Funding Your Film

Independent Filmmakers: Funding Your Film

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One of the hardest parts about writing and creating a great film is having the means to fund that film. Crowd funding is widely used among independent filmmakers and is an excellent way to fund your project. Sites like "Give Forward," "Razoo," and "Indiegogo," are great tools because they also allow you to share your funding efforts on social media sites. There are also the more traditional funding methods such as corporate financing and product placement but this can be time consuming and still may not produce results. Fortunately, for the filmmakers that rely heavily on the support of others to produce their projects, there are other methods to successfully complete their films.

As an independent filmmaker, one of the methods I used on my last film was adding a prop donation page to my website. I listed the different props needed for my film and asked individuals to either donate the props or they could leave suggestions on how to create certain props effectively and inexpensively. This method produced great results because one of the props needed was a "fake pregnant belly" and one was donated to my film, saving me over $100.00. Another method I used was a more traditional method which was researching the new, “mom and pop,” restaurants in my community. This method was effective because the agreement included complimentary food for the cast and crew and in return, I would send new customers to their restaurant via my daytime job, which is a very popular hotel chain.

Finally, figure out what your particular film has to offer and research special interest groups that may have similar interests in the message your portraying. There are individuals out there who may not necessarily believe in you, but they believe in your cause and are willing to invest in that. It will not be an easy task to convince individuals to part with their money especially in this economy, but do not let that deter you from your goals. Typically, there are always going to be individuals or companies that are looking to invest in the next big “idea.”

Also, be sure to make professionalism a character trait when seeking funding from any source. Remember, you are asking for help, not the other way around and your attitude can be the difference between success and failure.