I have everything ready to go full package and some, but a trailer is required. How do i get like 50k to 100k for my feature film. We just divided the points did the projection, we even willing to offer some points for soft money. Anyone know how do go to get some money to shoot a professional trailer.
Financing / Crowdfunding : How do we get a starter budget to get soft money by Tessa Mckenzie
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Have you considered putting together an animatic or a ripomatic instead? You would still need to finance an animatic, but not likely nearly as much, and a ripomatic is literally cut from other films. Here is a discussion about it from a few months back: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/directing/Ripomatic
Especially if your film requires any SFX, special locations, or other costly art dept additions, I wouldn't start putting money into a trailer that includes those elements unless you could do more than use it as a sizzle (a proof of concept short could at least be circulated through the film festival circuit to elevate the bigger project).
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Ripomatics are good, or raise money on a crowdfund for a proof of concept say 10 min short. If it’s stand alone then entry into film festivals gives you traction. If you win any awards then you go to the festival and seek out investors or they will find you. Your budget is very low, or is 50-100 what you require for soft money? That’s too much! What do you need that much for? If you need to escrow a profile actors wages that’s another matter. Not many investors want you spending money up front when if you don’t get the rest then they lose out as the film isn’t made. You usually have to not touch money till the full budget is in place.
So how to get it- I have.a Small bank of personal investors I have built up over the years. You have to be discreet but the easiest way to get them is to offer small parts for a fee only, on audition. Don’t just take anyone. You never advertise this but approach hungry parents wanting to propel their child or girlfriend or boyfriend forward. You often have to pretend to the recipient they got through on their own talent. You must contract them and I also offer them 20% first out for soft money. This way I have about 10-20,000 I can call on and use for eg casting directors, script development etc.
Last but not least start putting your script into competition and film festival. If you can get wins it sounds far more impressive to investors. Award winning script looking for investors…. Don’t you think?
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You really need to be clear with your numbers. Have you considered hiring a line producer to give you an accurate budget? The least expensive thing you can do is a mood reel. The second option would be a proof of concept that can be done very inexpensively.
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Jesus Sifuentes the "mood reel" sounds like a good next step from a pitch deck, is that accurate or are there even multiple other steps to take in between if one is holding off on the full trailer in five figures as mentioned above?
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Depends. There are development funds and then jumpstart funds. One time we raised $3,500.00 just doing bbq plates sales and a few donations so we could film proof of concept trailer. The one trailer got my friend a $150k investment on his zombie film. It got picked up by Shudder and sold to the UK. You got to get really creative. Development funds is usually 5%-10% of your total estimated budget. That's what needs to be raised first. That covers the initial cost of hiring an entertainment attorney so you can get an executive summary and operational agreement, casting director retainer, sales estimates, etc.
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Good tips here. You definitely do not need to spend a great deal of money on a trailer. This can be a waste of money unless money is no object for you. A Ripomatic is a very good way to go and you can even go shoot something for a very low cost with a small group of filmmakers. Better to put development funds toward obtaining a professional film budget and schedule from a veteran producer/line producer like myself, initial fees for a casting director and a retainer for an attorney. Crowd sourcing is a good way to raise development funding and creates a platform for your friends and family to contribute what they can as well. Read Richard RB Botto's book 'Crowd Sourcing for Filmmakers'. Good luck, sounds like you have much already in place.
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OMG, Jesus Sifuentes I think you need to write a blog for Stage 32 telling this story about how you went from raising funds with BBQ plates to selling your project to the UK! That's amazing! Okay, maybe just start with a post in the Financing Lounge for now, but still - that sounds like a heck of a story! https://www.stage32.com/lounge/fundraising