Fundraising and making money?

G

GregPorter

Active member
I always read about people here and on similar forums "Fund Raising" for their next big short or feature film but they never actually say how.

I'm wondering.. what are some ways to "fund raise" to help increase the budget of your projects?
 
There's many ways to do this, I've read alot on the boards about it, I myself have never done any fund raisers, but I guess depending on how big of a budget you're going for, it would require different type of fund raising. Lets say your talking big budget here, than I would say, try and attach a name actor to your project than attract investors that way. Investors can be anyone who is willing to invest, like a doctor and so on.

Another way is, if your film is based on a particular type of subject matter, lets say breast cancer, maybe you can contact some breast cancer advocates and raise funds that way. But there's many ways... hope you find the best way for you and best wishes.
 
I always understood the attraction to potential investors to put some money in an indie feature that has a good script and could become successful and may even get picked up and released and they can get a lot in return, but how do you hit up investors for a short film that will not be released, how could they expect to make their money back, or is it out of the goodness of their heart?
 
maybe a good tax write off or maybe convince them that you'll generate enough buzz from the short to attract more investors for the same film on a bigger scale. personally i just use shorts to practice the craft, i don't expect much from them.
 
FilmBoy77 said:
maybe a good tax write off or maybe convince them that you'll generate enough buzz from the short to attract more investors for the same film on a bigger scale. personally i just use shorts to practice the craft, i don't expect much from them.
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Yeah I'm with you on this one. I set my expectations to what I can reasonably expect, and if I don't think that's enough to justify the expense I won't go through with it. So for my next short film my goal is to gain experience working with actors, to have a professional narrative effort to put on my reel, to have a fun time turning this script I enjoy that I wrote into a film, and to get into numerous film festivals. I consider all of those virtually slam-dunk goals, and that's enough for me to be happy. Beyond that, there are bonuses that I do not expect, that are not necessarily likely, and that I don't factor into my decision on whether to do a project or not, but if they happen it's fantastic and gravy. Among those would be, for instance, winning a number of festivals, perhaps collecting some modest cash prizes, having the short picked up for distribution (online, DVD compilation, etc.), having it help me make some sort of valuable connection in the industry, or getting me future work of some sort. Those are all things I do NOT expect out of it. Any one of those is a bonus, to me. The experience and fun of making it will be enough for my purposes, combined with some level of prestige or stature it helps build, whether that's just at least having a short I'm proud of, or having a short I can send to enough festivals to get some solid acceptances, etc. That, to me, is worth the investment.

I feel like some people expect a ton out of their projects, and with those high expectations they are investing money based on bad information. If you invest $10,000 into a short and are intent on it going to Sundance, and you really believe it's going to get nominated for an Oscar, and you are positive you'll get your money back, well I'm sorry odds are you are going to be extremely disappointed. Goals that are that robust are unrealistic; those should all be things you don't expect, but if somehow it happens, wow, great for you!
 
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