Screenwriter Tijs van Marle describes how, alongside his work on films such as *Mees Kees* and the VPRO series *Doctor Cheezy*, he built up a souvenir business with his father, who sawed wooden canal houses in the Amsterdam neighborhood of De Pijp. What began as a modest side hustle grew into sales of 20,000 units per year, followed by licensing deals, trade fairs, and specials for locations including the Zaanse Schans, until copycat behavior and legal disputes forced him to stop. Van Marle argues that a side hustle does not primarily generate money for screenwriters, but offers an immersion in another world that resonates more deeply than any research method.