How Filmmakers Academy migrated and scaled their membership by 180% with Uscreen

If you’ve watched the Netflix film “Love Hard,” “Terminator Salvation,” or “Need for Speed,” you’ve already experienced the stunning cinematography of Shane Hurlbut ASC. Shane has been at the forefront of the industry for decades, inspiring millions of filmmakers around the world with his innovative storytelling and technical mastery.

Together with his wife Lydia Hurlbut, a seasoned entrepreneur with expertise in life and business coaching, neuroscience, and energy healing, they founded Filmmakers Academy. Their mission is to make professional cinematography accessible to filmmakers of all skill levels, offering raw, authentic behind-the-scenes insights and coaching to empower creatives to reach their full potential.

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Filmmakers Academy is an educational membership with three core tenets: content, community, and coaching. What’s best is students get to learn from incredibly talented mentors like Commercial Director Jordan Brady, Emmy-winning Cinematographer Sherri Kauk, renowned Colorist David Cole (known for his work on "Dune" and "The Batman"), and Editor Joaquin Elizondo, among many others. 

Since migrating to Uscreen in 2021, Filmmakers Academy has grown its member base by 180%, launched streaming apps on Roku, FireTV, Android, and iOS, and attracted thousands of members from more than 96 countries. Additionally, the membership continues to see a steady growth rate of 8% each month.

But like any other membership owner’s journey, Shane and Lydia too faced challenges while growing Filmmakers Academy. 

Before migrating to Uscreen, Shane and Lydia hosted Filmmakers Academy on a custom backend setup with video hosting through services like Vimeo. Their previous setup lacked the core features and functionality their membership business needed to grow, for example, there was no way to build membership apps. 

Their previous setup didn’t offer seamless third-party integrations, meaning their small team spent hours managing different platforms. 

They struggled to build a solid marketing funnel and had trouble managing their community and content. The clunky UX/UI of the previous platform also hindered both members and admins from navigating and using it effectively.

Despite all the challenges, Shane and Lydia were focused on building Filmmakers Academy as the go-to resource for aspiring and seasoned filmmakers, without cutting corners on their content. They continued to pour in countless hours of effort to create every single piece of content for their members and ultimately migrated to Uscreen to build a membership the duo always dreamed of. 

When Shane and Lydia decided to migrate to Uscreen, there were two key questions: 

• “How do we retain our member base during the migration phase?” 
• “How can we migrate our large content library from our previous platform to Uscreen without overwhelming our small team?”

Filmmakers Academy, like most membership businesses, had a small team and a large content library. Our goal at Uscreen was to handle the technical details so they wouldn’t have to worry about the logistics of system changes. 

We understand that migrations can be complex and taxing. That's why we offer comprehensive support throughout the migration process to ensure a smooth transition for our customers. 

“Anytime you switch platforms, there's a risk of losing customers and we had a massive amount of content we wanted to migrate over. Uscreen provided the best solution for retaining as many customers as possible during the transition, minimizing the impact. And that’s possibly because you guys have a great experience and a lot of potential when it comes to migrations."

- Brendan Sweeney, CEO of Filmmakers Academy 

When asked about the kind of support the FA team gets, Brendan shared how Uscreen is always on top of things with helpful updates and support — something they didn’t have with their previous platforms. The FA team finds Uscreen easy to navigate and use, which aligns perfectly with how Filmmakers Academy operates. 

He further shared, “For us, the more turnkey and simple the system, the better, because it means less management on our end. None of us are custom coders—we're all filmmakers. We didn’t go to school for web design or anything like that. So, it's great that with just a basic understanding of Uscreen’s backend, anyone on our team can facilitate changes and update things in real time.”

Filmmakers Academy’s member base has been growing consistently at 8% average monthly rate and now has thousands of members from 96+ countries since migrating to Uscreen. 

Along with the smooth migration, what further helped bring the team’s vision to reality was the streaming apps they launched with Uscreen. Today, Filmmakers Academy has four streaming apps on Roku, FireTV, Android, and iOS. 

Brendan shared, “Uscreen executed the app really well. Its interface is great and allows us to showcase that we're a modern educational company. Launching membership apps was a no-brainer for us as it supports our subscription model and provides access in various formats, not just on the web."

“Our members love having us in their pocket to reference on set. The ability to ask questions and get help in real-time is invaluable.” 

- Lydia Hurlbut, Co-Founder of Filmmakers Academy

Once Filmmakers Academy had their membership set up on Uscreen and launched their streaming apps, the team used built-in membership tools to drive members to their platform. The best part is they didn’t have to patchwork multiple tools or plugins to get things done like setting up a marketing campaign. 

“What I love most about Uscreen is the comprehensive backend feature set. It’s like playing an instrument—I manage push notifications, email broadcasts, upselling functions, and abandoned cart features all within the Uscreen platform. I no longer have to rely on a bunch of different plugins or sites to get things done…whether it’s our marketing team, editorial team, or operations—we can all access and manage the membership seamlessly.”

- Brendan Sweeney, CEO of Filmmakers Academy 

He further added, “We’ve started using Uscreen’s landing pages, which have been a game-changer for our targeted marketing efforts. Whether someone’s coming from a meta ad or a YouTube video, we can capture them using custom landing pages integrated into the Uscreen experience.” 

The decision to migrate to Uscreen was driven by the team’s need for a more integrated and user-friendly platform that could accommodate their extensive content library and growing member base without overwhelming their small team.

Filmmakers Academy migrated to Uscreen in 2021 and has since grown 180% in member base, launched four streaming apps (Roku, FireTV, Android, and iOS), and has thousands of members from 96+ countries. The membership is also growing consistently at an average monthly rate of 8%.

Their members have found the new platform much easier to navigate, which has improved their overall experience. The better design makes it simpler for members to find and access the content they need, resulting in higher satisfaction and keeping more people engaged. 

Members are also loving their new community, where they engage not only just with Filmmakers Academy but with each other and their mentors! The membership also offers monthly Spotlight Coaching to address member questions, 1:1 coaching for personalized mentorship, and a global community that networks, refers jobs, and collaborates on passion projects. 

“Our members are loving the new community where they participate in virtual networking, get their specific questions answered by FA mentors and experienced members, refer jobs to one another and seek opportunities to sharpen specific skills, participate in the FA Shadow program where they can practice skills in an on set environment and learn best practices.” 

- Lydia Hurlbut, Co-Founder of Filmmakers Academy

Uscreen's all-in-one membership tools have helped Filmmakers Academy sharpen its marketing strategies and reach more people. Features like targeted campaigns, abandoned cart recovery, and upselling have led to increased sales and revenue.

Overall, moving to Uscreen not only solved many of the issues they had with previous platforms but also set Filmmakers Academy up for long-term success. The improved tools and better user experience have helped them continue their mission of educating and inspiring filmmakers worldwide while building a strong and sustainable business.

Story Written By: Aarushi Singh