No surprise I am in need of advice on how to raise money for a film, and somewhat quickly if possible. I am working on a feature length documentary that is very time sensitive because the woman we are doing the film on is going through things now that we feel are essential to capture. Below is the progress we have made so far.
Here is our current logline: Follow the life and career of actor, comedian, LGBTQ+ activist, medical marijuana advocate, breast cancer survivor Lissa Sears as she decides whether or not to undergo stem cell therapy for her MS.
We have obtained a fiscal sponsor so any money given to our project can be tax deductible and we qualify for more grants.
We have currently written for 2 grants one of which we were turned down and the other we are still in consideration for. We are currently looking into the possibility of hiring a professional grant writer to help us with a few more. has anyone else done this? Were you successful?
We do have a Facebook page that we are trying to get more followers to run a better crowdfunding campaign. Our current web page that is through our fiscal sponsor has one raised $275 through crowdfunding. What tools have you utilized when running a crowdfunding campaign? I feel uncomfortable constantly asking people for money? Does anyone else have that problem?
We had an event where we hosted an raffle and a 50/50 split the pot and raised about $600 for the film. Unfortunately this event was attended mostly by the friends and family of the woman we are doing the film about so there wasn't a lot of potential for big donors. We were thinking about hosting another event in order to bring in more funds, but are unsure how to attract the people who are willing to give more money. (I don't have a lot of rich friends.) Is hiring a professional planner worth it for these events? Has anyone done this before?
We are currently working on reaching out to potential corporate and celebrity sponsors but haven't had a lot of luck getting responses. Has anyone had any luck with this? Any advice?
We are looking to possible get another producer involved who knows how to raise money because I feel that is what we are currently lacking, but I don't want to give up the creative control of the project. Has anyone had experience bringing in someone like this? Was it ultimately a good thing or bad thing for your production?
Also if anyone just has advice in general about how to get money for this project I would love to hear it.
There is a bunch of film grants avail to doc filmmakers, I think I saw the list on NOFILMSCHOOL
Grants are a good idea but they take time and competition is high... I would focus on private donors. how much do you need?
We are in need of $265,000 for the shoots and the editing.
that's a lot... I would go private donors.
I recommend Equity Crowdfunding. The average amount raise is over $270,000. My page here explains it all: https://www.equitycrowdfundingmasterclass.com/
Have you tried to partner with a production company? Sometimes if I like a project I do the production for a percentage of ownership.
1 person likes this
We have reached out to several small/midsize production companies to see if they were interested. Most haven’t responded and the one that did the response came from their legal department saying they don’t take unsolicited material unless it comes through an agent. We have had one shoot and put together a trailer from it so we are hoping to raise some interest now that we have a visual element to it.
1 person likes this
I just published a brief article on LinkedIn regarding the funding hunt for indie filmmakers. Being one myself perhaps some of the advice I list can be helpful to you. Rather than copying in the entire text here's the link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/banking-budget-sandra-skibsted/. The article focusses on finding funding with non-film funds. I have received over half a million DKK (Danish Kroners) from culture and arts funds in Denmark and Greenland. The problem you will face though is that most funds will not give funding to projects already started and it can take up to 6 months for you to get your answer from them. I'd get a credit card for now and then hit google and start searching for potential organisations that could be interested in the project.
Damian is right -- it's much better to do nothing and never raise money and to not make movies. Everyone's goal is to be on their deathbed and utter their final words: "Good thing I didn't make that movie! It would've been sooo much work!"
There are those who do, and those who make fun of those who do. 18 filmmakers have successfully used Equity Crowdfunding to raise millions and make their films. Why not spend your time and energy MAKING something? In what conceivable way do your comments contribute to Jessica's question for funding? I showed her one way. One way that freaking WORKS. Why don't you help her find another way? BTW, my class ended, so I'm not promoting anything any more. (And it was sold out.)
2 people like this
Which is 18 more movies than you've made, Damian (according to your bio). I urge you to do something rather than spend energy wanking about unproductively. Notice how you focus on the number "18" rather than the millions of dollars they raised. This is typical of the mindset of someone who lives their life in fear, rather than taking chances and doing big things. "Fear is the mindkiller." You focus on small things rather than large ones. Is that how you want to live your life? What do you gain by making snide comments about those who are doing something with their lives? How does it possibly benefit you?
Here are some of the equity crowdfunding sites in Canada, where I think you reside. You can read how to do your own campaign. (Of course Canadians have been doing this longer than the U.S., so it's more established.) Stop thinking small!
https://vested.ca/https://digitalyse.io/equity-crowdfunding-canada/
https://ncfacanada.org/frequently-asked-questions-faqs/
https://www.frontfundr.com/
https://ncfacanada.org/2019-canadian-fintech-funding-directory/
1 person likes this
Awesome project! Yes doing an event with her fans and folks in the MS community can help raise some money and you can film it.. do interviews as a small piece to share online to bring more attention to the cause.. Use festivals and your network. Keeping the overhead small and expanding your network will also help .. You can do it!
Wishing her well~
1 person likes this
Your doing an event with Lissa? We should definitely talk. We were able to do one 3 day shoot and got enough to make a trailer we are hoping will draw more interest for funding. Here’s a link if you want to check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN0IkUHSb_0