Independent Films.
Hard-earned Field Guides.
Weapons & Wildflowers is a creative company developing original feature films and publishing practical field guides for filmmakers.
Human stories of hardship and resilience, shaped by the beauty and brutality of the natural world.
Our Creative MissionStories in development.
A growing slate of independent features - moving from a tightly contained psychological thriller-horror to the brutal landscapes of the American West and the broad scale of a Viking epic.
Raven's Point
As a Deputy hunts for a missing mother and son, she uncovers a gardener's monstrous past and a sheriff's quiet complicity - threatening to destroy the fragile order of a seemingly peaceful 1970s town.
White Sage
In 1875, a woman with a buried identity sets out across a violent, changing America to rescue her daughter from human traffickers - risking everything to reclaim her family, her heritage, and herself.
The Yew Bow
Amidst the ashes of his past, a Viking fisherman races against time, weaving a tapestry of love and loyalty to shield his newfound family from a tyrant's wrath.
RANGE
RUNNERS
Range Runners
A thru-hiker stranded after two fugitives steal her pack must decide whether to retreat or fight her way forward to reclaim what was taken.
Dare people to dream. Build the plan. Tell the truth. Get the film made.
From firsthand experience
to a working system.
Our Field Guides are designed to tackle the many different challenges that arise across independent filmmaking — from financing, development, and production to outreach, positioning, career decisions, and the unexpected problems that rarely fit neatly into a single playbook. Each guide focuses on a specific topic or scenario, offering practical insight filmmakers can use when they reach that particular stage of the journey.
Passion gets your story onto the page. Preparation helps get it financed. This initial guide walks filmmakers through the investor process — project readiness, presentation, outreach, funding conversations, closing, and managing the relationship after the check is written — with practical companion tools to help put the work into action.
Field Guide 01 — Independent Film Investor Toolkit
Digital PDF · One-time purchase · USD
The Field Guide gives you the framework. The companion tools turn it into a working system.
The $50 standalone purchase includes the guide only. The complete toolkit adds these companion resources:
This is not eight hours of video you have to work through before you can use it. The Field Guide is designed to sit beside you while you prepare materials, identify prospects, take meetings, follow up, and manage investor relationships.
Not sure yet? Read the first pages of the guide.
Read a SampleOne-time purchases in USD. Applicable tax is calculated at checkout. The guide is delivered as a PDF; the complete toolkit is a ZIP with PDFs and an Excel tracker. After payment you will be taken to a private download page, and your Stripe receipt is emailed to you.
By purchasing you agree to the Terms and Refund Policy. See our Privacy Policy. Educational filmmaking and industry knowledge from Philip Plowden’s experience; not legal, tax, or investment advice, and not an offer to invest.
Checkout and payment support are provided through Stripe/Link. Keep your receipt and private download link.
1:1 Creative Sessions
For filmmakers, writers & story-driven creatives.
Sometimes a field guide can only take you so far.
Book a private one-on-one video session with Philip Plowden, Co-Founder of Weapons & Wildflowers, to talk through the real-world challenges of developing, writing, packaging, financing, producing, or moving a creative project forward.
These are practical, candid conversations grounded in firsthand work across writing, directing, producing, independent film financing, pitch development, production, and the long process of moving a feature from script to screen.
There is no set formula that guarantees your film gets made. But sometimes an experienced outside perspective can help you see the next move more clearly.
By booking you agree to the Terms and Refund Policy (free cancellation or reschedule up to 24 hours before your session). Educational filmmaking and industry knowledge from Philip Plowden’s experience; not legal, tax, or investment advice, and not an offer to invest.
Possible areas of discussion
- Screenplays, story development, and project positioning
- Investor readiness and pitch preparation
- Pitch decks, one-sheets, and investor materials
- Independent film development and producing
- Budget and production-planning questions
- Producer outreach and packaging
- Career questions for writers, directors, producers, and other story-driven creatives
- General project troubleshooting and next-step strategy
These sessions are conversations based on firsthand independent filmmaking experience. They do not guarantee financing, representation, distribution, production, or any particular outcome.
Payment is required to reserve a session. Sessions are conducted by video call.
Pitch Decks & Investor Materials
Done-for-you materials for your project.
Want Philip to build your materials?
Philip Plowden, Co-Founder of Weapons & Wildflowers, designs pitch decks that lead with tone, look, characters and story rather than business jargon. He built decks for his slate of films and now builds them for other creators' film and television projects.
Pitch decks and investor materials are prepared for a flat fee. Weapons & Wildflowers is not a broker-dealer or law firm. We do not solicit or introduce investors, provide legal, tax or investment advice, or accept compensation tied to funds raised. Any offering documents must be reviewed and finalized by the client's own securities attorney.
Talks, workshops, and guest lectures.
Philip Plowden, a member of the Directors Guild of America and an alumnus of Columbia College Chicago, speaks to schools, universities, film festivals, film markets, and organizations about building a career in film and media and about the business side of independent filmmaking.
“Part of my mission as a creative is to help others navigate this wonderfully unpredictable industry, and sharing what I have learned with filmmakers and students is one of my favorite ways to do that.”
Topics
- Raising money for independent film: an educational look at how filmmakers prepare for investor conversations
- Producing and directing independent features
- Building a career in film and media
- Open Q&A: behind the scenes of the business
Formats
- School and university visits
- Guest lectures and masterclasses
- Film festival and film market panels
- Workshops
- Virtual talks
Fees and availability
Fees and travel are quoted for each engagement. Travel and lodging for events more than 50 miles from Chicago are quoted separately.
A limited number of reduced-fee engagements are available each year for schools and nonprofits. Please inquire.
Request Philip as a SpeakerTalks are educational and share filmmaking and industry experience. They are not legal, tax, securities, or investment advice, and no talk is an offer or solicitation to invest in any film or company.
Location Management & Scouting
From a rural farmhouse to a downtown high-rise, an abandoned warehouse to a bustling city center, and everything in between, Weapons & Wildflowers location services has you covered.
Full-service location services for film, television, and commercial productions, from the first scout through the final wrap.
Philip Plowden has worked in the locations department since 2012. He handles the details that keep a shoot moving: the right locations, the permits, the support sites, the neighbors, and the vendors.
From the Scouting Files
Scouting & Research
- Location scouting for film, television, and commercial productions
- Location file pulls
- Finding and securing support locations: crew parking, crew lunch and catering areas, extras holding, and base camp
Permits & Logistics
- Permit applications and coordination (issuance is up to the city, county, or other authority)
- Neighborhood notification and leafleting
- Vendor relationships and coordination: site services, sanitation and restrooms, floor and surface protection, and more
On-Set Location Management
- Location management through prep, shoot, and wrap
- A steady point of contact for property owners, neighbors, and the production
- Coordination of vendors and support locations from load-in to wrap
Coverage and quotes
Serving all of Illinois, from Chicago to Southern Illinois. Productions outside Illinois are welcome by arrangement, with travel quoted separately.
Every production is different, so every quote is built to the job. Email your dates, scope, and locations for a quote.
Request a QuoteFilmmaker-led by design.
Weapons & Wildflowers, LLC is a family-owned, Illinois-based company founded by Philip and Mary Jane Plowden. We develop original stories with a taste for the dark, the human, and the unexpected, balancing realism with poetry and artistic risk with production discipline.
Shaped by work across film, television, photography, and the written word, our creative practice is as much about the process as it is about the finished product. Through our field guides and hands-on services, we share the lessons, hard-earned insights, and practical realities behind that process, helping filmmakers move their own stories toward the screen.
Meet the Co-Founder
Philip Plowden
Philip Plowden is a writer, director, and producer with over two decades of experience across feature film and television production. He is the award-winning director of the survival thriller Range Runners. He has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in private capital for a variety of projects, bringing practical experience in financing and production to his creative work.
His television credits include eight seasons in the locations department on Chicago P.D. He has been a member of the Directors Guild of America since 2015. Plowden now develops original feature films through Weapons & Wildflowers, including the psychological thriller Raven’s Point, the Western White Sage, and the Viking epic The Yew Bow.
David Plowden
My father, David Plowden, was the greatest storyteller I have ever known. On May 4, 2026, he passed away at 93, peacefully in his sleep. I think back to all the wonderfully imaginative bedtime stories he used to tell me when I was a boy. He would change voices for each character, change his tone, and create suspense, laughter and emotion with every breath. Little did I know then, but he was breathing the life of storytelling into me.
His photography, which spanned 50 years, documented parts of this country that many of us overlook. Many of his subjects have since disappeared. His stories, which he captured through his indelible images, championed the blue-collar working man and woman. The farmer. The small-town Main Street shop owner and the steam locomotive engineer. He spent a lifetime photographing the people, places, industry and machinery that this country was built upon.
“It seems I have made a career of being one step ahead of the wrecking ball. I have been beset with a sense of urgency to record those parts of our heritage which seem to be receding as quickly as the view from the rear of a speeding train. I fear that we are eradicating the evidence of our past accomplishments so quickly that in time we may well lose the sense of who we are.”
Our stories were destined to become intertwined over the years. Father and son. Photographer and filmmaker. He dealt with the stills, and I handled the motion. We both spent countless hours in our cars scouting for that one location that would provide us with the perfect shot. We both wrote stories. He published books; now I’m crafting original screenplays.
I think about him every day. I wish I could pick up the phone and call him. Tell him about the new company and the launch that happened this October, his birthday month. Yet I know that he knew he helped pave the way for me. He taught me it was okay to go against the grain and not settle for a 9‑to‑5 desk job. To blaze my own trail, follow my passion and my storytelling instincts. He was championing me the whole time, allowing me to grow into what my true calling has now become.
I’m forever grateful for the 46 years we got to spend together, and that he got to meet my wife, Mary Jane, and our children and enrich their lives in ways only he could. I’m forever grateful that he got to live as long as he did and share his stories with the world. At the end of the day, he was more than an artist and a master of his craft. He was my Dad. His humor was contagious; his presence was mighty. I wouldn’t be where I am today without his love, support and guidance.
Please, if you have a moment, visit his website. His photographs are masterpieces that immortalize long-forgotten eras. I love you, Dad. I will always honor you and the legacy you left behind.
davidplowden.comWhat collaborators say.
“Phil is truly one of the most passionate, specific, and imaginative directors in the filmmaking industry. I am still soooooo incredibly grateful that I had the opportunity to play Mel in Range Runners. Phil had such a clear and incredible vision for the film. From scouting the most breathtaking locations to assembling an amazing team of artists and crew, he created an environment where that vision could really come to life. And years later, I’m STILL receiving compliments about Range Runners! That says so much about the care, intention, and artistry that went into making it. Forever grateful I got to be a part of it.”
“I worked with Phil for four years on Chicago P.D. and was constantly impressed with his creative sensibility and talent at keeping the production on schedule with clever, practical solutions. His leadership of his team was smart, respectful and always yielded imaginative results. I highly recommend making him a part of your production. He will exceed your expectations.”
“One of the things I’ve always appreciated about Philip is that he’s not just focused on getting the job done, but on the people helping make it happen. He brings creativity, integrity, and a genuine enthusiasm to the process. He’s the kind of person you enjoy working alongside, and those are the relationships that make this industry worth being part of.”
“Philip Plowden is a hard working and creative person to collaborate with and I look forward to doing so again!”
Articles and features.
For interviews, articles and guest writing, please reach out through the Contact section below.
Before You Hit Send: What to Have Ready Before You Email a Film Investor
“Writing an email to a potential investor takes about ten minutes of your time. Being ready for the reply can take months.”
Get in touch.
Have a question about Weapons & Wildflowers, our films, Field Guides, professional opportunities, press, or other company business?
We would be glad to hear from you.
CONTACT WEAPONS & WILDFLOWERSPlease note: Weapons & Wildflowers does not accept unsolicited screenplays, treatments, pitch decks, or other creative submissions. This does not apply to materials that clients send us for a paid engagement we have agreed to in writing.