Joel Pilger - Forum®

Forum

Build Your Studio On Purpose™.

Who It's For

Ambitious studio and production company leaders operating businesses in motion, animation, VFX, live action, experiential, and sound.

What You’ll Gain

Build a business, win better clients (with bigger budgets), pivot through disruption, and produce your greatest creative work.

How It Works

Join the next Invitation Session, get oriented, meet your peers, and unleash the potential of your thriving studio.

It's a board of directors made up of the brightest minds in the industry. Truly a priceless resource.

Eric Singer, Partner at Coupe Studios

A support system and playground for ideas—unfiltered, unbiased camaraderie.

Ricardo Roberts, Co-Founder and EP at BIEN

Forum isn’t just a community — it’s a lifeline for founders who are serious about growing.

Ronny Young, Founder at OddBeast

If you have not done Jumpstart… it is the single most beneficial program I have ever done for my business.

Ed Rhine, Founder & ECD at Spillt

Applying Derail the Pitch, we doubled the client’s production budget… and completely flipped the relationship.

Christian Darais, Co-Founder at The Fold

We landed a $275K campaign by applying the language we gained in Brand Direct. The client literally told us that’s why we won.

Danny Robashkin, Founder at MAKE

This is your cheat code for being just as exceptional at the business side as you are at the creative side.

Garus Booth, Founder & ECD at The Booth

Welcome to the Inflection Point

Not another class. Not another Slack group.

Forum is the curated network of the world’s ambitious studios and production companies — names like Already Been Chewed, Form Play, MAKE, Nocaut, Polyester, Spillt, VERSUS, Zookeeper, and a hundred more — who aren’t here to “manage” a business.

They’re here to master it, together.

Forum members raise their fees, win better clients with bigger budgets, and build resilient, high-performing studios. Join Joel Pilger and serious creatives helping each other make the shift from vendors to leaders.

Accelerators = Infrastructure for the modern studio.

Tired of Being Just a Vendor?

Unleash your studio's potential and never go back. Join 200+ founders who’ve crossed over from order-taker to expert.

Learn about Jumpstart®

Struggling to Break Into Brands?

Bypass middlemen… speak the brand-direct dialect… and get to the decision-making table.

Learn about Brand Direct™

Lost Yet Another RFP or Pitch?

Flip the relationship and win from a position of power. Never again be the dreaded third bid.

Learn about Derail the Pitch™

Stuck in Feast-or-Famine?

Create a predictable sales engine that steadies revenue.

Learn about Saleskeeping®

Overwhelmed? Majoring in the MInors?

Lead your studio with clarity while your team handles the rest—profitably.

Learn about Studio Flight Deck™

New for Q1 2026

Studio Sales Scout™

24/7 sales intelligence, beta tested by 40 studios inside Forum, Sales Scout surfaces buyers that need your expertise... and are buying right now.

The buzz — and the results — are real.

Learn about Sales Scout

Not sure if you're a fit?

Take the "What's Really Holding Your Studio Back?" diagnostic to immediately make one better decision this quarter. Gain access to Free Resources inside Forum.

Take the Diagnostic

FAQ

Who is Forum for?

Ambitious leaders operating a business in motion, animation, VFX, live action, experiential, or sound — team sizes range from 1–40 generating USD $300K–$10M+ annually. Member studios include Already Been Chewed, BIEN, Blit, Cream, MAKE, Nocaut, Panoply, Plural, Polyester, Spillt, Vascolo, VERSUS, and a hundred more on the rise.

How do I join Forum?

1. Attend an Invitation Session with Joel
2. Complete the Start Here course and unlock a 14-day free trial
3. Choose your lane: Foundation or Momentum

What are the membership options?

Members ready to upgrade from the free version have the following lanes available:
Forum Foundation
Forum Momentum
Forum Reserve (invite-only)

What is the return on investment?

Forum isn’t about consuming content. It’s about changing how you lead, sell, price, and position your studio. For serious founders, the ROI often exceeds 1000%. Members greatly increase their prices, win better clients (with much bigger budgets), regain control of their business, and produce their best work.

To learn the specifics, join our next Invitation Session.

Do you offer annual pricing?

Yes. Forum runs on a quarterly rhythm to match accelerators and execution cycles.

What’s the difference between Foundation and Momentum?

Forum Foundation
Async access for founders who want flexibility and self-paced progress. Includes resources, selected accelerators, replays, discussions, and Forum AI™.
No live sessions.

Forum Momentum (most popular)
The primary path for founders who want speed, accountability, and results.
Includes everything in Foundation plus live accelerators, Weekly Roundtables, Office Hours with Joel, peer Circles, and the new sales intelligence tool Sales Scout™.

Is there a free tier?

Sort of. Members who choose not to upgrade retain limited access to discussion spaces, free resources, and Weekly Memo updates.

Do you offer discounts?

Yes, in specific cases:
• Annual pricing
• Partner seats
• International adjustments
• Forum scholarships

What is Forum Reserve?

Forum Reserve is Joel’s invite-only incubator for founders building beyond traditional client services. This includes IP, products, platforms, or new ventures, with Joel involved as an advisor, investor, or partner. Reserve includes full Momentum access for you and your leadership team.

Can my leadership team join?

Yes. Add discounted seats for producers, EPs, strategists, or partners.

What if I need to cancel?

Cancel any time; your access continues through the end of your current term.

Book Invitation Session