Attracting Investors

V

vegasdigitalfilms

Active member
Just wondering how many here have successfully attracted investors for your independent projects and flicks?

On THE CASINO JOB, the writer/director put an ad in the Las Vegas Review-Journal and hit gold.

Dov Semens, in his book on independent filmmaking says to go after doctors and dentist. Anyone tried it?

Any success stories?
 
Well, it doesn't really count until it counts but I attracted two wealthy people who are practically begging me to bring them in as investors on my feature.
 
i wish i could attract some investors. unfortunately my projects so far haven't exactly been "oscar worthy", or "cool enough, or "film like in appearance". some say my films lack "originality", or a "plot". that my movies "aren't in necessarily in english even though i don't understand how to speak a foreign language". that sometimes i have too many scenes of "fat people dancing", or "babies being attacked by wild animals".

but what do they know...
 
Blaine said:
Don't delay, Jay. Get it while you can.:beer:
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I would but there's a problem.... I don't have a script yet! LOL

I have a few that I might pick want to shoot but I need to fall in love with a script in order to shoot it.
 
You need to find a script post haste. Offers like this don't come along every day and seem to evaporate when nothing happens for awhile. Strike while the iron is hot!!! Find a script you like, live with it a while and love will come...:)
 
I know, tell me about it. I spend an average of 2 hrs a day either reading scripts or searching for new material to read. It's exhausting.
 
Is there a way to get a producer interested in hosting investor parties for your concept before the script is written?
 
Jay Rodriguez said:
Well, it doesn't really count until it counts but I attracted two wealthy people who are practically begging me to bring them in as investors on my feature.
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Why? Just curious what the situation is. Did they see your work, family friends, what?
 
Jay Rodriguez said:
I would but there's a problem.... I don't have a script yet! LOL

I have a few that I might pick want to shoot but I need to fall in love with a script in order to shoot it.
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Need a script? I got several. Hit me up dude. :beer:
 
vegasdigitalfilms said:
Just wondering how many here have successfully attracted investors for your independent projects and flicks?

On THE CASINO JOB, the writer/director put an ad in the Las Vegas Review-Journal and hit gold.

Dov Semens, in his book on independent filmmaking says to go after doctors and dentist. Anyone tried it?

Any success stories?
Click to expand...

Be very very very careful about placing ads. The Securities and Exchange (SEC) has very strict rules about public offerings. I'm surprised that director didn't get hit hard by them. He must've just sneaked under the radar because the SEC is very strident about advertised offerings.

Doctors, Dentists, Real Estate Investors, they're all good people to approach. Basically any profession that produces a lot of discretionary income where they'd feel "comfortable" investing in something they can lose without it hurting. They're called "unsophisticated investors". But there's a catch. The SEC and some states have rules as to how many unsophisticated investors you can approach on any given project. In California it's 35. In Florida it's 60. So do your research so you don't get into trouble.

You need to produce a business plan. Absolutely essential. Do your research. Find examples of projects that are similar to yours (genre and budget) and show how much they earned in Domestic box office, Foreign box office, DVD, and any ancillary markets. Use two or three examples to support your case. You'll need to give a snapshot of the industry at large. If you're targeting the home video market then give some statistics on how healthy the market is and how healthy your genre is. Variety and Hollywood Reporter have great databases of numbers and stats. So does BoxOfficeMojo and WorldWideBoxOffice.

Give your investors your budget breakdown. Make them feel comfortable that you've done your research and homework and that your budget proposal is rock solid. Get bids from your vendors to support your numbers. You don't want to go back for seconds. Because if you do you'll have to sell off more of your picture and you'll end up working for free.

Try to attach at least one name to your movie. I'm not talking about Brad Pitt. But somebody with some marquee value. Even someone who was big in the past you can get as cheap as $10K a day. So for $40-50K you've got a name doing 3-5 days of work. Distributors are fixated on name talent. I'm sorry if that pisses off a lot of people, it's just the facts.

Lastly get that Online book about independent distribution from Stacey Parks.
http://www.film-distribution-secrets.com/

Bottom line. Just because you have a great script isn't all you have to do before someone will write you a $100k check.
 
Sorry to bring this up... But how can you even get or find an investor or producer or whatever to even read something? Well, more a producer or somebody who knows or can find investors...
 
Jay Rodriguez said:
I know, tell me about it. I spend an average of 2 hrs a day either reading scripts or searching for new material to read. It's exhausting.
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Two hours a day is exhausting?
 
Yeah. If you have people throwing money at you, you should be reading about 8-10 hours a day. I'm not sure you know how good you have it.

And yes, have a business plan. We are going through this right now, and even our little 12 page plan is impressing people. Not because it is so good, but just because we have one.

As far as who to approach, just start spreading the word. If you have a great script and a business plan and you start talking to people, something will turn up. Even if you don't attract the money right away, you should be able to attract someone who can find it. Attorrneys, promoters, producers, etc are good places to start. Find people who are actually working in your area, or who have had something produced. But them lunch and pick their brain.
 
You should also get over the "I need to be in love with a script" thing. That may be fine when people are trampling over each other to get you to direct, but right now, it's kind of suicidal.
 
Robert Sanders said:
The Securities and Exchange (SEC) has very strict rules about public offerings. I'm surprised that director didn't get hit hard by them. He must've just sneaked under the radar because the SEC is very strident about advertised offerings.

Doctors, Dentists, Real Estate Investors, they're all good people to approach. Basically any profession that produces a lot of discretionary income where they'd feel "comfortable" investing in something they can lose without it hurting. They're called "unsophisticated investors". But there's a catch. The SEC and some states have rules as to how many unsophisticated investors you can approach on any given project.
Click to expand...

Usually the SEC will leave you alone unless someone complains to them about you.

Basically public offerings are like stocks, everyone who owns a piece of the company has a say in how it is run. Private offerings are when you have investors who put up the capital for the company and then let the company do their thing and wait to collect their checks.

Most films are almost exclusively private offerings so that the producer doesn't have to worry about a bunch of different people trying to run the show. Private offerings are strictly regulated by the federal and state governments. If you are raising money from investors make sure you get yourself a good lawyer, or at least read the local and state laws. Depending on how you structure your offering their guidelines as to how you can contact potential investors.

Also, in private offerings you are mostly limited to selling to accredited investors. In other words, the investors have to have the experience in the industry specifically and investing in general to know if they are investing their money wisely or not. Part of this is accomplished in your business plan. You need to make sure you clearly spell out the risks that the investors are taking. Don't sugar coat the risk either, the investor has to know that it's almost guaranteed that they are going to lose every dollar they invest in your film.

Finally, check out the American Job Creation Act. It provides a benefit for film investors. They can write off they total amount they invest in your film on their taxes for the same fiscal year that their money is spent.
 
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Yes, don't worry so much about being in love with the story or the genre. But it should be a GREAT script. If you find one that is good, then hire a professional writer to do a re-write.
 
mrblue1022 said:
Usually the SEC will leave you alone unless someone complains to them about you.

The SEC doesn't regulate public offerings, they regulate private offerings. Basically public offerings are like stocks, everyone who owns a piece of the company has a say in how it is run. Private offerings are when you have investors who put up the capital for the company and then let the company do their thing and wait to collect their checks.

Most films are almost exclusively private offerings so that the producer doesn't have to worry about a bunch of different people trying to run the show. Private offerings are strictly regulated by the federal and state governments. If you are raising money from investors make sure you get yourself a good lawyer, or at least read the local and state laws. Depending on how you structure your offering their guidelines as to how you can contact potential investors.

Also, in private offerings you are mostly limited to selling to accredited investors. In other words, the investors have to have the experience in the industry specifically and investing in general to know if they are investing their money wisely or not. Part of this is accomplished in your business plan. You need to make sure you clearly spell out the risks that the investors are taking. Don't sugar coat the risk either, the investor has to know that it's almost guaranteed that they are going to lose every dollar they invest in your film.

Finally, check out the American Job Creation Act. It provides a benefit for film investors. They can write off they total amount they invest in your film on their taxes for the same fiscal year that their money is spent.
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I'm not sure where to begin on how many inaccuracies are in this post. David?
 
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