Funding

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Yep, welcome to The Great Recession. Consider moving to an area that's economically better off.

Okay, you want the #1 secret to getting funding? Don't need it. If you need it, you're very unlikely to actually get it. If you tell someone that they're your last hope, that everything relies on them, then they're gonna run from you. If someone is going to make it happen anyway, with or without the investor, then that's when an investor gets interested.

Doesn't sound fair? Too bad -- this is money, not "fair." Who can get a loan at the bank -- they guy who desperately needs it, or the guy who doesn't? That's the way things are, and how they will always continue to be. In fact, this entire economic implosion that has engulfed the world is due primarily to banks lending to folks who did not meet the normal standards of being able to repay (so-called "sub-prime" lending).

Watch "Shark Tank." It'll teach you what you need to know. Watch what presentations get the sharks to bite. When someone says "I've got this great idea and I just need your money to make my wonderful vision come true", you can almost see them pushing the guy out the door. But when someone says "I've been running this business for three years, I'm grossing $200k per year, but I really think your expertise and distribution connections can help us take this national" -- THAT is when they get frothing at the mouth and fight over each other to be the one to hand that guy some money.
 
I agree with Barry... you're trying to run when you need to starting crawling first.

Not to be mean because you seem to come across as a decent chap but you'll never, ever, ever get any money without a solid proposal, script, treatment and lots of knocking on doors (let alone any credits). People don't hand out money for free or for sympathy, they invest. Would you invest in a company that promises to be the next Microsoft if they didn't even have a product, staff, location or even a business plan? Of course not. You have to remember that being a director or producer is one thing... you are also a salesman.

Invest in yourself first... do the groundwork, do the script, work for free on sets to get contacts and experience, do shorts, enter film festivals, do everything you can and then you'll be ready to start this film. Barry's right, sorry, you aren't ready yet.
 
Yeah that's exactly right, you have to put yourself in a position where people want to invest. I'm investing in my first feature, and it's based on a script I really believe in and that other people have gotten behind as well, and we believe we can make money on this film and that it will be a hit. When we have that behind us, a success on the track record, I'm sure I'll seek investors for my second film. But I'm also sure if I get to that point, like Barry said, I won't need them -- I can put up the money myself and be confident I'll get it back, so really, if the investors want to make money on the project, great, if they don't, that's fine too, I'll be happy to risk my money and make the profits myself. That's how it goes, when you don't NEED the investors, they want in.

If someone sees you doubled your money on the last film and you want to produce another in the same budget territory with another good script from the same producers, and same writer-director, you're a slam-dunk to get financing on something like that when it's a small project. It's a "go" anyway, with or without their money.
 
You're getting good advice here. No offense, but your response to pretty much every suggestion has been a weak excuse.

This is a tough business. If you're not ready to bust your balls, you're not going to be competitive. Period.

You say you don't have enough line items to make a proper budget. MAKE THEM UP.

You say you don't have credit history. START BUILDING SOME.

You say you can't write a short. FIND SOMEONE WHO CAN.

You say you can't write a script for this movie. BULLSHIT.

These things are not props for your peace of mind. These things are mandatory parts of the process of doing film as a business. If you can't demonstrate basic competency in preparing these items, then why would I think you have competency in anything else? Why would I think I'm not just throwing my money away by giving it to you?

Nobody wants to hear excuses. They want to hear how you're going to achieve what you say you are, hell or high water. The absolute worst-case answer you should ever be giving someone if they ask for a budget or a script or anything is, "You know, we don't have one because of the unique situation of this film, but I'll go ahead and make something for you and have it in your hands in 2 days."
 
make a business plan and show it to potential investors. if it works, great. if it doesn't, make a better business plan.

read these:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4450565_fund-movie.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_finance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_budgeting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_plan

maybe this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPDLfbhCtEE


and, see if you could pull of something like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Million_Dollar_Homepage

have you considered doing a lower cost production?
 
Doug:

Tough love... I love it! The poster seems genuine but needs some guidance here. Good advice though by yourself. I always use the line that if you don't work hard, someone else will. In our poster's case, you gotta work hard just to even get a chance, he's not helping himself out by making excuses either.

Fahad:

I've never heard of the Million Dollar homepage, love the idea! Thanks for posting this.
 
haha yeah no worries, dale.

the idea is pretty amazing. I read that a few people tried to copy it, but it didn't work as successfully.
i think it could be reproduced, for sure. you just have market it or something.

here's an idea:

make a < 1min video that you hope to go viral. post it only on one specific website. have 200x100 squares all around and beyond the video player. each one says "your graphic here, $X". X will be determined by the location of the particular square relative to the video player.

who knows, you could have 2,000,000 views with 10,000 people paying up to $200 a square.

someone should give it a shot :)
 
well, you need money to make money. why don't you put together a business plan for an LLC to produce your film and go to your local bank's business loan officer and present your idea? the loan would be for the LLC and not you (the individual).
 
Fahad said:
the loan would be for the LLC and not you (the individual).
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Unfortunately, they still check personal credit history. They check credit history on all owners, until the business has 2 years of existence and an established credit history of its own.
 
I think it's silly your budget was $0 and is now $60,000 and you see no alternative. Honestly, the only two locations that can possibly work are a free one and a $60,000 one????
 
Burritoclock said:
I think it's silly your budget was $0 and is now $60,000 and you see no alternative. Honestly, the only two locations that can possibly work are a free one and a $60,000 one????
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I'm not saying the location is $60k; in fact we don't have a location yet... because I don't have the cash to do location scouting. The $60k is for Cameras, Audio Equipment, and Paranormal Investigation equipment.
 
Andrew:

You originally asked for some honest opinions and feedback and you got lots of great free advice and brutally honest answers from some knowledgeable people on here. It's not usually my place to add to the already excellent postings on here but I have to say a couple of things.

If you are trying to raise $60,000 just for equipment alone, this tells me you are nowhere ready to do this film at all. $60,000 for what video, audio and paranormal gear? Do you realize how large of a budget that is? You want to shoot this film on a Red One camera or something? Unless paranormal gear runs into the $40-$50k range, you are waaaaaaay over budget with your estimates. How many cameras are you considering getting? What kind of audio? other misc gear? You do realize you can either rent gear or buy it used, right? You'll never get a loan or funding for this amount just for the gear. You realize this budget is more than the what the Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity were both originally shot for, right?

You don't need cash to do location scouting, you need a plan. Not to be mean but your plan is not realistic and very well put together right now.

Take the good advice people here have given you. Film some short films first (5 minute ones, then 10 minutes, then 20 minutes) but realize you build up to something like this, you don't start off with huge budgets of $60,000+
 
2-3 Sony A1Us = $4000 - $6000
10-15 Sony CX550V = $10,000 - $15,000
10 Samon H2 Audio Recorders (for recording EVPs) = $2000
15 EMF Meters = $3000
DVR and IR cameras = $5000
3 Canon 5D Still Cameras with IR Modification = $9000
Production Audio gear = $1500

Thats around $30,000 - $40,000 without locations or the (15) actors.


In order to do location scouting I need money to get to various supposed haunted buildings, which can be upto 500 miles away. So I need fuel and hotel costs at the minimum.
 
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Where do you live? Many places in LA will ship the gear to you. I recommend VER in Glendale, CA. Ask for Patrick.
 
Andrew McCarrick said:
There's only two items, and that's the location fee and insurance. I don't see a point in doing a budget when it'll only have two lines. Crew is $0, Cast is $0, Equipment is $0.
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Sorry this is oversimplified, It does not look like you have any post-production, pre-production budget - in production you're missing a few things too, catering, set design or any other line items in that list, wardrobe, props, expendable like gels and gaffers tape, electrical dept.... drinking water/soda pop/snacks?

Find a cheaper location is all I can tell you about the $25 per, that services your vision. - Ultimately it's not going to be the location, but the content of the story that will determine your productions succcess.
And a fed crew, works better, also there is not assumption that you will run longer than 5 days, no backup crew provisions, or backup equipment provisions being made.

A simple excel sheet with a few formulas can downplay your budget to 9k from 25k.
 
DJDecay said:
Sorry this is oversimplified, It does not look like you have any post-production, pre-production budget - in production you're missing a few things too, catering, set design or any other line items in that list, wardrobe, props, expendable like gels and gaffers tape, electrical dept.... drinking water/soda pop/snacks?

Find a cheaper location is all I can tell you about the $25 per, that services your vision. - Ultimately it's not going to be the location, but the content of the story that will determine.
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No set design, location is going to be used as is. Wardrobe is actors own clothes. There is no lighting, the entire thing's shot in IR. We're shooting from 8pm to about 6am everyday; so meals are pretty much not needed. Post production is simply an editing system, probably buying the $1700 Adobe CS Production Suite.

This baiscally how things are going to be shot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fTa...3A78AB4E8&playnext_from=PL&index=0&playnext=1

I've done budgets in the past, so I know how to do them. Same style as the ones in the "Film and Video Budgets" book.
 
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