Welcome to the AP Creative Community Newsletter!
Every other week, I share actionable tips, honest answers, and valuable insights to help you on your creative journey—no fluff, just real talk. This newsletter is here to support your journey, spark ideas, and build a community of creatives. 🗺 When I’m not sharing tips, I feature creatives from the community through the Creator Spotlight.
New issues hit your inbox every Sunday. Glad you’re here. 🤝
I shot footage in NYC last week that people swore came off a cinema camera. It was my iPhone. Same one in your pocket right now. 📲
Here's the thing most people still believe: you need an expensive body and a bag of lenses to get footage that actually looks cinematic. You don't. Not anymore. The phone got good enough a while ago. What most people are missing isn't gear, it's a few specific settings and two pieces of kit that unlock what the phone can already do.
So this week I'm giving you my exact mobile setup, start to finish. The app, the settings, the case, the filter. Use all of it.🫡
#1 The Overthinker
You want every video to be perfect. So none of them ever happen.
Your notes app is a graveyard. Docs, notebooks, voice memos, all of it stuffed with ideas nobody will ever see. You keep tweaking. Keep planning. Keep waiting on some perfect moment that, spoiler, isn't coming.
Here's how to fix it. Done teaches you way more than perfect ever will. You don't think your way to good. You post your way there. The first one's supposed to be rough. That's just the tuition. Pay it and keep moving.
#2 The Gear Hoarder
You're convinced the next camera is the one that finally changes everything.
New lens. New setup. New body sitting right next to the three others collecting dust. But nobody's out here caring about your megapixels. They care about your story. They always have.
But in reality, the gear you already own is more than enough. What you're actually missing isn't a lens. It's reps. Get good with what's in your hands and the story starts doing the work, not the specs.
#3 The Algorithm Hacker
You've watched every "how to go viral" video on the internet.
Studying what worked for everybody else instead of figuring out what works for you. Chasing one trend, then the next, until there's nothing underneath it that's actually yours.
Here's the shift. Your voice is the algorithm. Trends are gone the second the next one drops. But the thing that's actually you? Nobody can copy that. And nobody can out-post you at being you. So stop studying everyone else. Start sounding like yourself.
And if a couple of these hit a little too close, it's all good. That's just what being a creative is. We feel things. We care. We want the work to be right. That instinct isn't the enemy. Letting it paralyze you is.
That's the whole shift. Overthinking turns into executing. Gear obsession turns into actual output. Trend-chasing turns into a voice nobody can touch. And somewhere in there, posting stops feeling like a test you're scared to fail. It starts feeling like yours again.
That's how you enjoy it again. Not by getting it perfect. But by getting it done!
Content College
Want to go past the gear and actually learn to think like a filmmaker, on any camera? That's what Content College is built for, from your first video to directing with intention.
The 3 types of creators. 🤳 Which one are you? Find out HERE.
How to get the best quality ✍️ If you're a mobile phone creator, this video is for you. Check it out HERE.
So go make the thing! Post the rough one. Use the camera you've got. Sound like yourself. That's the game. Happy creating!✌️
