Financing / Crowdfunding

I love that Jodie is using her amplified voice to support the arts and arts in education. It is so important for the development of a human being and it's still suffering for lack of funding. Thanks for sharing Sandra Isabel Correia !

Thank you Maurice Vaughan its very kind from you: I appreciate that! I didn't thought about that! Thanks

You're welcome, Sandra Isabel Correia.

Niki H I agree; that's why I shared since I believe it's so vital. It also marks Mahalia Belo's directorial debut. It's important to raise our voices too. You're welcome!

Maurice Vaughan happy you are always there :))

Fantastic!!

This is a great post - Kay is so smart and has so much to share with this community. Thanks, Maurice Vaughan!

You're welcome, Sam Sokolow. I agree. Kay is so smart, she always has incredible resources to share with the community, and she's super encouraging, inspiring, and motivating. I've learned a lot from her, like how to give better feedback and how to use crowdsource funding for indie films (this blog).

Aww, thank you all so much! I really appreciate your kind words, truly. Stay tuned! I've got a follow-up blog coming out soon!

You're welcome, Karen "Kay" Ross. Looking forward to your follow-up blog!

Thank you Maurice. Yes, this is precisely why you see so many credits on independent, especially foreign (international) productions opening credits.

Producers pull together film financing from multiple sources: government funds, film tax incentives, grants, distribution, and finance partners. The industry nickname has been "Euro-Pudding" acknowledging the multiples of partners brought together to fund and distribute the production.

As European and other international producers and nations have not had the resources to fully finance large productions, for example extensive corporate and private equity pockets, they have historically funded production in this manner, cobbling together contributions from numerous entities. (I'll do another post on why there are so many producers listed on projects as I get that question a lot.)

You're welcome, Jack Binder. Thanks for explaining. "Euro-Pudding." Great name! Ok, looking forward to the other post. I tried to produce two features way back. I could've really used the information you're posting. I'm sure your posts will help new producers who are on here.

I am looking for help financing and producing a feature Comedy at 1-5 Mil production in RI and Quebec Canada - I am seeking co productions and/or co-producers.

LOVE this! Thank you so much, Jack Binder!

Really valuable post - great for people to get a better understanding of this model that we hear about almost every day. Thanks, Jack Binder!

Great article on the dedication it takes to make an independent film!

love these stories or resilience. thanks for sharing.

more please :)

Great share, Amanda Toney! I've never heard of the term "bridging money" before I read the article.

So interesting! Perseverance truly is key.

Man, does this make me feel better about my own struggles making our first feature! This is the part that really got me:

"Financing came via foreign pre-sales through STX International, the Italian tax credit, as well as private investors. As such, Ferrari’s credits reveal “a veritable conga line of producers”.

“It’s the best and the worst way to make a film,” notes Mann. “The best is we could control what happened and make the film. Having said that, it was a short schedule. It was a 56-day shoot; I shot it in 58. For a film of this scale, that’s short. Independently financed movies are usually $15m-$35m movies.”

Ferrari, which stars Adam Driver as Enzo — “we’re very similar,” says Mann of the actor, “we’re both committed to do whatever it takes to make a performance or film” — alongside Penelope Cruz as his wife and Shailene Woodley as his mistress, cost much more. Building the replica cars cost almost $6m. “Everybody cut [their fees], starting with Adam and myself. Penelope cut as well, so the picture was made by the will of the people working on the movie.”

The responsibilities of independent financing are “vast”, reflects Mann. “They are more than just legal and financial. There are actual people whose money has gone into the film at different times.” Two, Laura Rister and Marie Savare, provided “generous” bridging loans during pre-production. “You need bridging money to keep going, to set yourself up before you can finally close, which typically happens around the first day of principal photography,” says Mann. “In our case, we didn’t close until about the second week. If catastrophe had struck and we weren’t able to start, there was significant risk to both lenders. So there was an impetus to make sure this thing got made.”

Just incredible...

Great information!

maybe we should follow more the lead of Jason Blum production strategies

Great share! Thank you, Jack Binder!

Eilenberg is a super smart and talented executive. Great perspective and I trust what he says, Maurice Vaughan.

Great article - thank you for sharing!

Frustrating! As a London-based, Italian producer I feel that our European colleagues have way more availability of funding on a local, national and European community level than us. Do you think we can point at Brexit as the main cause for this?

Do you think there needs to be a separate tax incentive system set up for indie filmmakers in the UK, Geoff Hall?

Alessio Bergamo Hi Alessio, no I don’t put this down to Brexit; this was a phenomenon before that. It’s a cultural thing, which I think is due to an over-reliance on government funding and I know I keep banging this drum, but HNW individuals need educating in film investment. This isn’t happening and it means that there’s a lack of diversity in the stories we tell. Just look at the dramas on ITV or the UK Indie films that are made and you see that there’s nothing new under the son, mainly because IMHO, with government funding comes the control of the cultural narrative.

Maurice Vaughan well, this is supposed to cover some of that, Maurice, but this model is flawed. There are lots of Producers out there in His Majesty’s Land that are looking for government funding for their projects, but it’s not enough to fire up the market. What we actually need is a cultural change in investment and then, yes, tax incentives for films that aren’t wanting to produce the next Barbie.

Geoff Hall I understand but filmmakers cannot rely on private financiers only, on the other hand.

on microbudget features, like my film "Sparrow's Call", we had a few HWI and we could make it happen, but it's not sustainable in the long run, for us and them.

in the EU, you can raise up to 50% with public funding and add on top of that a sweet tax credit (30-40%) in the case of Italy and, independent producers with reasonable sized but commercial projects, can make their movie.

the BFI has 7million pounds per year to finance an army of UK filmmakers at very strict conditions.

I think we need education on the government side, rather than private financiers, as the era of patronage has downed a long ago

Be sure to check out Stage 32 Education! There are a ton of great resources in there including for short films!

Tyler Bazan grants for short films in cash form are very hard to come by. The only ones I have ever gotten is from the regional arts council in my area. I’ve gotten two over the years, one for $750 and one for $2500 although that was for a microbudget feature. There are a couple newsletters floating around that also list grants quarterly.

Tyler Bazan could not find on my phone but back in studio I subscribe to this free newsletter https://www.filmdaily.tv/grants

Matt Helderman, the CEO of Bandit, shares a ton of useful and actionable information in this Stage 32 class he hosted: https://www.stage32.com/classes/Ultimate-Guide-to-Getting-Financing-For-...

I've found this list useful https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/film-grants/#short-film-grants

Congrats. This is wonderful news. As an equity financier we are always looking to partner with compatible financiers in the lending space. Would it be possible to hear about some of the terms and investment criteria ? I assume that could be interesting to others in the Stage32 community as well.

That's incredible, Amanda Toney. It says in the article, "Established and headquartered in Finland since 2015, IPR.VC has to date raised €150 million ($164M) from institutional investors, pension funds, family offices and the non-profit sector through three content funds" and "In total to date, IPR.VC has financed 35 productions." Does a fund management company like IPR.VC fully fund projects or do they team up with other investors to fund projects?

Amanda Toney I think Jeanette B. Milio's comment answered my question. "As an equity financier we are always looking to partner with compatible financiers in the lending space."

Congrats !

From their website:

https://ipr.vc/investments/

"Strategic partners are companies and teams having an established position in global film and TV entertainment industry and successful commercial track record.

IPR.VC offers the partners strategic capital – not one-off single-project financing. The financing provided by IPR.VC Funds helps the partners to reach their strategic goals, such as growth of their business. As the partners receive strategic value, they will enjoy their upside from the growth of their business. This also enables the Fund to target high returns of the investments. Working with strategic partners is an ongoing collaboration, which maintains the creative freedom and responsibility on the partner’s side."

This is actually something we have been looking into in places with a limited film tax credit. We're building a fund that would be a VC investment in innovative production companies / studios with a strategic plan because there are existing credits for VC investment where there aren't any for film.

thanks so much Sam I really appreciate the information

Great initiative and I hope that everything works out for you :)

Amanda Toney thank you so much for the encouragement and yes it’s beautiful and tranquil and lots of places to build a set and film. we want to film our project here as well but learning everyday something new and the classes actually are helping me to organize my thoughts better. I am trying to see which opportunities I will ex ok ore next so thank you again for the encouragement it really does help

Cyreita Drummond - I have a friend in TN who has worked with Horses most of her life.

Would this interest you in learning more of the Horse Industry ? Hope your Christmas/ holiday season is great. K. Kennard

Kerry Kennard my husband is a horse professional he has been in the horse industry a long time. I appreciate the contact as if they breed horses or just want to connect still welcome the information. I am the green one although I have knowledge as well .

Great line up @Ashley!

Thanks, Emily J!

Awesome lineup! Alan is a great resource and also has an upcoming Stage 32 webinar called A FILMMAKER'S GUIDE TO MUSIC IN MOVIES that everyone should check out - here's a link: https://www.stage32.com/webinars/The-Filmmaker-s-Guide-To-Music-In-Movies