A synopsis: All quirky, girl-next-door Julie wants is to be spanked. Her home life is a mess, her younger brother is out of control, and no one seems to know she exists. On top of that, her stifling Women's Studies class has her convinced that her desire is borne of some freakish disorder that flies in the face of feminism. In a world that does not understand or accept difference, Julie's greatest and most mysterious desire becomes her darkest secret. But when that secret is inadvertently revealed, a new friend takes Julie on a journey into the heart of what she wants most, a journey of ultimate love and acceptance of self, a journey that becomes truly empowering. With a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor and a lot of heart, the film casts a positive light on a taboo subject that may be more normal than we realize. All that's standing in the way of finally getting this passion project of mine off the ground is financing. I have an unknown actress onboard for the lead role. She is in love with the story, the character, etc., and is waiting patiently for someone to help champion this project and get us off the ground. Contact me and I can forward the script to you through email. Thanks!
Financing / Crowdfunding : Seeking funding for first film, Over the Knee by Chris Nunnally
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How much do you need?
$15,000.
I've already attempted the crowd funding route without success.
The problem with stories like these is finding your market. This will never be mainstream so how to find funding for that niche? It's too limited in terms of what you could possibly offer an Exec in terms of points for decent ROI. If this gets produced at all, it'll be by you, with your own cash. Promoted, sold and distributed by you. You'll honestly make more headway with your own digital tech and a YouTube account.
Thanks for the advice, Debbie. You're right, it will never be mainstream and I would never want it to be but I think there is a bigger market for it than one would initially think, considering the overwhelmingly positive responses I've gotten for it. I wish I could afford to fund it myself.
Well there are ways. It just depends on how desperate (or dedicated) you are to get the piece finished. Here's a scenario that worked (in a sense) for our group. We enlisted the help of 26 artists and technicians to develop, produce and distribute one of our documentaries for PBS. In exchange, depending on each individual's input or stake in the program, that person was offered points based on potential sales. This agreement had a 3 year lifespan. Based on each person's input they placed a value on their "in-kind" services ("$X") and we came to an agreement as to a final value. When all values are added together the program has a total value of "in-kind" services of say $15,000. Therefore, presuming you need to keep some points (say 50%) each point has a potential value of $300. The actress might be offered 5 points, the DP 10 points, the editor 10 points and so on until all the points are eaten up. These people are each entitled to that value of alleged sales and no more. It's critical to note that your hard costs have to come off the top before any funds are distributed. As an example, if you went out and bought a GoPro HD to shoot the piece, that comes off the top, as does travel, supplies, etc. The "in a sense" mentioned at the top refers to the fact that our program had an actual in-kind value of $425,000 and our total sales (including what PBS calls a 4x3 agreement) over the three years was far, far less that that figure. Therefore, not only were the hard costs never covered but not one artist or tech received one dime - ever. That made a lot of enemies and a lot of people thinking they were ripped off. Especially after it aired nationwide several times. Our contracts stated very clearly that all investment in time, effort, skill, etc. was at risk and that no-one was guaranteed anything. That being said, we wanted to produce the program and we came up with a way to do it. It's now been over ten years since that piece was completed and not one of those people talk to us today. And as a matter of fact, some have gone out of their way to be nasty (not worth explaining). The up-side is that the program received 18 awards in international film festival competition. In addition, the cover art and website both won industry awards. The program is now a part of the curriculum in more than 75 colleges and universities. So ask yourself, how bad do you want it?!
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Jacqueline, thanks for the advice. Actually the story is told from a purely emotional perspective and not at all from a sexual/kinky one. It's a very different take on the concept. Having a male lead, in my eyes, would have made the emotional point of view harder to capture and I think would have opened the door for it to become sleazy...which is something I'm not willing to let it be.
It's not about our group, it's about Chris' project. I was simply pointing out the pitfalls of alternative financing. But since you threw the first volley, if the production group receives nothing, how can anyone pass payment where no payment exists? The only funds that ever came in went to cover actual duplication of DVD's - that's all. The rest of the monies paid out went to contributors for food, travel, recording and so on. That figure was around $40,000 and came out of our personal accounts, not from sales proceeds. We never saw a dime of that back either. You can accuse all you like but until you've been there you just don't know. It seems you feel that your vast experience in this field merits your righteous indignation? When it comes down to it we're a small community. When you've been doing this as long as we have you'll learn it doesn't pay to make enemies. The point is that we learned our lesson. You?
I have seen it and to a degree it's what I'm aiming for, only not portrayed as S&M bondage. I actually compare it more to But I'm a Cheerleader. It's a story about accepting your differences in a world that shuns them.
No worries at all. I probably should have specified that anyway.