Directing with Leverage: Lessons from The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

As a film director, I see cinema not just as art — but as leverage.

In The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, Naval Ravikant speaks about specific knowledge, leverage, accountability, and long-term games. These ideas apply powerfully to a director’s life.

Specific Knowledge is your voice — your lived experiences, your emotional depth. That’s your unfair advantage.

Leverage in cinema means creating stories that outlive you — films that travel across time and geography.

Accountability is when your name stands on the poster. That changes how you choose stories.

Cinema is not a one-film race.
It is a long-term game of reputation, relationships, and legacy.

A director who thinks like a philosopher doesn’t just make movies.

He builds freedom.

- Manohar Chimmani