Play Online Workshop series.

From the Heart Productions is honored to fiscally sponsor Chasing Perfection: One Chef’s Journey to Find Mental Wellness — a documentary that shines a light on the mental health crisis affecting hospitality professionals worldwide.

Chef Lee Wright entered the culinary world at 16 and built a successful international career, including appearing on MasterChef: The Professionals. But behind the pressure, perfectionism, and intensity of the industry, Lee was quietly fighting mental illness. By age 33, he had experienced four mental health breakdowns.

Through Lee’s honest story, this film explores the emotional cost of high-performance environments while encouraging more open conversations about mental health in kitchens and hospitality spaces everywhere.

Studies continue to show alarming rates of mental health struggles among hospitality workers in both the U.K. and U.S., yet stigma often prevents people from seeking help. This documentary hopes to help change that narrative.

Donations will support filming in the U.K. and U.S., production, post-production, outreach campaigns, screenings, festival submissions, and global distribution efforts to help this story reach audiences worldwide.

https://buff.ly/ErScgkb

💛 We are proud to support films that make a meaningful contribution to society through storytelling.

The film industry will always shift.
Trends change. Gatekeepers change. Technology changes.

But the filmmakers who keep moving forward are the ones who refuse to let fear decide what’s possible.

Your mindset shapes your actions.
Your actions shape your opportunities.
And your persistence shapes your future.

Keep creating. Keep believing. Keep funding your vision. 🎬✨