Financing / Crowdfunding

Welcome. Send me a DM and I will give you some sources.

Definitely reach out to our Director of Script Services, Jason Mirch, who is excellent at matching projects with potential executives: J.Mirch@stage32.com

Sorry for the bad news Mio. In North America, Netflix really doesn't consider outside work these days. In any event, your only realistic avenue is to get a literary agent who has the required contacts, who will try to pitch on your behalf.

I've heard Seed&Spark is a better way to go than Kickstarter

Erick Freitas Karen "Kay" Ross I've used Seed&Spark to raise funds for production and it's way better for filmmakers that Kickstarter. Crowdfunding remains an option but I was trying to see if there are alternative options as well 'cause re-launching another crowdfunding campaign is a LOT of work!

If you are looking to bring on a finishing production company, definitely reach out to our Director of Script Services, Jason Mirch, who is excellent at matching projects with potential executives: J.Mirch@stage32.com We have several pitch sessions per week! https://www.stage32.com/scriptservices/pitch-sessions

Coxy Chiara Rodoni Love the website you guys have, when is the trailer going up? What aspects of post-production are you looking for specifically?

Frank Romano Hi Frank, glad you like the site. Just finished editing the trailer. It will go up this week. As for post-production we're pretty much done, all we need to do is the DCP package for festivals.

Hello Amber, it's really refreshing to hear from a young creator who is ambitious and willing to consider doing whatever it takes to push forward. Yes, an actual pilot is a complex and difficult task. To be totally honest: it is not the most economic move in trying to get a series made. On the other hand, it does have advantages in terms of career and profile, if planned and executed properly from the beginning. I sent a network request with my email address, use it if you want to discuss anything in particular.

If the package of your film has commercial potential, investors from anywhere are interested in what your doing. But you have to create and sell such a project which is quite a pain in the ass. If your starting out you might want to look into film co-production markets, this is one in the Netherlands by the end of this month. https://iffr.com/en/iffr-pro

https://www.ausfilm.com.au/ is a great resource that works with the US & international markets that you might find useful.

Really, the Australian one producer I know is more interested in finding Australian government and corporate film incentives than she is in finding American investors. My impression is that if you can get past the sexism, there's institutional money getting spent to bring more film business to Australia.

Amanda, your link is for incentives for people bringing projects to Australia

Hi Leanne, I worked on a couple of Australian productions that were financed by a combination of Screen Australia + UK financiers. The financing model should be the same in that you offer your investors something of value in return for their investment. I.e. if you can show that you have a licensing agreement with an Australian broadcaster then you could offer the monies due under that licensing agreement (which would be paid out in the future) to your investor/financier as security. Have you reached out to Australian broadcasters or Sales Agents?

The pandemic has canceled film festivals this year. Maybe Sundance will host their festival in Jan 2021.

Anyways, if you’re serious about chasing money from strangers, first thing is spend your own money and setup an LLC for the movie and have an entertainment lawyer on payroll with legit contracts ready to sign.

Frank Romano In 20+ years in the industry, I have found no angel investor group who I would consider legitimate. Meaning, that there are some "groups" and "companies" and "consultants" who will imply and outright say they have access to to major investors or studios. But they then turn around and try to charge you several thousands of dollars to "prepare" your pitch, with of course no absolute guarantee of any funding, but with themselves insinuated into your deal in the case you do get something. Some of them fly through Stage32 periodically to try and entice people here to spend their money. So, the best advice I can say is network at industry events, network among your own family and business associates, and research and target-to-pitch legitimate production companies who might be able to become a producer if they like your project.

Dan MaxXx I am going to partly disagree with you on that, as an entertainment attorney. Having an entertainment attorney available to you is good advice. However, incorporating in advance is something that is often advised, but in my opinion should not normally be done. I don't set up any corporate structure until I have spoken with a serious investor who is ready with a check. It's an unnecessary expense, and a legal/tax headache. A legit investor will have their own circumstances and preference as to equity and debt structure, and incorporating requires you to make those choices in advance of meeting that investor. These choices naturally include legal jurisdiction and corporate structure - both of which have significant impact on the kind of deal that can be made and the tax consequences. If there is an ongoing business and I am offering an investor only one option, then incorporating in advance is fine. But most indie producers are not in that situation, and an LLC (or any other particular structure) isn't necessarily the best choice for a given deal. In fact, it can even cost more - sometimes a lot more - because your investor wants a different capital or corporate structure, new share series, etc...

I hope you are successful in funding your project. In the (not so) near future we will be looking for a candidate to demonstrate the potential of a blockchain based production that will include a token funding component based on cryptocurrency. Not quite there yet but we see opportunities to attract a different type of investor from outside the industry. All the same rules would apply and all the same benefits would be available to investors. I have responded to a number of questions and concerns in this lounge and will be posting more info here as we develop this. Good luck Frank Romano

Shadow Dragu-Mihai all of that is extremely useful advice. Thank you very much!

John T. Trigonis Hi, john! Connection request sent so we can hopefully discuss our planned CF campaign. Thanks!

Hi Greg, It's the 3 T's of Crowdfunding: Talent, Technique and Tenacity. If you think you need help in any of those areas...Start by learning from the Pros...Those who have pulled in millions and especially those who have done it in your field of endeavor. I am working on those 3 T's right now. Let me know if you want to join me.

From a professional approach, one of the biggest problems with funding a project is whether the amount asked for is realistic. I often see people asking numbers in increments of one hundred thousand and wonder if they have budgeted their (film) project. Credibility is essential but not a deal-breaker, do you have it? If not, your pitch needs to be extremely powerful.

From a non-professional approach, is your target audience interested in your work, or is it about your desire? If it is the former, it should sell itself, but if it is the latter, then you might need to scrap it or fund it yourself and hope that you can recover your money.

Hi Greg, Not sure how your project went, hope you got your money. But if you want to join me, help on my crowdfund for a period drama you will learn how to successfully crowdfund for yourself in the future as well as a myriad of other benefits. See my post today August 15 at the top of this page. Info@luminofilms.co.uk

Visit Stage 32 Blog, Education, Lounge and Script Services. I also have a list of sources in my ebook Funding for Internship and Scholarship Programs.

Hey Brad, bummer that there wasn't enough interest. Seems like a perfect topic for a webinar given the complexities inherent to equity crowdfunding. Having read through your Cryptid investor page several times over the years it's clear that the process requires assiduous attention to detail. Glad to hear you're that you have forward momentum with some of the pre-production leading up to May. Best of luck with your investor meetings.

Its funny, I have had several filmmakers reach out to me privately as they are looking at getting into the equity crowdfunding game and they have a lot of questions, because you're right, it is a lot of arduous detail that goes into the process, and I think that turns people off. For me, I'm just a filmmaker, not a business expert by any means, and so it took months of learning how to construct the campaign in the proper format to qualify it. That's hard to justify, especially when with something like Kickstarter/Indiegogo, you just need an email address to get started. I do hope we will see more and more equity campaigns pop up, but its hard, and my fear is if a few fail too quickly it will sour the option. I do really think it could be a great resource for $100k-500k productions. Thanks for the well wishes Chris. We'll continue to charge forward and get this done however we can.

Any updates as to this effort in 2020?

Hi LaSonya,

We ended up raising about $250k through equity crowdfunding and its connections. We were supposed to start shooting our movie in April of this year, but got shut down for the pandemic, so we are hoping to start production in September. I did reach out to Stage 32 about a possible webinar, but I don't think there was much interest as they never got back to me. We've been using the last couple months in quarantine to try and bring a little more money to the project outside of equity crowdsourcing to get a bigger name attached, the hope is to make something positive out of this pause.

Okay. Cheering for you and the team.

No. There is no secret layer, and no group of people just waiting to fund film and media. I wish there was. It's about networking with the right people, selling yourself and the project, and putting a ton of business pieces together to attract those very few legitimate investors and producers who you can get to know.

Hey Sohaila Lindheim stay tuned here for a completely new direction in funding opportunities using the fast growing interest in blockchain and cryptocurrency. I have provided a high level overview response to a few queries in this Lounge. We have been working at this for about a year and the funding options are a small part of a larger industry solution based on blockchain.

Sohaila Lindheim are you interested in being a producer? Because that's the person who worries about financing. If you're more interested in writing or even directing, then don't focus on financing. Network, network, network. If the script is great, and/or you have chops as a director (both of these accomplishments come from hard work and practice), then eventually you'll meet a producer who wants to do the film. Then let him/her do all the heavy lifting in acquiring funding.

Remember, a successful career in this biz is a marathon, not a sprint.

The secret is building a strong social media following.

These are the people who will fund you. If you want to control your own destiny, building a financial network will be a skill you have to master. I had a mentoring session with Christian Sander and got very good advice. Find someone (wealthy entrepreneur) who has an affinity for the subject matter of your story and approach them. In the end people aren't investing in your story, they're investing in you. They're investing because they see your passion and believe you have what it takes to execute. In order for that to happen, investors have to get a chance to know you. Social media is an excellent way to start that process.

Financing, take people out, call people, put together business plans. All part of it. Get used to it, learn to love it. It'll improve your career.

The business side of show. Honestly, when I had an investor, it was extremely taxing. However, self-financing is essentially chasing money as well

So right Hamish. And can lead to a ton of debt if you’re not careful!

Did you save a patch for the memory?

Interesting discussion. There is a webinar recently advertised on here on how to fund making a documentary, this might be a template for making a feature as well.

Hi Cherelynn. Do I get tired of chasing money for projects? Hmm. So not only did I decide that I was going to create a television show and raise the financing myself, I also decided that I want to be a studio. Am I tired? I passed tired about a month into this adventure. Working in financial services, I believe I know how to put a deal together. It is about your network. You need to know someone who can introduce you to the person(s) who can write the check. You need to have a solid understanding of what terms you're looking for and understand what you're willing to sacrifice to get a deal done. I firmly believe it's better to pay people. It's better to have union people. I shot the first episode myself on an iPhone. It was rough looking to say the least. The fifth episode, I had small crew (not union) and everyone got paid. Now, cast and crew will be union for the rest of the season but it will take millions of dollars to shoot. I am excited about the talent level we are attracting. No major stars, but talented actors along with experienced, award winning crew members. The production quality is like night and day. Keep fighting for the money.