Financing / Crowdfunding

Jack, is it because Producers are asking for product placement money up front before production as funding for the movie? My husband's idea was to basically make product placement like advertising, where the company doesn't pay until after the movie comes out to prove their product was there. His idea was to take those product placement contracts to potential investors, to prove to them that they will make their money back and then some as soon as the movie hits the screens... Has no one done that before?

Hi Joyce, product placement is a tricky one and can be overstated in conversation in my opinion. What is more likely is propping (where a company or brand may offer you an item or wardrobe or venue). It's still a tough one and you'll want to show the brand what exposure you can offer or how you will deliver a 'brand moment' for them. Most major brands have outsourced their product placement to agencies, so I advise finding out who runs that for your target brand if its a major one. Or, work with smaller business you can build a relationship with and find a mutual benefit between you. Highly recommend making a deck to show the brand moments and how/where a brand can expect to be featured in your content.

Not a lot of brands are paying, try to think more creatively about finding the mutual benefit. Unless you have a Bond movie with Emma Stone coming out that Valentino will want to know about... ;)

Hi Joyce, as mentioned here, they just don't actually pay money in general, in my experience. Certainly after the fact. Perhaps in unique cases where the market value is presented as a good investment. Mostly it's a fallacy concept unless you're Godzilla and Pepsi.

I've done product placement a few times on small projects. But I was limited to either free stuff, or 'sure you can use our brand in your film'. No money.

in 2019, i got a brewery to sponsor a short film i produced. it was about 30K - not much but huge for our budget. through personal connections and a months long campaign. what helped was having solid talent attached, not A-listers but name actors people recognized from bigger projects, which made our project "buzzy". it also helped our director's first short had done well at festivals and we had nice odds at a good festival run around the country again. then also via our director, we hooked up an airline programming deal which we could use as a sweetener. then we got a SVOD deal with Fandor, which really sealed the deal, so we could guarantee a decent share of eyes on the project all over. then in the film, we included brewery stuff in a lot of shots - we had multiple fridge shots with the beer, dinner table scenes with logo-engraved glasses on the table, one of their aluminum beer posters in the garage scenes, and other nice little bits and pieces. money came after we finished production though which made things real tight. however we did it and we made it and everybody was pleased in the end. there weren't really hard steps i can tell you to take. it was nonstop moving parts and not an A-to-B process whatsoever so you've gotta get your hands dirty but it worked. having a director you can sell a bit is very useful. going to personal connections who own businesses that want brand awareness also helps. you're not gonna get big brands except through an agency, but there are lots of brands out there.

Has anyone here applied for, or considered applying for, a tax credit on their film? The question of “is it fair” implies that indies are getting overlooked.

I’m in New York, which has an attractive credit program. The state doesn’t choose what projects to sponsor, then hand you a check. Instead, you follow the rules of qualified spending, submit in the appropriate time frame, then get money back after your initial budget is spent.

So if Disney is spending 166 million to get 21 million back, this is not disadvantaging an indie production. They simply don’t spend as much, so get less back.

The goal for the state government is to get more spending in-state. Hotels, rentals, local crew, etc. New York even has a dedicated post production credit. Of course the state would want more big budget films to apply, that’s where the bulk of the in-state spending will come from.

I’ve been frustrated in the past that some of the NY rules seem skewed for big budget productions (a requirement is shooting for a minimum time on a qualified sound stage, for instance) but then I realized those minimums are to encourage more spending.

They’re not trying to further an art form altruistically, they’re trying to stimulate an economy.

It's such a universal theme, sadly. I've just been having the same conversations in the UK (within the framework of a pilot programme aimed at levelling the field) and with the commissioner in France. Seems like it's always the same dilemma, how do we distribute funds/resources and nurture new skills learners at the indie end of the industry within the picture rather than just service the giants!

CA and NY are not very film-friendly states to shoot in, IMO. They charge you for everything, permits and location fees will cost 2x what you would spend in NM, PA, MD, GA, etc. A film-friendly state tries to help filmmakers. I have not seen that love in CA.

I will clarify that I live in upstate New York, not NYC. Shooting in the city is expensive of course, but the tax incentive is often used by productions shooting in certain areas of Rochester or Buffalo looking to emulate NYC.

it'll never not be weird for Disney to get tax credits. they've logged 2 billion in tax credits around the country over the last 30 years and 500 million from California alone. they just don't need the money. sure they can employ the highest level film workers and that factor in the equation is positive. but for a company that makes 30 billion annually, don't think they need the help...

Matthew Faye Terry hi Matthew, have you tried searching for such people here on Stage32?

Looking forward to Sara's class!

Looking forward to it!

Super!!

What a great first class! It was so nice to meet some of you and hearing about your projects. I'm looking forward to the next class. Do we have an assignment to fill out?

Excellent! Apologies for the late introduction; I’m looking forward to the next class and hope I can catch up. Sarah Elizabeth is such a wonderful teacher, I’ll do my best.

https://www.stage32.com/lounge/producing/Ask-Me-Anything-AMA-Wednesday-2...

Thanks for sharing, Jack Binder! It's going to be a great one!

Let me email you over something quite but related. Thanks

Hi Donna, what type of financing are they looking for? Getting financing for development is a tough call - I wouldn't take on anything in this stage unless I can verify several things (producers or writers have already invested some of their own resources, how packaged it already is...). Going to a potential investor when it's too soon in the life cycle of the project could be the case here. Also, are they sending out a clear ask and investment proposal? Is there any kind of structure? What security is offered? Hope that helps.

I would suggest they partner with an established producer with the resources and experience financing films (or television productions).

With a complete authentic riveting pulse pounding Drama series called THE INCISIVE: A Coincidence. S1, 10 Episodes ready to go, i'm in the same situation as you. I'm interested in hearing from that have navigated this phase successfully before. Thanks

First question... how have you protected your script? What is the ownership structure for the asset you're asking people to invest in. Start here I think Dan. Either you are selling your script to a production company to make on your behalf (?) or you want to make the film yourself (?). If you're going to co-produce you need a company of your own, an SPV.

Emma, I have the script registered with WGA. Not looking to produce myself but sell it to a production company and work with them to bring sponsors to the table from my connections in developing the script. With co-production I do maintain more control but...at this point not much desire there. I've enjoyed using the Stage32 review services to polish the script to its final form.

Hello there! I agree with Emma...

Definitely copyright with the US Library of Congress. To answer your question, a Letter of Intent (LOI) would be helpful from interested parties. This helps other potential investors to know they are not the first or only interested. Escrow is set-up once you have serious investor/financier/brand interest, an entertainment attorney for legal contracts for the investment, and create the escrow account. Never spend investment funds without the full financing for the budget in place.

Hi Tucker, for sure grants are an important consideration. They form part of the 'soft money' category within your finance plan. There are great resources available to search online for grants offering support - totally dependant upon the film (genre, short, doc, etc. etc.). Google is your best friend here. Having some funding shows potential investors that you're out making things happen, will give you resources to move the needle forward and perhaps resources in the way of advice or support from veterans. Why wouldn't you apply to grants? - thats the question I'll leave with you!

Great advice. Hope we're done with our project before Berlin 2025.

Thanks so much for sharing! This is great!

Dori Zavala, JD spot on, Dori. Always consult with a lawyer and protect your interests and give clarity to the investor as to what they will receive by way of ROI.

Have never used ChatGPT but surprisingly this agreement seems very reasonable! However as others have said, I know the SEC rules in the US are very stringent so I think I'd take advice. If it all goes wrong, can you sue ChatGPT??!!

To Dori & Geoff, please scroll to the bottom of the generated boiler plate agreement and read the "Please Note" section.

Fair point John, but with such caveats, the document is surely of little value other than information?

Templates are Trash. Consult an Attorney. If you cannot afford one, you cannot afford to make a film. Period. Always hire an Attorney, Never use a Template. For Anything. Legal Nightmare Warning.

A very critical document to comprehend, create, plan, and implement. Bravo!

Yet another example of why the word "business" is twice as long as the word "show". Awesome share, Ashley Renee Smith!

100% This information is so vital to learn. I'm thankful that David has taken the time to share these insights with us.

Wow, absolutely massive resource and a great blog to learn about how all the payment works