Financing / Crowdfunding

Which one stands out to you Jack Binder ?

Thanks, Jack. Much more to come.

Thank you for sharing, Jack Binder!

Worked with Michelle before. She is awesome! Knowledgeable and her advice is timeless.

Agree, Sasha. Michelle is a gem and a half.

"Do you need financing for your film" - Everyone's hand better be raised! lol This is the most common question I get directly from members. Glad that Stage 32 can help give our community with answers and tools they can use through our education :)

Really interesting points Geoff, thanks for sharing. Personally I've been a fan of K dramas and films since pre-Squid games, but it's really good to see how Squid Games drove a global market and interest. It's been a short lived phenomenon as far as I can tell unfortunately, at least until S2 is released; it'd be wonderful to see people getting similarly enthused around other K dramas as they have a very unique and engaging storytelling styles.

I watched Squid Game. Thought it was brilliant. I thought Parasite was a pile of garbage and to me it beggars belief how it won best film,.

Watched quite a few and enjoyed almost all of them. Also fully agree with Jack Binder word for word. We've been preaching how the world is opening up for years now. This platform was built 12 years ago with an eye toward inevitable global expansion. I see it every year through our partnerships at Cannes and AFM - those who embrace what's happening are reaping the rewards. Those ignoring or pushing back are getting left in the dust.

Richard "RB" Botto I agree RB. I was thrilled to watch 'Kingdom'. What a great take on the zombie genre and then they followed this up with 'Ashin of the North' which I've heard some refer to as a sidequel story to 'Kingdom'. It was just wonderful storytelling.

From my point of view, I want to write internationally appealing stories that help me to network across borders. I think it's a really exciting time for us all.

I've heard great things about Kingdom, but haven't seen it yet.

I can tell you first hand, your approach is a winning one, Geoff. Everyone should be thinking globally. There are no walls any longer.

First off congratulations on the completion or semi-completion of so many projects. In general projects are difficult to get off the ground, but that has been made even worse now that there are so many streaming options in competition. This has unfortunately watered down the market.

Where as one time you could get $1million for your idea. No a days, $200,000 can be too much to ask if you don't have the recognized name or accolades to back.

One issue I see is that you have a lot of projects that aren't completed. I know I complimented you on that early and it is commendable to get out there and do something, but it may also signal to investors that there are commitment issues. They may get the impression you never finish a project. A 9 year old project might look stale to them. Furthermore, these days, investors want to see a finished concept to really convince them, because there is so much content out there to choose from, the creator with more to show usually has the edge.

Audio Drama/Podcasts are a great way to go to get some attention at low cost. I think you should definitely pursue that. You can get some great insight from Mike Disa's webinars https://www.stage32.com/webinars/The-Ins-and-Outs-of-Producing-Your-Own-...

Your major challenge however, I believe, is that you need to build a community. No matter how good your idea is, people first need to like and believe in you. Once they feel like they know you or they feel like they care about your project they will be interested in investing, BUT, that requires showing them a little of the story, showing them behind the scenes. Talking about your progress with the film. Charting the journey so they feel a part of it.

The podcasts should help in that respect to give them a glimpse of how compelling the stories are. Ask people for honest feedback after they have listened to a podcast, so you can find out if it's boring or not. Do podcasts talking about the challenges you had on set and the solutions you have found. All this content will add up the more the community consumes it. Once you have people following this content, then you ask them to support your Patreon, because now they are invested.

I couldn't agree more with everything Kevin laid out. This is all about community building and giving people a reason to engage with you and your projects. This is crowdsourcing at its finest. It's about identifying, engaging and moving a crowd.

I was commissioned to write a book on this subject for Focal Press (under the AFM imprint) and I'm proud to say it hit #1 on Amazon in the business and film categories for a period of time. You can check it out here:

https://www.amazon.com/Crowdsourcing-Filmmakers-American-Market-Presents...

I 100% agree with RB above, and highly recommend the book he linked. There is gold in that book to help you make your project successful.

Patreon might be a bit too obscure as a funding source platform to most people. I find most filmmakers are using Kickstarter or Indiegogo for fundraising and building their fan base. Without question two of the best community builders advice above. Patreon seems to me to be a site for musicians to have their fans donate to them to fund their art, whereas the ones I mentioned are for project specific contributions.

Great point, Jack.

Can't wait for this one!

Thomas is a genius when it comes to this and I'm thrilled we got him to teach about this.

Fantastic Sam!

I haven't heard of DNA, Akemi K. Tosto, but I'm commenting on your post so people in my network will see it. Maybe someone in my network will know about DNA. And I'm commenting to say great to meet you. :)

It’s important to proceed cautiously when raising equity financing with finders or executive producers to avoid violating securities laws. An EP who isn’t registered with the SEC shouldn’t go beyond providing contact information for potential Investors. You can check whether a person or firm is registered using FINRA BrokerCheck online: https://brokercheck.finra.org/

Needless to say, Thomas is one hell of an instructor. And as plugged in as they come.

I'd be very happy with some of that 1.5 billy :)

@ Chris Greenaway - With all due respect, I think I can speak for a large proportion of the membership that such comment here is unwelcome, unnecessary, and discouraged. This community is one of positive vibes and support for each other. IMHO This is not a place that sees much in the way of divisive political slogans or partisan politics which is refreshing. (Not to mention the comment is irrelevant to the specific, referenced, content strategy of Disney, nor the market forces currently affecting streamers.) I would suggest and recommend restraint and to refrain from such comments of this nature in this community. Such common respect is what makes this platform unique, this unwritten self-discipline. While there's certainly room for debating issues (perhaps by creating a post welcoming opposing views) I think there are other venues well suited for politics, again imho. Thanks for your understanding and help continuing to foster a positive experience for all, with focus on expanding opportunity and success in the entertainment field. I hope this is helpful. Just my two cents.

Disney has $45.1B in short and long term debt. It and the top five other studios carry around $150B (that’s billion with a B). Given 10 interest rate hikes over the past 14 months, this means all the studios face billions in extra costs just to stay even. The underlying economic conditions that caused the Fed to hike rates in turn forced the studios to focus on profitability over streaming subscriber growth, which means diminished production slates and the recent third round of Disney layoffs.

Hi David, thanks for answering all our questions again! Are there different tactics for negotiating your position depending upon what your role in the project is?

Thanks Leonardo, for the nice words. It depends a bit what you mean by market: production / financing or sales market. On the production and financing side, undeniably Saudi-Arabia is putting itself on the map. In general, there is continuos growth in Latin America, both for production as well for sales. The same goes for several Asian countries, like Indonesia, and Thailand. In Mexico, we are sure that foreign production into Mexico can boom as soon as we have a new incentives program. Markets are continuously moving!

Hi Niki, yes, absolutely. Your role in the project makes a difference. What is vital, is what you agree in your contract with the right holder, or in multi-party contracts with other parties involved.

Thanks for being here David! Does your recoupment position vary from country to country? Meaning if you are from any certain country do you have an advantage or is it all pretty standard worldwide?

Hi Amanda! The way the recoupment schedule is put together, is similar all over the world. There are some rules of thumb, like at what position financing is recouped, or when sales commissions and expenses are payable. Having said that, as films tend to be financed differently per country, this is reflected in the recoupment schedule and as such, there might be standards that look differently per country.