BEEN THERE, DONE THAT How to Raise Money Hints for embarking on the fundraising journey by Michelle Coe The original version of this article was published in The Independent Film and Video Monthly.
Determine Your Approach Things to Consider:
Your timeline. If you intend to apply for grants, their funding cycle may not coincide with your production timeline. Developing trust with individual donors or investors takes time as well, unless you have someone else making those connections for you. Truthfully, any form of money-raising is going to take time, so be sure to allow for it. Your “Fundability” or “Salability” Does your project have commercial appeal to a broad audience that would do well in the marketplace and thereby attract investors? Is there a social issue angle that some nonprofit foundations would embrace? Do you have a prior project, or track record, that demonstrates success? Get to Know Your Project One of the most difficult steps in the fundraising process can be describing what your film is about. Even if you have a script and the story is clear: how do you compellingly convey not just what happens, but the underlying issues that the film presents? In short: why is your film important and unique and why, within
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Your project. Do you have a commercial feature film, or a social issue documentary? Narrative feature films usually have a difficult time obtaining grants; and short films often cannot compete in the marketplace to warrant investors.
PREPRODUCTION
Probably the most common can-of-worms question pressing the emerging filmmaker is, How do I find money for my film? It’s never a simple question to answer, since film/video funding and financing involves a lot of time, research, skill, and perseverance. As competitive as the market is today, there is money out there, and with a little creative thinking it just might be yours. The term “fundraising” implies that funds are given to you with no expectation of a financial return or ownership in the project. Sources include grants from government (federal, city, state) agencies or arts councils, private foundations and corporate giving programs, as well as those from individual donors. Film “financing,” on the other hand, involves lenders who expect a financial return or ownership of rights to the project on a certain level. Some forms of financing might include individual investments, foreign or domestic pre-sales to distributors, licensing fees from broadcasters, and co-productions with studios or other production companies.