Financing / Crowdfunding

Hi, Leopoldo. This would be better placed on the "Jobs" board: https://www.stage32.com/find-jobs. That's where members post various "want ads" or searches for creative partners, paid or not paid. The Lounge craft and business forums are intended for topic discussion, such as posting a question about fundraising itself asking for tips or advice or recommendations. Otherwise, production crew needs or casting calls or hires are placed on Jobs. You could also utilize "Browse" and search our membership by location and occupation, perhaps reach out to someone who may be a fundraising expert. Hope that helps. Best to you!

RB has a book on it. See Stage 32 lounge and Candid.org along with online libraries.

Did you launch your crowdfund? Though I couldn’t be called an expert I have a proven track record and could help info@luminofilms.co.uk. Let’s talk.

Leopoldo Bolaños Cacho if you have obtained enough support great; however, if you are still looking for assistance in the new year, contact me.

well you spent time, and we believe time is valuable. let us know when you need something in the event we can help you got it. https://about.me/true

Tru - what you might want to address is the difference between "product placement" and "product integration". Using Shadow Dragu-Mihai's example from above - Product placement is showing Brad Pitt on the boat. Product integration is showing Brad Pitt on the boat, and adding a line to the script where Brad says "This Acme model 12 is really nimble", then Brad and the girl escape the bad guys only because the Acme was able to outmaneuver them. Product integration is not possible in every scene of every film, but when it works, it is worth more to the manufacturer.

There are companies who exist solely for the purpose of garnering this type of sponsorship for films. Some charge a percentage of what they raise, some charge an upfront fee, and some charge both. Many claim to be able to raise as much as 50% of the funding for a feature film. Buyer beware, of course, but it might be worth further study.

And, as Damien Lloyd pointed out, any sponsor would first have to be convinced of the guaranteed completion and commercial viability of your project.

Answering the question. It does work. We all have seen so many films with sponsors, and branding. The answer is all about your distribution and marketing plans. Who and how will your film reach the masses. The NUMBERs are what interest sponsors. If the numbers are not there, it's not worth it. Again, what is your distribution and marketing plans?

thanks Courtney we have plans on utilizing all marketing avenues focusing locally first and then branch out to new territories....appreciate your input...

tru

Years ago I put together a TV pilot with local sponsorship only in NYC. I did raise quite a bit from angel investors, but the rest was local, small business sponsors. A good friend of mine started the product placement industry and has told me to raise half of the money for a reality show from sponsorship and leave the other half for networks to put in their own sponsors. Just wondering if anyone has been down that route before.

Kay? Does Stage 32 have a list of who's who of financiers? So we can know who we are dealing with. We have a strict policy at DreamFactory Studios that keeps the properties we have in Development very hush-hush confidential until we have actually shook hands with business partners we trust are on the same page for the greater good of the properties we do not release any information on our intellectual properties for legal reasons. Or even a list of motion picture studios such as my favorite since childhood and the only ones we would deal with: UNIVERSAL, United Artists whose parent is MGM which is another longtime favorite, and Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Fox (Before being acquired by Disney), Paramount, Columbia Pictures, and although not considered the majors Amblin Entertainment, and Lucasfilm Ltd. (Before it was acquired by Disney), and the old Walt Disney Productions (especially back when Uncle Walt was at the helm and even past '66 up until the late '90s). And although they are not around they went defunct in '67, the ol' Republic Pictures. Fine memories of pictures they must've had made by them. My personal favorite years of Cinema are from the 1930s through 1990s. These days I feel the business is in disrepair but can be revived with great storytellers and filmmaking that remembers traditional ways.

Norm Marshall & Associates does this for the studios. However, they have no interest in small players. You might try getting local companies interested if there's a direct relationship with your film, but you'd need some big names already attached to your project.

In many years of experience, I find that product placement in indie productions almost never comes in money, and ALWAYS is a hard-sell, immediate opportunity, In other words, you are shooting this week and you have a name actor in a luxury car. You hard sell the auto dealership to provide the car and pay some money because this is their only chance to get their product seen with a name actor on-screen. Almost no one ever hands money over otherwise, and they might not hand money over even then. Also, those who would benefit from having their product in a film are basically purchasing a kind of advertising - those purchasers want to see results fairly quickly and seldom have the motivation (or the maneuvering space in their budget) to commit to things that may or may not happen in the future. That being said I don't see "commission" sales being a viable option - people have little practical ability to close a sale if the closing date is a moving target. So I personally would never ask anyone to put work into what is likely to waste their time unless I am paying them an hourly rate.

I've included product placement in the production of some shorts. It's never been for money. I recall using a craft brewing company's beer as a prop - for which they donated a couple of cases of beer for the cast & crew. I've done the same for a pizza joint, a small restaurant and a car company for letting us use one of their demo cars. I've never ask for, nor has anyone offered money.

The more you can do in service of the project, the better - storyboards, concept art, hero props, production stills from location scouting, etc. This way you build confidence in your audience that your work is towards the goal of making your film, not making the money for your film. That is to say - if you do something like an ice cream social, a raffle, or a silent auction to raise the money, then you're taking time for the funding only, not using that same time to "kill two birds with one stone" as it were. What if you did something interactive with your cast? You could host a similar event, make it live, and make sure there is nothing left to fulfill once the live event is done. Could you sell tickets to a live table read? Or do donations only during the table read? Keep at it!

piecemeal the entire production, from paper idea to master tape. do a little at a time, save $, raise $, borrow $, whatever. You don’t need the entire budget $ at once. Took us three years to finish an indie feature film. We started with a few hundred $, sacrificed lots of time, planned until it was time to film. Then, go back to our day jobs, saved more $ and finished post-production the following year

Listen to Dan - he's smart. Also, figure out a solid, detailed, actionable distribution plan that shows how you'll make money. Do this as soon as the script is done - before casting, locations, anything.

Hi Leanne, I'm in Florida. I got a gallery on the beach to screen a bunch of short films (We called it "Shorts on the Beach"). Sold 90 tickets for $10 each, had two showing. I had 8 local filmmakers submit films. I think you have a community gallery down at Bondi (if memory serves). Maybe they'll let you make an Aussie Shorts on the Beach.

Here are some resources. Documentary.org, Filmdaily.tv, Hollywomen.org, Itvs.org and Stage 32 resources.

Jonathan Roberts, my blog on Stage 32 this month covers your question pretty thoroughly, if it helps: https://www.stage32.com/blog/How-To-Find-Money-for-Movies-Financing

Great Article Stead!

Thank you, Jae Sinclair!

Jonathan, to add to the above: if you are shopping to a major studio, they are only looking at the established marketability of who you already have locked in by contract. That's their world and they don't do anything else. If you are looking at independent investors, they ONLY reason they will invest - regardless of the documents, market, ROI, risk, etc - is if THEY BUY INTO YOU PERSONALLY. In other words, recognize you are asking them to believe in YOU. The merits of the project are almost irrelevant if they believe in you, and if they don't it won't matter if you have Brad Pitt obligated to do it for 20 cents a day.

I agree with Lowrie Fawley & Erik A. Jacobson you have to be willing to put some skin in the game first but also Jonathan Roberts have you explored financing through the private sector yet?

Thank you for the information, Shadow Dragu-Mihai.

Great thread Tennyson, thank you for starting it.

yes thanks tennyson. i hate people from outside the industry trying to get in and change the way we do things. i managed to find shahar's contact details and I suggest we all call him to tell him what we think about his new model. his phone number is +44(0)07852584013 and also send him "love letters" to his office address 222 Regent Street W1B 4ND, London. Its not like we have anything better to do these days being locked-in all day so lets have some fun!

David Antoniuk, you're very welcome. George Walker, unprofessionalism never solves problems - and there's always the possibility that it might create more.

Hey, gang. After reading this thread, a contact of Shahar’s found me on Facebook and shared some history. If anyone needs details, I can offer them in private... but I’m advising everyone to stay away. For sure.

Welcome! See Stage 32 FAQ , Blog, lounge and Education Services.

It a running joke here in the US. I don't know you or anything about you. But what I do know is for 2 decades we've been bombarded with the "Nigerian Prince" email scam (and the many version thereof). Its a knee jerk reaction...and of course, all the scams always plea for innocent from other scams. So, yeah...you can thank someone in your neck of the woods for the set backs. Best wishes.

Thank you everyone..Tony If there's anyway you can help me access Crowdfunding sites, I'll be grateful.. Thanks..

Sure. Type: "www.gofundme.com" and "www.kickstarter.com" into a browser. There is no block of these sites from Nigeria. I got to both with a Nigerian 45.137 IP address.

See if you can reach: https://www.419eater.com/ It's a riot... and so are you.

Ok.. Thanks and God bless you so much Tony

God bless back at ya.

Hi Steven! From what I understand, the only legal sources of funding before pitching the project are: a. submit it to contests, b. submit it to a grant, c. ask for a loan, d. find a private investor close to you, e. make your star appeal to her contacts or f. start a crowdfunding campaign. Producers will always ask you for a pitch. Good luck!

Or send to a Producer who has made films for a Hallmark

What Shane Walker says. Too, Steven Hartman I may have a connection to the Hallmark/Lifetime world - DM me.

Shane Walker - sent it out to a few and got a couple reads.

John Ellis - network request sent to DM

Pablo Perel - Thanks. I've heard about most of those - looks like I'll have to dive a little deeper into it.

What you are referring to as a 'lookbook' is more commonly called a pitch deck. If you google movie pitch decks, you'll get an idea of what they look like and case studies of what has worked.

I've seen a few professional ones that are generally about 12-14 slides. Some shorter. There's a pretty consistent formula. Designs vary greatly based on the content.

Yep, it's a Deck

The cooler the better. Sizzle helps & talent attached helps too