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FUNDING FILMS ***************************************************** FUNDING IDEAS - So you can get your film made! ***************************************************** Sports stars LOVE to invest in movies. ***************************************************** Angel Investors: www.angelcapitaleducation.org The super rich who have money to invest in what will likely not yield a return. ***************************************************** Need Financing for your Project? Executive Producer with strong relationships in the financing community seeks projects with completed package ready to go into production. There are no up-front fees, and most projects can be funded in as little as 72-hours. Please respond to post for details and further information. http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers? viewQuestionAndAnswers=&discussionID=6249548&gid=48756&trk=EML_anet_qa_ttle0Nt79xs2RVr6JBpnsJt7dBpSBA ***************************************************** My father taught me that listening is an art. Before you pitch your film, find out, "Who are you pitching?" Who are they? What is it they value? Don't be afraid to ask them questions, let the conversation be about them. Sometimes it is best to learn more about them, give them a short one minute pitch and get their card and don't make the "ask." Getting to know potentially large donors is important. It may sound like a line from the Soprano's but "doing time" is what it takes to get and keep a large donor. They need to know who you are and why you are making the film. Their investment is in you, not the film. People give money to people, not to films. Each of us has a set amount that we give to charity. I bet if you think about it you write the same amount on all of your donation checks. Most of us do, we have a comfort level in giving. Don't' ask till you know what that comfort level is and you will have to spend some time with them, getting to know them, to find that number. Asking too low can embarrass a donor as well as asking above their comfort level, you can lose both ways. Find the magic number before you "ask" and keep them with you for this film as well as the next. ***************************************************************** FILMMAKER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (FAP) Filmmaker Assistance Program (FAP), Through the Filmmaker Assistance Program (FAP), the National Film Board of Canada helps talented young people to complete their films. FAP supports films that are experimental and innovative in form or content, films that might not have been produced without the NFB help. Support includes equipment loans, post-production services and technical assistance directly related to the production of a film. See website for various regional deadlines and information. Contact: NFB/ONF, Ontario Centre, 150 John Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 3C3 web: www.nfb.ca *****************************************************************
Morrie Warshawski gives us advice on creating successful house parties. Morrie is a donor to the Roy W. Dean Grant, consultant, teacher and an incredible being. I discovered the art of Fundraising Houseparties in the mid-1980s when I was running Bay Area Video Coalition and met two filmmakers who were using these parties with a high degree of success: Peter Adair and Vivienne Verdon Roe. I've been a fan of them ever since, and not just for films but also for any type of non-commercial project or organization that needs support from individuals. There are a number of great things about house parties: - They help introduce lots of new people to your project - They always work if they are done properly (e.g. right preparation, right people invited, and right presentation/ask that night) - They can be organized in just six weeks, and you can do a number of them - They're fun! Some advice I've received from filmmakers who have thrown successful parties recently include: • • • • Don't forget to include parking directions in your invitation Following up on RSVPs is very important Be sure to prep in advance the person who will make the ask that night Be ready to take credit card donations that night if possible
Your readers might be interested in reading a recent interview with me and a couple of filmmakers about houseparties at the Docs in Progress blog: http://www.docsinprogress.org/interviews.htm#Houseparties If people would like to find out more about my book THE FUNDRAISING HOUSEPARTY: HOW TO PARTY WITH A PURPOSE AND RAISE MONEY FOR YOUR CAUSE just cruise over to my website www.warshawski.com The Roy W. Dean LA Film & Video grants and the GoEdit Editing grants are extended till 7/30/08. Please read the web site for full info www.fromtheheartproductions.com ********************************************************************* The Independent Filmmaker's Guide to Writing a Business Plan for Investors. by Gabriel Campisi "Making Movies With No Money," http://www.makingmovieswithnomoney.com "Secrets Of Raising Money For Your Movie." http://www.secretsofraisingmoneyforyourmovie.com ***************************************************************** It's incredibly easy to get FREE film stock, if you know how. Every year, because of what I'm about to tell you, people give me FREE film stock. If you make movies, you know what film stock is - it's money! When I started getting FREE film stock, I was a college student, and they still used 16mm color reversal film for gathering news. I went to my local tv station (three of them, in fact), and talked to the news department. At the end of the year, they had all this film in the freezer.
I told them they should donate their excess film to my college film department. They agreed, because they got to deduct the new cost of the old film from their taxes. Then they bought new film stock. In their minds, the film was old. But, since it was frozen, it hadn't really aged. It worked just fine for me. When they agreed to donate the film, I went to my film department professor, and told him I had some film stock (some 20,000 feet per station!) from the tv station to donate to the college. I asked if I could store "MY HALF" of it in the college freezer. He was delighted. Film stock he could give out to the students! I was happy! FREE film stock, and a place to store it! (Actually, I got a little more than half of it. I was a student there, remember?) That was a good deal all around. You could still work that deal today. Of course, they don't use film any more for tv news, but lots of other places do. All you need is to go to a local film production company. (The Hollywood Reporter Blu-Book or Studio Film Directory or http://www.mandy.com/1/filmtvservices.cfm are full of them.) Tell them you're "with" a college film department. (Don't say "student," although having a student ID from a community college will get you a substantial discount on filmstock and computers, if you contact Kodak or Apple.) Remember, talk your college professor into fronting for you AFTER you've worked the deal, in exchange for half of the footage. If you're not a student, and want to keep ALL of the FREE film stock, start your own non-profit company or school. Write to all the production companies on your letterhead. Mention the tax break for donating their old film stock. That's all there is to it. Remember: 1 This trick works best with FILM, because it ages, and not so well with tape, because it doesn't. 2 Don't be greedy, but ask for as much as you can. You can only help others if you are successful. 3 When you have the film, SHOOT IT! Time's a'wastin'! I know it seems too easy. It IS easy. But nobody else will think of it. So don't tell anybody how you did it. When you have a good thing going, keep your mouth shut. ****************************************************************** It’s a bitch Think like a business man 10-20% of budget - should go into PR Hire best PR film, create best trailer - start as soon as have the money to hire them - before do preproduction
Package it with one of the top agencies (and they get 5%) - can use their talent, screening room, etc. Can do it without Name Actors. After first movie, make another movie for a little more. “I want to make sure I’ll give your money back to you.” Cold call domestic, foreign sales agencies - what foreign markets will Won’t make the movie without a name that’ll pull in money. ******************************************************************* Ask a rich friend to open their address book and host a cocktail party. ************************************************************************************** *** Morrie, you always ask filmmakers where they want to be in five years, why is this important to funding? How else can you decide what you want to do between now and then is the question. The three rocks that are the basis of all my work are mission, vision and values. They each have a different function in keeping the filmmaker or any professional productive, strategic and forceful in their career. The importance of vision is it tells you what you need to do next because you decided in the future what you really want. The issue for a filmmaker, especially, is that they have to put a lot of time energy and resources in the project they are working on right now. It is truer of a filmmaker than any other type of artist. The work they will do will take years to create and it will eat up their lives during that time. If they can’t step back and have a perspective on how that one film is a piece of a larger puzzle then they miss many opportunities for maximizing every thing they do while they are making the film. What suggestions would you give to filmmakers on creating their proposal? The most important thing is to really understand what it is you want to make and why you want to make it. Those are the two big things and everything else flows from that.It is the journey of figuring this out that begins the proposal writing process. If you can articulate those two things, you can sit down next to somebody and say it, and a good grant writer can create a good proposal for you. Of course there is a lot more that goes in to it but at the very center, the very heart of the proposal is, “why am I doing this and what is it?” A lot of filmmakers haven’t clarified these things when they start looking for money.
How do you recommend someone take fifty hours of footage and create a less than 10-minute funding tape. I think I will begin by saying what not to do. Part of our fears and our procrastination get us to do a lot of labor-intensive things that look like work but are not directly involved with telling the story. Sometimes those activities, always costly and time consuming, like logging or transcribing, are necessary at some point in the film but are not indispensable to develop the trailer or the story. The other factor that reinforces the idea of doing these activities before cutting a trailer is the fact that we are still working with methods that were right 20 years ago when people shot only 30 hours of footage. For 20 hours, it made sense to log everything and transcribe everything to cut the film. Back then fundraising trailers didn’t quite exist. Today the average filmmaker is shooting 120 hours. And they are going by a methodology that worked before Final Cut Pro or Avid entered the market, before there was a DVD or digital cameras. We can’t use the same techniques we had for 20 hours when we have this many more hours of footage today and expect the same results. However, sometimes filmmakers shoot just for the trailer and have less than 10 hours of footage. Even then I suggest using more intuitive approaches, which are less labor-intensive and focus in story development. Approaches that make more business sense if the point is to get the fundraising trailer done efficiently so more support can be brought to the film. The more I consult and witness this process, the more I realize it rarely makes sense to log everything, at least not all in one pass. It seems more efficient to build the story from memory and confirm the impact of those memories by looking at that specific material only. Let’s say we shot something a month ago and there are a few scenes that still come to mind strongly whenever we think of that time. If it made an impression on the filmmaker, it is going to make an impression on others. Therefore memory is the best selector of material. You can select 10 moments you like. Then start logging just that, and apply the questions above to guide you in how to organize that material. On the other hand, if we go and log everything, everything becomes important again, making it difficult to choose what to include in the promo. Besides, it takes a week to view 50 hours and that is if you work all day. When I used to be an editor, I did not want to be stuck with one project for a year so I was forced to develop techniques that would help me edit faster and have more fun. Even though I would have made more money doing it the long way, for my sanity, I had to come up with ways to shorten my own editing time. Her full interview is at Fernanda Rossi, Story consultant and editor, is a donor to our grants and here is part of a recent interview, the full interview is on the web site at www.fromtheheartproductions.com/interviews.shtml When making a trailer, how important is it to identify whether a film is topic or character driven? Extremely important. It’s the first set of questions to ask when getting ready to plan, write, shoot or edit a trailer. It will determine the structure of the trailer and lead you to new questions. Is this a topic driven film or character driven? If character-driven: Does this character have a goal? An obstacle or opponent? Or is this just the description of the life of the character? If a topic-driven film: What’s the main issue? Is it a conflictive issue? What are the secondary angles of this topic? The answers to the above questions can serve as guidelines to start the structuring of the fundraising trailer. From there the trailer can keep growing and finding its own voice. How do you recommend someone take fifty hours of footage and create a less than 10-minute funding tape.
I think I will begin by saying what not to do. Part of our fears and our procrastination get us to do a lot of labor-intensive things that look like work but are not directly involved with telling the story. Sometimes those activities, always costly and time consuming, like logging or transcribing, are necessary at some point in the film but are not indispensable to develop the trailer or the story. The other factor that reinforces the idea of doing these activities before cutting a trailer is the fact that we are still working with methods that were right 20 years ago when people shot only 30 hours of footage. For 20 hours, it made sense to log everything and transcribe everything to cut the film. Back then fundraising trailers didn’t quite exist. Today the average filmmaker is shooting 120 hours. And they are going by a methodology that worked before Final Cut Pro or Avid entered the market, before there was a DVD or digital cameras. We can’t use the same techniques we had for 20 hours when we have this many more hours of footage today and expect the same results. However, sometimes filmmakers shoot just for the trailer and have less than 10 hours of footage. Even then I suggest using more intuitive approaches, which are less labor-intensive and focus in story development. Approaches that make more business sense if the point is to get the fundraising trailer done efficiently so more support can be brought to the film. The more I consult and witness this process, the more I realize it rarely makes sense to log everything, at least not all in one pass. It seems more efficient to build the story from memory and confirm the impact of those memories by looking at that specific material only. Let’s say we shot something a month ago and there are a few scenes that still come to mind strongly whenever we think of that time. If it made an impression on the filmmaker, it is going to make an impression on others. Therefore memory is the best selector of material. You can select 10 moments you like. Then start logging just that, and apply the questions above to guide you in how to organize that material. On the other hand, if we go and log everything, everything becomes important again, making it difficult to choose what to include in the promo. Besides, it takes a week to view 50 hours and that is if you work all day. When I used to be an editor, I did not want to be stuck with one project for a year so I was forced to develop techniques that would help me edit faster and have more fun. Even though I would have made more money doing it the long way, for my sanity, I had to come up with ways to shorten my own editing time. For the full interview see: http://www.fromtheheartproductions.com/interviews.shtml ******************************************************************* We are seeking projects that are ready to develop for features or festival pieces. What our company does is find you the FUNDING. If you have a project that you would like to have come to fruition please contact us to see how we can help. [email protected] or 1-877-392-6649 ******************************************************************* This worked for director Darren Aronofsky: Send letters to every person you know on the planet, and ask them for $100 each. Each micro-patron gets $150, 2 screening tickets (which helps sell out the premiere - creates good buzz), and a name in the credits. ************************************************************************* How to woo the rich: “Two hundred years after you’re dead, the only reason anyone will know you were on this planet is that your name is going to be on the screen as the producer of insert film name here.” People with massive amounts of money are worried about what of themselves, they are leaving behind. Go after freshly minted Internet millionaires. DOWNSIDE: You do have to tell them, legally: “Films are super risky. You’re probably not going to make your money back.“ This worked for James Toback. ************************************************************************* By Sam Longoria - "Making Movies With No Money,"
& "Secrets Of Raising Money For Your Movie." Both are revised to keep them current, and are online at http://www.makingmovieswithnomoney.com http://www.secretsofraisingmoneyforyourmovie.com ************************************************************************* Grant Proposals.com Site for grants and individual grants. http://www.grantproposals.com ************************************************************************* Grantsmanship Center http://www.tgci.com/ ************************************************************************* The Foundation Center Submitted by MoonWeaver - Excellent site, even has a short online grant proposal writing course at no charge. You might want to sign up for their newsletter.)http://fdncenter.org/ ************************************************************************* When asking someone for money: Either prove you can draw a crowd of 500 to watch your film, or be honest and tell them they most likely will not get their money back – “It’s a donation to art.” ************************************************************************* BOOKS: “Filmmakers and Financing, Business Plans for Independents” by Louise Levison ”43 Ways to Finance Your Feature Film: A Comprehensive Analysis of Film Finance” by John W. Cones "The Biz: The Basic Business, Legal & Financial Aspects of the Film Industry" by S. Moore ************************************************************************* There are many industries who have used short films in training or PR, or advertising. If your film works with any of the hundreds of products - or can be "hooked' into a product, don't be shy about chasing a corporation. Don't try ad agencies - they view creativity as their domain. ************************************************************************* www.movie-producer.net The site hosts free online lessons on film financing, distribution and entertainment law - the business principles that drive the entertainment industry. ************************************************************************* Once you get the first $100,000 , you call everyone back and tell them, “Look, I hate to do this to you, but if you don’t put in another 20% we’re not going to be able to put the movie together and you’ll lose all your money.” Never accept more than $5000 from a single backer. Within that limit, it’s like disposable income, but beyond that, it gets serious. ************************************************************************* Never try to raise money in LA (their eyes glaze over). Shoot for states that aren’t close to the film biz. ************************************************************************* www.filmventure.com Every state awards grants of $500 to $10,000 to artists, writers, and musicans. More than $180 millions is available annually. Inquire at your state’s arts council office. *************************************************************************
Sent invitations to an event that isn’t going to happen: Explain that ther ewill be no dull speeches, rubber chicken, or blistering walks. If they just send in their $50 “entry fee” they can stay home with their families. Participants receive T-shirts with the movie logline. ************************************************************************* Collect stuff, not money. Then have a yard sale. See if the town will donate a location, such as a park. ************************************************************************* Throw small parties, not huge events. Ask group members to host dine-around dinners in their homes. Bring the parties to a central place for dessert and coffee. Attendance is better an intimate parties than at large, formal dinners – and there are no catering costs. ************************************************************************* "Shaking the Money Tree: How to Get Grants & Donations for Film & Video" By Morrie Warshawski Interview with Warren Etheredge and Morrie Warshawski: MORRIE: There is ALWAYS money. The question for the filmmaker is where is it hiding? A downturn in the economy does have a ripple effect, but it's usually more pronounced in various sectors. Now, for instance, is not the best time to try and get grants from government agencies. Also, private foundations are just beginning to get more difficult to approach after years of tremendous growth. Individuals are still, and will always be, a good avenue for support. Great projects being produced by credible, trustworthy and passionate filmmakers will always have a chance for finding their financial support. WARREN: In SHAKING THE MONEY TREE, you explain how, properly, to approach foundations, corporations, small businesses, government agencies and individual donors. Typically, would you suggest a "carpet-bombing" technique works better than a precision-guided approach to targeting funding? MORRIE: NO!!!!! And I mean that emphatically for every type of fundraising. The only way to get really good at finding support is learning how to target each and every approach or "ask." You must absolutely "qualify" every donor before you ask for funding. Doing this will dramatically increase your chances for funding. No donor wants to feel like he is getting a cookie-cutter generic proposal that doesn't take his own needs and resources into account. WARREN: Gotta start somehwere. If a filmmaker can bring only one thing to the table, when meeting with investors, which is preferable...? A) some capital B) a great script C) directorial vision D) a star attached to the project E) none of the above MORRIE: Well, for Investors, the answer would be all of the above. Investors are very different animals from donors. Investors come in all different colors, with varying levels of sophistication when it comes either to filmmaking and/or to investing. For instance, an investor who doesn't know much about film might not be able to recognize a strong script and would rely more on elements she can understand, like capital and a star. A more knowledgeable investor will place more heavy emphasis on the script and directorial vision. The real answer is for investors you need to create a great business plan that will address all these issues. MORRIE: The biggest blunder I know of is a filmmaker who was new to the field, had a $200k project, got a $50k donation from a foundation, spent the money then couldn't find the rest to complete the documentary. The foundation was expecting a completed film for their donation. Two years later when the asked the filmmaker where the film was, and he said he hadn't completed it because he couldn't find the rest of the money, they said "Fine, just send us back our $50k!" and they meant it! The moral to the story is be careful what you promise a funder when you accept their donation. The second moral to this story is stay in close contact with the funder throughout your project and they are
usually more amenable to changes. By the way, this is the only instance I know of in all my years of consulting when a funder requested the repayment of a grant. MORRIE: A good place to start is to come to my website - www.warshawski.com - and comb carefully through my very extensive Fundraising Bibliography. It's chock full of recommended books, magazines, and hyperlinks to other websites. Of course, I hope your readers will take a look at my two books on the topic: SHAKING THE MONEY TREE: HOW TO GET GRANTS AND DONATIONS FOR FILM AND VIDEO - 2nd Edition, and THE FUNDRAISING HOUSEPARTY: HOW TO GET CHARITABLE DONATIONS FROM INDIVIDUALS IN A HOUSEPARTY SETTING. ************************************************************************* Advice from a filmmaker who has tried “free advertising in exchange for a donation to your project or product exchange”: Speaking to many small and corporate companies over the last year, I came to realize very early that most companies aren't interested in a logo on a screen. Especially as most short films and lo budget never see the light of day in a sufficient time frame to make the investment worth while. We did things differently, we have a trailer of our sponsors we run as an 'ad' when we show the film to people. It attracts a bit of attention. Companies don't get returns from a flash on a screen. They want promotion of their name or products in a positive and beneficial light. I was speaking to one company yesterday and indicated that their competitor, who is NOT a sponsor will be depicted in the antagonist scenes in it's older revision and obviously in a frustrating way, which is why we felt their products would be great to use in the Protagonist scenes which are family oriented, happy and positive. I sold them on that one! I also offered them a 5-8 second sting at the beginning of the film if they supply us with product which is beneficial to see completion of the project. They were very attracted to that. I guess I also have the advantage that our film work is topical and gaining attention from local and mainstream media. The media seems to like printing my photo, although I can think of far cuter and sexier images to print, however, it's their editorial that is really positive. The local newspapers are supporting our production, especially the sequel, to the level that a Hollywood film advertises and they are increasing their coverage as we release the first film, and run pre-production on the sequel. It's almost like having a weekly "How to make a movie" in the paper that features yourself. It's well worth talking to your local media and getting them onside, even if the coverage is only local, it's something you can use to promote your work. HINT: NEVER EVER do the "I made a film" "I am the director" "I wrote the script" kind of ego building crap. Maybe I'm different, but I really hate self promotion - at least about me.
I have a BIG team of people, including a 1AD who refuses to be interviewed, but I'm working on that so she can't get out of it. They ALL deserve the credit because WITHOUT them, there would be no film and no sequel. Several of our cast have had great articles and most have even deflected the attention from self promotion to that of promoting the film. Admittedly, I do feel that putting details into the press about an Actor or Crew member that is part of the film, helps the local community gain an interest in the film. (I'm a hypocrite right - because I personally don't want the Publicity, yet I'm the one that will get the most attention, next to the lead actors!) Careful planning and cross promotion is a great key. We're lucky enough to have a local club offer their facilities for Auditions, rehearsals and other uses. In return we buy our food and drinks and catering there and of course cross promote - the news papers will run ads saying where the Auditions are being held and that again promotes the club. Find ways of matching small sponsors with large and getting them into a symbiotic relationship. ALWAYS offer royalties equal to the value of their input against the total cost of production. Here’s another idea people attempt: “Query any and all production studios that will partner with you, or offers an "umbrella" program to cover your production expenses in exchange for ownership of the completed film. This solves many of your distribution issues before they start!” I'd never recommend that unless you want to totally sell out and in many cases have your completed work never seen. Often a production company will buy out any local competition - especially in this day and age - and bury the final product, whether it's good or not. Only because they didn't make it. Don't expect to have any control and don't be unhappy when the script or production changes and you can't do anything about it. ************************************************************************* Put yourself in the investors shoes. Imagine you are approached by a filmmaker, and you are asked to invest a sum of money in the film. Would you do it? why? why not? What questions would you want answered before you invest? Here are a few that come to mind, from the investor's perspective: How will I get my money back? If I leave my money in the bank, I have no risk, and I'm guaranteed a return of somewhere between 1-4% (these days). If I invest in your film, I recognize that I will have a much bigger risk, but what will my return be? From where will the money be returned? If THIS short film will not make any money (likely, given the market for short films) will I get my money back from the next film you work on? How will you make me comfortable that this will all work? Here's some direct advice, though...ask friends and family for the money
first. then expect them to give less than you need, if any, and then expand out. also, try to use much of your own money, and do it on the cheap as best you can. Then after all that is exhausted, just keep asking around. Join the Independent Feature Project local chapter where-ever you are. The NY one is very well organized. Join every film organization you can find, and participate in the events. you will meet people. and they will NOT invest, but they may introduce you to others, who may know where there maybe investors. ************************************************************************* FROM AN EXPERIENCED FILMMAKER: I was talking to a group of young film makers. They came from several film schools. I was surprised at the lack of hard film business knowledge they had been exposed to. The idea was to grab a camera and go out and make movies. There's an idea. But what next? If you're going to make this your life’s work - it had better pay you a living wage. How do you do that? was the surprising question I got next. Many had no idea on where to look for investors, how to look for investors, who investors were - or what investors needed. Then - distribution. Everyone had heard about distributors. Not one knew that it's best to try to get a distributor before you finish a film and better if you can get one before you start. No knowledge of distributors rights to negative and who owned what or how to control the film before you start signing paper. Not one knew what a GAP was. Not one had heard of the catch 22 trap: "You have a script, a crew and some cast. But you want a name actor. The name actor won't come on board unless you have all the money in place. The investors will not come on board until you have an actor and a distributor. The distributor will not come on board unit you have a name actor and the money. How do you do that." The only honest answer I could give a beginner is: "Luck". at least until your second or third shoot. I decided the only one answer to fit all questions, at the end of an hour, was to tell them - get a job at an agency or studio and learn the trade from the inside out. Because being an indie was more than grabbing a camera and making a movie. Once you have a feature experience or even batch of commercials to show you have a better shot at funding your indie. ************************************************************************* www.mwp.com "Shaking the Money Tree: How to Get Grants & Donations for Film & Video" By Morrie Warshawski was published by MWP. ************************************************************************************** Traditionally, the slowest business periods are the weeks before April 15/Easter, and an election. ************************************************************************************** "Remember, "people do not give money to projects, they give it to people, therefore they must have faith in you personally". ************************************************************************************** Tips on Financing from Louise Levison, who is a donor to the Roy W. Dean grants and the author of “Filmmakers & Financing” now in its fourth printing. WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS IN A BUSINESS PLAN (Or how to get funding with the least chance of later lawsuits.) THE MONEY: The two questions that equity investors ask most are, “How much money am I going to make?” and “When am I going to make it?” No matter what equity investors’ (including nonprofit organizations) reasons for financing a feature film or theatrical documentary, at the very least they don’t want to lose money. Learning how to do the financials is probably the most important part of the business plan. If investors think that your forecast is a fantasy, they will simply walk away...
THE SPIN: Out of the total world movie population, who is likely to rush out to see it the first weekend? Discussing potential target markets is a strong selling point for your business plan. Most films will not appeal to “everyone" but will have smaller target markets. In addition to the usual genres of comedy, horror, thriller there are specific groups of people. For example, your film may be about women. Although there may not be a lot of documentaries with the same subject, you might want to discuss how movie going habits among women have changed. For demographic information, admissions and the latest on numbers of screens go the mpaa.org THE STORY: A recent client told me she didn’t want to give away too much of the ending. Her synopsis ended with “And then this strange thing happens . . . .” What strange thing? You are looking to get money from potential investors, not trying to chase them away. You also don’t want someone suing you later, because you left out the scene where the buffalo are slaughtered or the priest leaves the church. (Don’t fool yourself. Individuals or organizations who invest in docs do that too.) Explain the major plot points from beginning to the end, while keeping it to one page. YOURSELF: Have fun and use common sense. And, by the way, don’t include in your bio that you were CEO of Paramount Pictures, unless, of course, you were. ************************************************************************************* SAVING $: FX Buy 30 sec. of the effects in a pop corn movie that “didn’t do well at the box office” (at least compared to a Spielberg film) movie for $5000. Match your footage to that of trains blowing up, airplanes flying, crashes, explosions, etc. Toronto thought it’d be great to build 2 subway tunnels. One on top of the other. They built the top one, and about ½ the second. Decided they only needed one. Now all the subway movies are filmed in this tunnel. They also have subway trains for hire. Really cheap. ************************************************************************************* Question from a filmmaker: How can you get funded from major corporations through branding or product placement? In my book, “The Art of Funding” I interviewed Ms. Ganguzza and here are some quotes from her. “We are a branded nation so the brand names actually lead authenticity to a character and or to a set. Product placement agencies actually began popping up to be the intermediary between the studios and the corporations working in the best interests of both; providing the product and also protecting the brand from any placements deemed to be in bad taste or damaging to the brand name. Putting brands in films had the instant ability of making a brand “cool,” hip” and “relevant.” Our companies facilitate the legal clearances for the use of brand name.” Lots of young and emerging filmmakers apply for product placement because product placement has taken a major spotlight roll in feature film marketing and most independent filmmakers assume these corporations are financing the entire film and this is not the case. You need to read websites and find who handles the products that fit your film remembering how many millions Coke or Starbucks spend to have that “family” image so you can’t put them into an R or even some PG films. The film has to fit the product. Remember, you pitch is “my demographics are your demographics.” Once you find a product placement company that has what you want, send them a 2 page recap of the film and your script. Remember, it all starts with your script. For example, don’t say “on you way home get sandwiches and soft drinks.” Put in the script “bring home Cokes and a Subway meatball sandwich.” Then when you send your script to Coke and Subway film representatives they can envision their products in your film and think it is not an after thought. The secret is the product needs to belong. You should consider water, drinks of all types, restaurants, clothes, stores, cars, cell phones, computers, ipods, etc. All of these things you can easily use in your film and you should be able to get through a
product placement company if your script fits their customers. If you are a first time filmmaker you may only get free goods but who cares, your in it for the long run. Next film could be money too! ************************************************************************************* I believe that money is the LAST thing you need to make your movie. There are seven things you need before you even start to raise money. If you have those seven things, money will flow to you, easily and naturally. If you don't, it won't. If you have taken the seven steps, you will have all seven things. The seven steps are: 1) Do your homework. 2) Find your investors. 3) Write your script 4) Break down your script 5) Select your team 6) Arrange your affairs 7) A-S-K to G-E-T Movies are made of money, even cheap little movies. You need money to make your movie, but it's not the first thing you need. It's the last thing. Let's go over what you need. First things first. You must have your head right. You must believe in what you're doing, plan it and follow the plan, with no mental reservations or reluctance. Stuart's book will give you that. You must have a team that has ONE goal, to make your movie, and make it as good as it can be. You must select your team, so the right persons are helping you. Your money-raising team must be IN ADDITION to your movie crew. You must have your filmmaking set up correctly and legally, so you don't run afoul of securities laws. That will make raising money much easier, and you'll almost raise money automatically. You must know how to Find investors, Attract, Qualify, Stratify, and then Satisfy them. You must have a script that is DONE. It must be wonderfully clever, not just "good," but GREAT. Buffed and polished to a high gloss. You must break down your script so you know exactly what happens when, how long it will take, how much it will cost. You must have your banking set up so that checks and credit card deposits can come to you regularly and easily. You must "tune in" the money channels, and keep them open, so money can flow to you. If you don't have this set up, don't bother asking somebody for money for your movie, because what do you do if they say yes? You must know the proper way to A-S-K, so that Investors will be happy to invest.
Let's say that you have taken all of the Seven Steps. You've done your homework, your System and business are humming along. Your team is rarin' to go, and it's time to get started. Now you need to make a list of your possible investors. Start with everyone you know. Don't exclude anybody. Then you sort them. Sort the list of prospective investors, according to what they have and need. At the top of your list should be persons who can indirectly influence the decisions of other persons, the more the better. Maybe they're the heads of companies, or clubs or organizations. Start making appointments. Call them up on the phone and say, "Listen, I have something I want to talk to you about." And then talk on the phone, or go and talk to them. Raising money for your movie is a necessary skill, and it may be a new one for you. Since any skill requires practice to get good, you have to get started. There are two ways you can go. You can start by going to persons who are unlikely to lend or invest. That's really easy, actually. You know they're unlikely, so you have nothing to lose. So you do it "just for practice." Another way is to approach persons who are a "slam-dunk" easy cinch. They'll give you something if you ask for it. Go to your mom, your best friend, your favorite aunt. Pick something easy to ask for, any success will drive you forward. Easy or difficult? Either example is easy if you say it is, or difficult if you say it is. The choice is up to you. Whichever is easier for you. My book has a few good exercises you can use to make "ASK"ing for money more familiar, and even fun. That makes the "GET"ting of money possible. Once you get good at raising money by talking to one or two persons, you may find you're good at it. Then start having bigger and bigger meetings. Go and talk to groups of two and three, and eventually you can hold and schedule one big meeting, and get maybe 50 people. Describe your project to them, tell them how you're structured to receive their money, what they can expect in return, and sign them up. Those are the basics. If you follow them, and do them every day, before you know it you'll have raised however much money you need to make your movie. There's really no mystery to it. *************************************************************************************
Film . Financing - 77 Use your IndieFilms http://www.indiefilms.com/ back button to Netribution www.netribution.co.uk/funding/
return to where you were Australian Film Commission Film Financing - Ireland (Merlin Film Group) Financial Aid Search Through The Web
First Look Pictures International Subsidy Organizations Media II Program - European Union Ontario Arts Council - Canada Small Business Administration The Source - Australia Columbus Discovery Awards Guggenheim Fellowships for Artistic Research National Endowment For the Humanities http://www.cinemarquee.com Cine Marquee = lots of links to film financing info and resources. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FilmInvestors/ http://www.netribution.co.uk/ Netribution = funding and other useful info. IFC funding info http://www.ifctv.ca/resources/funding.asp Praxis funding links http://www.praxisfilm.com/funding.html Telefilm Low Budget Independent Feature Fund http://www.telefilm.gc.ca Women in Film http://www.womeninfilm.ca/funding.html Writers Guild of Canada Development Funding http://www.writersguildofcanada.com/resources/dev_funding.htm http://www.screenplayers.net/filmfinancing.html
http://www.caryn.com/indie/caryn-indie-funding.html http://www.studiostar.ca/finance.html http://www.nextwavefilms.com/ - "Next Wave Films provides finishing funds to features shot on film or video. Once a film is in the can, Next Wave Films can provide the financial and technical resources to finish it properly. " Arenas Group - "Universal Pictures has teamed up with The Arenas Group, an advertising, PR and talent management firm focused on the US Latino market, No specific financing info on the site, but it IS part of their 'mission'. Dance Films Association - "Dance Films Association (DFA), a non-profit, tax-exempt, membership organization, acts as an information clearinghouse and meeting ground for the user, producer, and distributor of dance films and videos. Frameline - "the nation's only comprehensive non-profit organization dedicated to the exhibition, distribution, promotion and funding of lesbian and gay film and video." The Film Arts Foundation - "Funds film and video artists living in the 10 Bay Area counties (S.F., Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz). " ... http://www.filmmakersalliance.com/ - The Filmmaker's Alliance - Not funding per se, but access to resources by collective effort (you must work on four member productions before having access to mutual resources.) http://www.moxie-films.com/ - "Moxie Films, founded in 1992, is a non-profit organization, which includes the brands MoxieShorts™ and MoxieDocs™. http://www.mdhc.org/grants.html - The Maryland Humanities Council has funded at least one documentary (under $10,000). http://www.womenarts.org/ - The Fund for Women Artists - Massachusetts-based; have funded at least one documentary -
http://cine-tec.com
Motion picture funding and marketing consultants. http://www.netribution.co.uk Specialist film maker service offering funding information, news, links and listings. Do a good e-newsletter. Funding Guide at http://www.netribution.co.uk/funding/ Centre for Independent Documentaries Not-for-profit organization which works with producers to achieved independent documentary film production. Close in its aims to Independent Television Service (ITVS) and Public Broadcasting Service . Based in Boston. ITVS (Independent Television Service) Publicly-funded, not-for-profit organization which aims to assist independent film-makers and has a close historical relationship
to the US Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund Grants totaling $50,000 (each of $1,000 to $5,000) will be made in September. For Texas residents who are emerging film and video artists in the state. Soros Documentary Fund (w) Supports development and production, with particular interest in subjects of social transition and human justice.
*NEWBIE FILMMAKING - HOW DO I MAKE A FILM?* 1. Know your vendors Use your vendors’ expense accounts…that’s what they’re there for. Go to lunch with the film or tape rep, have coffee at the lab, take a bottle of wine to the camera rental house, and a case of beer to the grip and electric house. Create long-term relationships with your vendors…these are the people who will rescue you when things go haywire, and offer ideas when you lay a problem on the table. View the vendors as part of the crew, another group of collaborators you have to work with. 2. Write Make notes, make lists, make a plan. Jot down films you want to reference. Note the major locations. List the main characters. Expand this document with another reading of the script, adding more notes on the visual aspects of the project. Write down all your concerns about the script: difficult situations, expensive situations, impossible situations. Be realistic; it’s easy to get dragged into a project that, due to budget or time constraints, can’t possibly be completed. Be honest with yourself about what you can and cannot do visually. Prepare to talk about the story, the plot, the theme, how it begins and ends. 3. Listen, then talk Meet or call the key collaborators. Be prepared for these conversations…it will be obvious if you’re not. First and foremost, listen. Listen carefully and listen a lot. Extract as much information from the these filmmakers as you possibly can, then lay your ideas on the table. Be definitive; offer concrete ideas. Explain, in simple, non-technical terms, your vision for the film: tone, contrast, color, camera movement, photographic energy. Be honest opinion about the script, both strengths and weaknesses. Then listen some more. 4. Watch Watch all the reference material you can find. Films you’ve seen, films you haven’t seen, films the collaborators recommend. Tear images out of magazines and create a visual file for reference. Go to museums and see the paintings that will have the strongest influence on the project’s photography. And write everything down. 5. Test Draw, make still photographs, roll some video tape. Continue to build the visual foundation for the film. Test color, test filters, test lenses, test perspective. Use these tests as a visual communication device. Use video to explain a particularly complex camera move. Use a black and white still photo to explain contrast. Use color slide film to explain subtle color and filter combinations. **************************** http://www.screenplayers.net/financing.html http://www.ostrowandcompany.com http://www.filmproposals.com
Morrie Warshawski gives us advice on creating successful house parties. Morrie is a donor to the Roy W. Dean Grant, consultant, teacher and an incredible being. I discovered the art of Fundraising Houseparties in the mid-1980s when I was running Bay Area Video Coalition and met two filmmakers who were using these parties with a high degree of success: Peter Adair and Vivienne Verdon Roe. I've been a fan of them ever since, and not just for films but also for any type of non-commercial project or organization that needs support from individuals. There are a number of great things about house parties: - They help introduce lots of new people to your project - They always work if they are done properly (e.g. right preparation, right people invited, and right presentation/ask that night) - They can be organized in just six weeks, and you can do a number of them - They're fun! Some advice I've received from filmmakers who have thrown successful parties recently include: • • • • Don't forget to include parking directions in your invitation Following up on RSVPs is very important Be sure to prep in advance the person who will make the ask that night Be ready to take credit card donations that night if possible
Your readers might be interested in reading a recent interview with me and a couple of filmmakers about houseparties at the Docs in Progress blog: http://www.docsinprogress.org/interviews.htm#Houseparties If people would like to find out more about my book THE FUNDRAISING HOUSEPARTY: HOW TO PARTY WITH A PURPOSE AND RAISE MONEY FOR YOUR CAUSE just cruise over to my website www.warshawski.com The Roy W. Dean LA Film & Video grants and the GoEdit Editing grants are extended till 7/30/08. Please read the web site for full info www.fromtheheartproductions.com ********************************************************************* The Independent Filmmaker's Guide to Writing a Business Plan for Investors. by Gabriel Campisi "Making Movies With No Money," http://www.makingmovieswithnomoney.com "Secrets Of Raising Money For Your Movie." http://www.secretsofraisingmoneyforyourmovie.com ***************************************************************** It's incredibly easy to get FREE film stock, if you know how. Every year, because of what I'm about to tell you, people give me FREE film stock. If you make movies, you know what film stock is - it's money! When I started getting FREE film stock, I was a college student, and they still used 16mm color reversal film for gathering news. I went to my local tv station (three of them, in fact), and talked to the news department. At the end of the year, they had all this film in the freezer.
I told them they should donate their excess film to my college film department. They agreed, because they got to deduct the new cost of the old film from their taxes. Then they bought new film stock. In their minds, the film was old. But, since it was frozen, it hadn't really aged. It worked just fine for me. When they agreed to donate the film, I went to my film department professor, and told him I had some film stock (some 20,000 feet per station!) from the tv station to donate to the college. I asked if I could store "MY HALF" of it in the college freezer. He was delighted. Film stock he could give out to the students! I was happy! FREE film stock, and a place to store it! (Actually, I got a little more than half of it. I was a student there, remember?) That was a good deal all around. You could still work that deal today. Of course, they don't use film any more for tv news, but lots of other places do. All you need is to go to a local film production company. (The Hollywood Reporter Blu-Book or Studio Film Directory or http://www.mandy.com/1/filmtvservices.cfm are full of them.) Tell them you're "with" a college film department. (Don't say "student," although having a student ID from a community college will get you a substantial discount on filmstock and computers, if you contact Kodak or Apple.) Remember, talk your college professor into fronting for you AFTER you've worked the deal, in exchange for half of the footage. If you're not a student, and want to keep ALL of the FREE film stock, start your own non-profit company or school. Write to all the production companies on your letterhead. Mention the tax break for donating their old film stock. That's all there is to it. Remember: 1 This trick works best with FILM, because it ages, and not so well with tape, because it doesn't. 2 Don't be greedy, but ask for as much as you can. You can only help others if you are successful. 3 When you have the film, SHOOT IT! Time's a'wastin'! I know it seems too easy. It IS easy. But nobody else will think of it. So don't tell anybody how you did it. When you have a good thing going, keep your mouth shut. ****************************************************************** It’s a bitch Think like a business man 10-20% of budget - should go into PR Hire best PR film, create best trailer - start as soon as have the money to hire them - before do preproduction
Package it with one of the top agencies (and they get 5%) - can use their talent, screening room, etc. Can do it without Name Actors. After first movie, make another movie for a little more. “I want to make sure I’ll give your money back to you.” Cold call domestic, foreign sales agencies - what foreign markets will Won’t make the movie without a name that’ll pull in money. ******************************************************************* Ask a rich friend to open their address book and host a cocktail party. ************************************************************************************** *** Morrie, you always ask filmmakers where they want to be in five years, why is this important to funding? How else can you decide what you want to do between now and then is the question. The three rocks that are the basis of all my work are mission, vision and values. They each have a different function in keeping the filmmaker or any professional productive, strategic and forceful in their career. The importance of vision is it tells you what you need to do next because you decided in the future what you really want. The issue for a filmmaker, especially, is that they have to put a lot of time energy and resources in the project they are working on right now. It is truer of a filmmaker than any other type of artist. The work they will do will take years to create and it will eat up their lives during that time. If they can’t step back and have a perspective on how that one film is a piece of a larger puzzle then they miss many opportunities for maximizing every thing they do while they are making the film. What suggestions would you give to filmmakers on creating their proposal? The most important thing is to really understand what it is you want to make and why you want to make it. Those are the two big things and everything else flows from that.It is the journey of figuring this out that begins the proposal writing process. If you can articulate those two things, you can sit down next to somebody and say it, and a good grant writer can create a good proposal for you. Of course there is a lot more that goes in to it but at the very center, the very heart of the proposal is, “why am I doing this and what is it?” A lot of filmmakers haven’t clarified these things when they start looking for money.
How do you recommend someone take fifty hours of footage and create a less than 10-minute funding tape. I think I will begin by saying what not to do. Part of our fears and our procrastination get us to do a lot of labor-intensive things that look like work but are not directly involved with telling the story. Sometimes those activities, always costly and time consuming, like logging or transcribing, are necessary at some point in the film but are not indispensable to develop the trailer or the story. The other factor that reinforces the idea of doing these activities before cutting a trailer is the fact that we are still working with methods that were right 20 years ago when people shot only 30 hours of footage. For 20 hours, it made sense to log everything and transcribe everything to cut the film. Back then fundraising trailers didn’t quite exist. Today the average filmmaker is shooting 120 hours. And they are going by a methodology that worked before Final Cut Pro or Avid entered the market, before there was a DVD or digital cameras. We can’t use the same techniques we had for 20 hours when we have this many more hours of footage today and expect the same results. However, sometimes filmmakers shoot just for the trailer and have less than 10 hours of footage. Even then I suggest using more intuitive approaches, which are less labor-intensive and focus in story development. Approaches that make more business sense if the point is to get the fundraising trailer done efficiently so more support can be brought to the film. The more I consult and witness this process, the more I realize it rarely makes sense to log everything, at least not all in one pass. It seems more efficient to build the story from memory and confirm the impact of those memories by looking at that specific material only. Let’s say we shot something a month ago and there are a few scenes that still come to mind strongly whenever we think of that time. If it made an impression on the filmmaker, it is going to make an impression on others. Therefore memory is the best selector of material. You can select 10 moments you like. Then start logging just that, and apply the questions above to guide you in how to organize that material. On the other hand, if we go and log everything, everything becomes important again, making it difficult to choose what to include in the promo. Besides, it takes a week to view 50 hours and that is if you work all day. When I used to be an editor, I did not want to be stuck with one project for a year so I was forced to develop techniques that would help me edit faster and have more fun. Even though I would have made more money doing it the long way, for my sanity, I had to come up with ways to shorten my own editing time. Her full interview is at Fernanda Rossi, Story consultant and editor, is a donor to our grants and here is part of a recent interview, the full interview is on the web site at www.fromtheheartproductions.com/interviews.shtml When making a trailer, how important is it to identify whether a film is topic or character driven? Extremely important. It’s the first set of questions to ask when getting ready to plan, write, shoot or edit a trailer. It will determine the structure of the trailer and lead you to new questions. Is this a topic driven film or character driven? If character-driven: Does this character have a goal? An obstacle or opponent? Or is this just the description of the life of the character? If a topic-driven film: What’s the main issue? Is it a conflictive issue? What are the secondary angles of this topic? The answers to the above questions can serve as guidelines to start the structuring of the fundraising trailer. From there the trailer can keep growing and finding its own voice. How do you recommend someone take fifty hours of footage and create a less than 10-minute funding tape.
I think I will begin by saying what not to do. Part of our fears and our procrastination get us to do a lot of labor-intensive things that look like work but are not directly involved with telling the story. Sometimes those activities, always costly and time consuming, like logging or transcribing, are necessary at some point in the film but are not indispensable to develop the trailer or the story. The other factor that reinforces the idea of doing these activities before cutting a trailer is the fact that we are still working with methods that were right 20 years ago when people shot only 30 hours of footage. For 20 hours, it made sense to log everything and transcribe everything to cut the film. Back then fundraising trailers didn’t quite exist. Today the average filmmaker is shooting 120 hours. And they are going by a methodology that worked before Final Cut Pro or Avid entered the market, before there was a DVD or digital cameras. We can’t use the same techniques we had for 20 hours when we have this many more hours of footage today and expect the same results. However, sometimes filmmakers shoot just for the trailer and have less than 10 hours of footage. Even then I suggest using more intuitive approaches, which are less labor-intensive and focus in story development. Approaches that make more business sense if the point is to get the fundraising trailer done efficiently so more support can be brought to the film. The more I consult and witness this process, the more I realize it rarely makes sense to log everything, at least not all in one pass. It seems more efficient to build the story from memory and confirm the impact of those memories by looking at that specific material only. Let’s say we shot something a month ago and there are a few scenes that still come to mind strongly whenever we think of that time. If it made an impression on the filmmaker, it is going to make an impression on others. Therefore memory is the best selector of material. You can select 10 moments you like. Then start logging just that, and apply the questions above to guide you in how to organize that material. On the other hand, if we go and log everything, everything becomes important again, making it difficult to choose what to include in the promo. Besides, it takes a week to view 50 hours and that is if you work all day. When I used to be an editor, I did not want to be stuck with one project for a year so I was forced to develop techniques that would help me edit faster and have more fun. Even though I would have made more money doing it the long way, for my sanity, I had to come up with ways to shorten my own editing time. For the full interview see: http://www.fromtheheartproductions.com/interviews.shtml ******************************************************************* We are seeking projects that are ready to develop for features or festival pieces. What our company does is find you the FUNDING. If you have a project that you would like to have come to fruition please contact us to see how we can help. [email protected] or 1-877-392-6649 ******************************************************************* This worked for director Darren Aronofsky: Send letters to every person you know on the planet, and ask them for $100 each. Each micro-patron gets $150, 2 screening tickets (which helps sell out the premiere - creates good buzz), and a name in the credits. ************************************************************************* How to woo the rich: “Two hundred years after you’re dead, the only reason anyone will know you were on this planet is that your name is going to be on the screen as the producer of insert film name here.” People with massive amounts of money are worried about what of themselves, they are leaving behind. Go after freshly minted Internet millionaires. DOWNSIDE: You do have to tell them, legally: “Films are super risky. You’re probably not going to make your money back.“ This worked for James Toback. ************************************************************************* By Sam Longoria - "Making Movies With No Money,"
& "Secrets Of Raising Money For Your Movie." Both are revised to keep them current, and are online at http://www.makingmovieswithnomoney.com http://www.secretsofraisingmoneyforyourmovie.com ************************************************************************* Grant Proposals.com Site for grants and individual grants. http://www.grantproposals.com ************************************************************************* Grantsmanship Center http://www.tgci.com/ ************************************************************************* The Foundation Center Submitted by MoonWeaver - Excellent site, even has a short online grant proposal writing course at no charge. You might want to sign up for their newsletter.)http://fdncenter.org/ ************************************************************************* When asking someone for money: Either prove you can draw a crowd of 500 to watch your film, or be honest and tell them they most likely will not get their money back – “It’s a donation to art.” ************************************************************************* BOOKS: “Filmmakers and Financing, Business Plans for Independents” by Louise Levison ”43 Ways to Finance Your Feature Film: A Comprehensive Analysis of Film Finance” by John W. Cones "The Biz: The Basic Business, Legal & Financial Aspects of the Film Industry" by S. Moore ************************************************************************* There are many industries who have used short films in training or PR, or advertising. If your film works with any of the hundreds of products - or can be "hooked' into a product, don't be shy about chasing a corporation. Don't try ad agencies - they view creativity as their domain. ************************************************************************* www.movie-producer.net The site hosts free online lessons on film financing, distribution and entertainment law - the business principles that drive the entertainment industry. ************************************************************************* Once you get the first $100,000 , you call everyone back and tell them, “Look, I hate to do this to you, but if you don’t put in another 20% we’re not going to be able to put the movie together and you’ll lose all your money.” Never accept more than $5000 from a single backer. Within that limit, it’s like disposable income, but beyond that, it gets serious. ************************************************************************* Never try to raise money in LA (their eyes glaze over). Shoot for states that aren’t close to the film biz. ************************************************************************* www.filmventure.com Every state awards grants of $500 to $10,000 to artists, writers, and musicans. More than $180 millions is available annually. Inquire at your state’s arts council office. *************************************************************************
Sent invitations to an event that isn’t going to happen: Explain that ther ewill be no dull speeches, rubber chicken, or blistering walks. If they just send in their $50 “entry fee” they can stay home with their families. Participants receive T-shirts with the movie logline. ************************************************************************* Collect stuff, not money. Then have a yard sale. See if the town will donate a location, such as a park. ************************************************************************* Throw small parties, not huge events. Ask group members to host dine-around dinners in their homes. Bring the parties to a central place for dessert and coffee. Attendance is better an intimate parties than at large, formal dinners – and there are no catering costs. ************************************************************************* "Shaking the Money Tree: How to Get Grants & Donations for Film & Video" By Morrie Warshawski Interview with Warren Etheredge and Morrie Warshawski: MORRIE: There is ALWAYS money. The question for the filmmaker is where is it hiding? A downturn in the economy does have a ripple effect, but it's usually more pronounced in various sectors. Now, for instance, is not the best time to try and get grants from government agencies. Also, private foundations are just beginning to get more difficult to approach after years of tremendous growth. Individuals are still, and will always be, a good avenue for support. Great projects being produced by credible, trustworthy and passionate filmmakers will always have a chance for finding their financial support. WARREN: In SHAKING THE MONEY TREE, you explain how, properly, to approach foundations, corporations, small businesses, government agencies and individual donors. Typically, would you suggest a "carpet-bombing" technique works better than a precision-guided approach to targeting funding? MORRIE: NO!!!!! And I mean that emphatically for every type of fundraising. The only way to get really good at finding support is learning how to target each and every approach or "ask." You must absolutely "qualify" every donor before you ask for funding. Doing this will dramatically increase your chances for funding. No donor wants to feel like he is getting a cookie-cutter generic proposal that doesn't take his own needs and resources into account. WARREN: Gotta start somehwere. If a filmmaker can bring only one thing to the table, when meeting with investors, which is preferable...? A) some capital B) a great script C) directorial vision D) a star attached to the project E) none of the above MORRIE: Well, for Investors, the answer would be all of the above. Investors are very different animals from donors. Investors come in all different colors, with varying levels of sophistication when it comes either to filmmaking and/or to investing. For instance, an investor who doesn't know much about film might not be able to recognize a strong script and would rely more on elements she can understand, like capital and a star. A more knowledgeable investor will place more heavy emphasis on the script and directorial vision. The real answer is for investors you need to create a great business plan that will address all these issues. MORRIE: The biggest blunder I know of is a filmmaker who was new to the field, had a $200k project, got a $50k donation from a foundation, spent the money then couldn't find the rest to complete the documentary. The foundation was expecting a completed film for their donation. Two years later when the asked the filmmaker where the film was, and he said he hadn't completed it because he couldn't find the rest of the money, they said "Fine, just send us back our $50k!" and they meant it! The moral to the story is be careful what you promise a funder when you accept their donation. The second moral to this story is stay in close contact with the funder throughout your project and they are
usually more amenable to changes. By the way, this is the only instance I know of in all my years of consulting when a funder requested the repayment of a grant. MORRIE: A good place to start is to come to my website - www.warshawski.com - and comb carefully through my very extensive Fundraising Bibliography. It's chock full of recommended books, magazines, and hyperlinks to other websites. Of course, I hope your readers will take a look at my two books on the topic: SHAKING THE MONEY TREE: HOW TO GET GRANTS AND DONATIONS FOR FILM AND VIDEO - 2nd Edition, and THE FUNDRAISING HOUSEPARTY: HOW TO GET CHARITABLE DONATIONS FROM INDIVIDUALS IN A HOUSEPARTY SETTING. ************************************************************************* Advice from a filmmaker who has tried “free advertising in exchange for a donation to your project or product exchange”: Speaking to many small and corporate companies over the last year, I came to realize very early that most companies aren't interested in a logo on a screen. Especially as most short films and lo budget never see the light of day in a sufficient time frame to make the investment worth while. We did things differently, we have a trailer of our sponsors we run as an 'ad' when we show the film to people. It attracts a bit of attention. Companies don't get returns from a flash on a screen. They want promotion of their name or products in a positive and beneficial light. I was speaking to one company yesterday and indicated that their competitor, who is NOT a sponsor will be depicted in the antagonist scenes in it's older revision and obviously in a frustrating way, which is why we felt their products would be great to use in the Protagonist scenes which are family oriented, happy and positive. I sold them on that one! I also offered them a 5-8 second sting at the beginning of the film if they supply us with product which is beneficial to see completion of the project. They were very attracted to that. I guess I also have the advantage that our film work is topical and gaining attention from local and mainstream media. The media seems to like printing my photo, although I can think of far cuter and sexier images to print, however, it's their editorial that is really positive. The local newspapers are supporting our production, especially the sequel, to the level that a Hollywood film advertises and they are increasing their coverage as we release the first film, and run pre-production on the sequel. It's almost like having a weekly "How to make a movie" in the paper that features yourself. It's well worth talking to your local media and getting them onside, even if the coverage is only local, it's something you can use to promote your work. HINT: NEVER EVER do the "I made a film" "I am the director" "I wrote the script" kind of ego building crap. Maybe I'm different, but I really hate self promotion - at least about me.
I have a BIG team of people, including a 1AD who refuses to be interviewed, but I'm working on that so she can't get out of it. They ALL deserve the credit because WITHOUT them, there would be no film and no sequel. Several of our cast have had great articles and most have even deflected the attention from self promotion to that of promoting the film. Admittedly, I do feel that putting details into the press about an Actor or Crew member that is part of the film, helps the local community gain an interest in the film. (I'm a hypocrite right - because I personally don't want the Publicity, yet I'm the one that will get the most attention, next to the lead actors!) Careful planning and cross promotion is a great key. We're lucky enough to have a local club offer their facilities for Auditions, rehearsals and other uses. In return we buy our food and drinks and catering there and of course cross promote - the news papers will run ads saying where the Auditions are being held and that again promotes the club. Find ways of matching small sponsors with large and getting them into a symbiotic relationship. ALWAYS offer royalties equal to the value of their input against the total cost of production. Here’s another idea people attempt: “Query any and all production studios that will partner with you, or offers an "umbrella" program to cover your production expenses in exchange for ownership of the completed film. This solves many of your distribution issues before they start!” I'd never recommend that unless you want to totally sell out and in many cases have your completed work never seen. Often a production company will buy out any local competition - especially in this day and age - and bury the final product, whether it's good or not. Only because they didn't make it. Don't expect to have any control and don't be unhappy when the script or production changes and you can't do anything about it. ************************************************************************* Put yourself in the investors shoes. Imagine you are approached by a filmmaker, and you are asked to invest a sum of money in the film. Would you do it? why? why not? What questions would you want answered before you invest? Here are a few that come to mind, from the investor's perspective: How will I get my money back? If I leave my money in the bank, I have no risk, and I'm guaranteed a return of somewhere between 1-4% (these days). If I invest in your film, I recognize that I will have a much bigger risk, but what will my return be? From where will the money be returned? If THIS short film will not make any money (likely, given the market for short films) will I get my money back from the next film you work on? How will you make me comfortable that this will all work? Here's some direct advice, though...ask friends and family for the money
first. then expect them to give less than you need, if any, and then expand out. also, try to use much of your own money, and do it on the cheap as best you can. Then after all that is exhausted, just keep asking around. Join the Independent Feature Project local chapter where-ever you are. The NY one is very well organized. Join every film organization you can find, and participate in the events. you will meet people. and they will NOT invest, but they may introduce you to others, who may know where there maybe investors. ************************************************************************* FROM AN EXPERIENCED FILMMAKER: I was talking to a group of young film makers. They came from several film schools. I was surprised at the lack of hard film business knowledge they had been exposed to. The idea was to grab a camera and go out and make movies. There's an idea. But what next? If you're going to make this your life’s work - it had better pay you a living wage. How do you do that? was the surprising question I got next. Many had no idea on where to look for investors, how to look for investors, who investors were - or what investors needed. Then - distribution. Everyone had heard about distributors. Not one knew that it's best to try to get a distributor before you finish a film and better if you can get one before you start. No knowledge of distributors rights to negative and who owned what or how to control the film before you start signing paper. Not one knew what a GAP was. Not one had heard of the catch 22 trap: "You have a script, a crew and some cast. But you want a name actor. The name actor won't come on board unless you have all the money in place. The investors will not come on board until you have an actor and a distributor. The distributor will not come on board unit you have a name actor and the money. How do you do that." The only honest answer I could give a beginner is: "Luck". at least until your second or third shoot. I decided the only one answer to fit all questions, at the end of an hour, was to tell them - get a job at an agency or studio and learn the trade from the inside out. Because being an indie was more than grabbing a camera and making a movie. Once you have a feature experience or even batch of commercials to show you have a better shot at funding your indie. ************************************************************************* www.mwp.com "Shaking the Money Tree: How to Get Grants & Donations for Film & Video" By Morrie Warshawski was published by MWP. ************************************************************************************** Traditionally, the slowest business periods are the weeks before April 15/Easter, and an election. ************************************************************************************** "Remember, "people do not give money to projects, they give it to people, therefore they must have faith in you personally". ************************************************************************************** Tips on Financing from Louise Levison, who is a donor to the Roy W. Dean grants and the author of “Filmmakers & Financing” now in its fourth printing. WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS IN A BUSINESS PLAN (Or how to get funding with the least chance of later lawsuits.) THE MONEY: The two questions that equity investors ask most are, “How much money am I going to make?” and “When am I going to make it?” No matter what equity investors’ (including nonprofit organizations) reasons for financing a feature film or theatrical documentary, at the very least they don’t want to lose money. Learning how to do the financials is probably the most important part of the business plan. If investors think that your forecast is a fantasy, they will simply walk away...
THE SPIN: Out of the total world movie population, who is likely to rush out to see it the first weekend? Discussing potential target markets is a strong selling point for your business plan. Most films will not appeal to “everyone" but will have smaller target markets. In addition to the usual genres of comedy, horror, thriller there are specific groups of people. For example, your film may be about women. Although there may not be a lot of documentaries with the same subject, you might want to discuss how movie going habits among women have changed. For demographic information, admissions and the latest on numbers of screens go the mpaa.org THE STORY: A recent client told me she didn’t want to give away too much of the ending. Her synopsis ended with “And then this strange thing happens . . . .” What strange thing? You are looking to get money from potential investors, not trying to chase them away. You also don’t want someone suing you later, because you left out the scene where the buffalo are slaughtered or the priest leaves the church. (Don’t fool yourself. Individuals or organizations who invest in docs do that too.) Explain the major plot points from beginning to the end, while keeping it to one page. YOURSELF: Have fun and use common sense. And, by the way, don’t include in your bio that you were CEO of Paramount Pictures, unless, of course, you were. ************************************************************************************* SAVING $: FX Buy 30 sec. of the effects in a pop corn movie that “didn’t do well at the box office” (at least compared to a Spielberg film) movie for $5000. Match your footage to that of trains blowing up, airplanes flying, crashes, explosions, etc. Toronto thought it’d be great to build 2 subway tunnels. One on top of the other. They built the top one, and about ½ the second. Decided they only needed one. Now all the subway movies are filmed in this tunnel. They also have subway trains for hire. Really cheap. ************************************************************************************* Question from a filmmaker: How can you get funded from major corporations through branding or product placement? In my book, “The Art of Funding” I interviewed Ms. Ganguzza and here are some quotes from her. “We are a branded nation so the brand names actually lead authenticity to a character and or to a set. Product placement agencies actually began popping up to be the intermediary between the studios and the corporations working in the best interests of both; providing the product and also protecting the brand from any placements deemed to be in bad taste or damaging to the brand name. Putting brands in films had the instant ability of making a brand “cool,” hip” and “relevant.” Our companies facilitate the legal clearances for the use of brand name.” Lots of young and emerging filmmakers apply for product placement because product placement has taken a major spotlight roll in feature film marketing and most independent filmmakers assume these corporations are financing the entire film and this is not the case. You need to read websites and find who handles the products that fit your film remembering how many millions Coke or Starbucks spend to have that “family” image so you can’t put them into an R or even some PG films. The film has to fit the product. Remember, you pitch is “my demographics are your demographics.” Once you find a product placement company that has what you want, send them a 2 page recap of the film and your script. Remember, it all starts with your script. For example, don’t say “on you way home get sandwiches and soft drinks.” Put in the script “bring home Cokes and a Subway meatball sandwich.” Then when you send your script to Coke and Subway film representatives they can envision their products in your film and think it is not an after thought. The secret is the product needs to belong. You should consider water, drinks of all types, restaurants, clothes, stores, cars, cell phones, computers, ipods, etc. All of these things you can easily use in your film and you should be able to get through a
product placement company if your script fits their customers. If you are a first time filmmaker you may only get free goods but who cares, your in it for the long run. Next film could be money too! ************************************************************************************* I believe that money is the LAST thing you need to make your movie. There are seven things you need before you even start to raise money. If you have those seven things, money will flow to you, easily and naturally. If you don't, it won't. If you have taken the seven steps, you will have all seven things. The seven steps are: 1) Do your homework. 2) Find your investors. 3) Write your script 4) Break down your script 5) Select your team 6) Arrange your affairs 7) A-S-K to G-E-T Movies are made of money, even cheap little movies. You need money to make your movie, but it's not the first thing you need. It's the last thing. Let's go over what you need. First things first. You must have your head right. You must believe in what you're doing, plan it and follow the plan, with no mental reservations or reluctance. Stuart's book will give you that. You must have a team that has ONE goal, to make your movie, and make it as good as it can be. You must select your team, so the right persons are helping you. Your money-raising team must be IN ADDITION to your movie crew. You must have your filmmaking set up correctly and legally, so you don't run afoul of securities laws. That will make raising money much easier, and you'll almost raise money automatically. You must know how to Find investors, Attract, Qualify, Stratify, and then Satisfy them. You must have a script that is DONE. It must be wonderfully clever, not just "good," but GREAT. Buffed and polished to a high gloss. You must break down your script so you know exactly what happens when, how long it will take, how much it will cost. You must have your banking set up so that checks and credit card deposits can come to you regularly and easily. You must "tune in" the money channels, and keep them open, so money can flow to you. If you don't have this set up, don't bother asking somebody for money for your movie, because what do you do if they say yes? You must know the proper way to A-S-K, so that Investors will be happy to invest.
Let's say that you have taken all of the Seven Steps. You've done your homework, your System and business are humming along. Your team is rarin' to go, and it's time to get started. Now you need to make a list of your possible investors. Start with everyone you know. Don't exclude anybody. Then you sort them. Sort the list of prospective investors, according to what they have and need. At the top of your list should be persons who can indirectly influence the decisions of other persons, the more the better. Maybe they're the heads of companies, or clubs or organizations. Start making appointments. Call them up on the phone and say, "Listen, I have something I want to talk to you about." And then talk on the phone, or go and talk to them. Raising money for your movie is a necessary skill, and it may be a new one for you. Since any skill requires practice to get good, you have to get started. There are two ways you can go. You can start by going to persons who are unlikely to lend or invest. That's really easy, actually. You know they're unlikely, so you have nothing to lose. So you do it "just for practice." Another way is to approach persons who are a "slam-dunk" easy cinch. They'll give you something if you ask for it. Go to your mom, your best friend, your favorite aunt. Pick something easy to ask for, any success will drive you forward. Easy or difficult? Either example is easy if you say it is, or difficult if you say it is. The choice is up to you. Whichever is easier for you. My book has a few good exercises you can use to make "ASK"ing for money more familiar, and even fun. That makes the "GET"ting of money possible. Once you get good at raising money by talking to one or two persons, you may find you're good at it. Then start having bigger and bigger meetings. Go and talk to groups of two and three, and eventually you can hold and schedule one big meeting, and get maybe 50 people. Describe your project to them, tell them how you're structured to receive their money, what they can expect in return, and sign them up. Those are the basics. If you follow them, and do them every day, before you know it you'll have raised however much money you need to make your movie. There's really no mystery to it. *************************************************************************************
Film . Financing - 77 Use your IndieFilms http://www.indiefilms.com/ back button to Netribution www.netribution.co.uk/funding/
return to where you were Australian Film Commission Film Financing - Ireland (Merlin Film Group) Financial Aid Search Through The Web
First Look Pictures International Subsidy Organizations Media II Program - European Union Ontario Arts Council - Canada Small Business Administration The Source - Australia Columbus Discovery Awards Guggenheim Fellowships for Artistic Research National Endowment For the Humanities http://www.cinemarquee.com Cine Marquee = lots of links to film financing info and resources. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FilmInvestors/ http://www.netribution.co.uk/ Netribution = funding and other useful info. IFC funding info http://www.ifctv.ca/resources/funding.asp Praxis funding links http://www.praxisfilm.com/funding.html Telefilm Low Budget Independent Feature Fund http://www.telefilm.gc.ca Women in Film http://www.womeninfilm.ca/funding.html Writers Guild of Canada Development Funding http://www.writersguildofcanada.com/resources/dev_funding.htm http://www.screenplayers.net/filmfinancing.html
http://www.caryn.com/indie/caryn-indie-funding.html http://www.studiostar.ca/finance.html http://www.nextwavefilms.com/ - "Next Wave Films provides finishing funds to features shot on film or video. Once a film is in the can, Next Wave Films can provide the financial and technical resources to finish it properly. " Arenas Group - "Universal Pictures has teamed up with The Arenas Group, an advertising, PR and talent management firm focused on the US Latino market, No specific financing info on the site, but it IS part of their 'mission'. Dance Films Association - "Dance Films Association (DFA), a non-profit, tax-exempt, membership organization, acts as an information clearinghouse and meeting ground for the user, producer, and distributor of dance films and videos. Frameline - "the nation's only comprehensive non-profit organization dedicated to the exhibition, distribution, promotion and funding of lesbian and gay film and video." The Film Arts Foundation - "Funds film and video artists living in the 10 Bay Area counties (S.F., Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz). " ... http://www.filmmakersalliance.com/ - The Filmmaker's Alliance - Not funding per se, but access to resources by collective effort (you must work on four member productions before having access to mutual resources.) http://www.moxie-films.com/ - "Moxie Films, founded in 1992, is a non-profit organization, which includes the brands MoxieShorts™ and MoxieDocs™. http://www.mdhc.org/grants.html - The Maryland Humanities Council has funded at least one documentary (under $10,000). http://www.womenarts.org/ - The Fund for Women Artists - Massachusetts-based; have funded at least one documentary -
http://cine-tec.com
Motion picture funding and marketing consultants. http://www.netribution.co.uk Specialist film maker service offering funding information, news, links and listings. Do a good e-newsletter. Funding Guide at http://www.netribution.co.uk/funding/ Centre for Independent Documentaries Not-for-profit organization which works with producers to achieved independent documentary film production. Close in its aims to Independent Television Service (ITVS) and Public Broadcasting Service . Based in Boston. ITVS (Independent Television Service) Publicly-funded, not-for-profit organization which aims to assist independent film-makers and has a close historical relationship
to the US Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund Grants totaling $50,000 (each of $1,000 to $5,000) will be made in September. For Texas residents who are emerging film and video artists in the state. Soros Documentary Fund (w) Supports development and production, with particular interest in subjects of social transition and human justice.
*NEWBIE FILMMAKING - HOW DO I MAKE A FILM?* 1. Know your vendors Use your vendors’ expense accounts…that’s what they’re there for. Go to lunch with the film or tape rep, have coffee at the lab, take a bottle of wine to the camera rental house, and a case of beer to the grip and electric house. Create long-term relationships with your vendors…these are the people who will rescue you when things go haywire, and offer ideas when you lay a problem on the table. View the vendors as part of the crew, another group of collaborators you have to work with. 2. Write Make notes, make lists, make a plan. Jot down films you want to reference. Note the major locations. List the main characters. Expand this document with another reading of the script, adding more notes on the visual aspects of the project. Write down all your concerns about the script: difficult situations, expensive situations, impossible situations. Be realistic; it’s easy to get dragged into a project that, due to budget or time constraints, can’t possibly be completed. Be honest with yourself about what you can and cannot do visually. Prepare to talk about the story, the plot, the theme, how it begins and ends. 3. Listen, then talk Meet or call the key collaborators. Be prepared for these conversations…it will be obvious if you’re not. First and foremost, listen. Listen carefully and listen a lot. Extract as much information from the these filmmakers as you possibly can, then lay your ideas on the table. Be definitive; offer concrete ideas. Explain, in simple, non-technical terms, your vision for the film: tone, contrast, color, camera movement, photographic energy. Be honest opinion about the script, both strengths and weaknesses. Then listen some more. 4. Watch Watch all the reference material you can find. Films you’ve seen, films you haven’t seen, films the collaborators recommend. Tear images out of magazines and create a visual file for reference. Go to museums and see the paintings that will have the strongest influence on the project’s photography. And write everything down. 5. Test Draw, make still photographs, roll some video tape. Continue to build the visual foundation for the film. Test color, test filters, test lenses, test perspective. Use these tests as a visual communication device. Use video to explain a particularly complex camera move. Use a black and white still photo to explain contrast. Use color slide film to explain subtle color and filter combinations. **************************** http://www.screenplayers.net/financing.html http://www.ostrowandcompany.com http://www.filmproposals.com
