Investors

[Cryogenic Filmworks]

I've talked to two Michigan film makers (Darren Brown & Charles Cirgenski. IMBD them) that have MADE films. One of which JUST had Miramax cut him a $1,000,000 check BEFORE HE EVEN WROTE THE SCRIPT.
They BOTH told me that investors DON'T CARE about the script. Some do if they care about stories and movies. All they care about is 'when am I going to see my money back?'. They said don't include or mention it. Don't even write 'Script available upon request'. If they want to read it, they'll ask. And they usually don't.

So I don't need that kind of advice, sorry. What I DO need to know is the answers to the questions stated in the topic. Thanx anyways.

So you only want a specific type of advice, that already fits what you have made up your mind to be???? Not sure why you need this community's input then.

If you find these people that do not care about a script let me know. I have a few pipe dreams in my head I would like to finance. People who invest in movies tend to do so for the script. People who invest in projects purely for the numbers tend to not invest in movies as there tends to be a much larger risk associated with it.

 

[Isaac_Brody]

Where are these investors that don't care about scripts? And yes, you need a producer that will do a breakdown of where all the money will go, and how the investors will recoup their funding.

Well, I enjoy and appreciate this time away from the script. I've been doing research on LOTS of other successes, getting to know and grow myself and most importantly, forget my story. I'm falling out of love with it.

Guess what, writing is hard. And even harder than the first pass is rewriting to make something good. And even harder than that is the patience and work ethic to make good great. You can't just finance a film with a cocktail party. And until you have a completed script that is polished you have nothing in hand. With a polished solid script your producer will have the power to attract name talent. Name talent is a great way to get investors. If you have a brilliant script and can get name actors to work for a fraction of their fee, investors will love you. Without that how are you going to convince investors that they'll see a return? Are you going to tell the investors that you have forty brilliant pages? Without a script you're part of the legion of dreamers.


Not trying to be harsh, but this just sounds naive to me. These filmmakers you mention already have a proven track record right? If you don't have that you won't get that Miramax check.

 

[David Jimerson]

First things first . . .

What exactly is it about this event you have planned that you think will make investors want to take the time to attend it? A "free ticket" to an event filled with "family and friends" to watch (only) two hours of short films just isn't gonna do it.

You want something from them; they know it. You need to give them something to make it worth their time to hear you out.

 

[alveraz]

I didn't understand that part. Come again, please?

LP = Line Producer. And I never meant to imply investors do not care about the script in my earlier response, I just wanted emphasize the importance of a detailed budget for your package. Your script is the number one priority, period. My response was under the assumption that you have a complete, engaging feature script.

Good luck.

 

[Blaine]

Without a completed script, how do you breakdown the elements you'll need? How will you know how long it's going to take to shoot? How will you know what cast and crew you're going to need? As I said earlier, everything flows from a completed shooting script. It's beyond me how you can make a shooting schedule without knowing what you're going to shoot, and it's pretty damned hard to know what you're going to shoot without a script. You're budget is largely dependent upon how many days it's going to take you to shoot it. Are you going to be using professional actors? If so, SAG has pretty well laid out guidelines. Are you planning on paying your crew? How many days are you planning on shooting (but you can't really know that without know what you're going to shoot i.e. a shooting script).

 

[Starshine Video]

If I were going to invest one dime in a film I would need to read the entire script... If i went to an event like this and asked for the script and was told it would be done soon i'd turn around and you would have a hard time ever talking to me again as you had wasted my time... Finish the script, rewrite the script, Polish the script, then look for investors