How Do I Fund My Film?
So, you’ve done the hard work. You have a screenplay ready (or a killer idea for a documentary planned). Certainly, you’re going to make one of the best films ever. So, it’s just a matter of writing an email or two and the money should be there.
Afterall, there’s a ton of bad films made and they get funding. Therefore, funding your much more brillianter film idea shouldn’t be too difficult. I mean, once they see the true awesomeness of it, in the way you do… right?
If you’ve spent much time browsing online filmmaker forums, you’ll have noticed this is one of the most commonly asked questions. To seasoned filmmaker forum participants, the question might come across as naive and they may just answer with a snark or a kurt “Google it”. This is in part due to the frequency of it being asked and also down to the fact it’s not so simple to answer.
However, we can make the assumption that if you are asking this question, you are new to film funding so you are looking for a place to start. So below I’m going to list the basics.
The U.S. is not the whole world
By the way, if you do Google “How do I fund my film?” you will likely get a lot of articles written by and for Americans, at the top of returned answers. Which is good for those seeking funding in the USA, but not so useful for those seeking funding in the UK or the rest of the world.
Of course, many of the principles of film funding are universal and therefore many great tips can be found in those articles. On the other hand, there are funding options unique to certain countries outside of the U.S.
But let’s start with the challenge of anyone seeking investment (and not just for film).
Money = Business
If you’ve ever watched a show called The Dragon’s Den you’ll have a pretty good understanding of how this works. People with ideas they think are going to make a lot of money present them to a panel of potential investors. Generally what happens, though, is those pitching have their idea ripped apart by tough-minded business folk.
Of course, the film business isn’t like that is it? Film is an art, so investors are much kinder and easy going…
Not.
No, investors in film are just as ruthless as investors in any other business. If your plan sounds shaky, they aren’t going to spend even 10 seconds considering it. And that’s if you’re lucky enough to get a couple of minutes with a potential investor to pitch your idea.
Private investors are illusive
People with money to invest don’t hang around in cafes with suitcases full of fresh dollars, waiting for budding filmmakers to turn up. No, people with money and who are known to invest in film occasionally are generally being hounded by experienced filmmakers.
I don’t want to sound too negative, but I do think it helps to understand the size of the challenge ahead of you. You see, the truth is there isn’t enough money to fund filmmakers with a track record of making profits from their films. So what hope does someone have who has little experience and no track record?
Fund My Film: business or an art?
Some will tell you that to get funding for your film you need a killer screenplay. However, the horrible truth is that this a very misleading myth. This is a myth built on selling you a false hope.
Business people talk in a business language. What will sell your film project to them is not the script, but the marketing package and the business plan. And that plan needs to be based on reality, backed up with as much evidence as possible.
What is a business plan?
A business plan is a document using text and graphics to illustrate how a business will make money. For film business plans, it’s basically the same.
But, before the dragons ask you, make sure to ask yourself how your film will make money. Now, if you’re new to filmmaking or film funding, how can you possibly answer this question?
The truth is you can’t. Your knowledge of making money from films is about equal to my knowledge of operating on human brains. And neither of us is going to impress anyone if we’re equipped with nothing more than enthusiastic assurances.
“Are you sure you know how to perform brain surgery?”
“I’ve never tried it but I’m sure it can’t be that hard!”
No. Nobody is either going to give you thousands or millions of dollars (or let you fiddle around inside their skull) without some serious proof you know what you’re doing.
A brain surgeon needs qualifications that come from many successful years at medical school. For a filmmaker, you need to be equally reassuring. So, what key factors will convince a potential investor?
Show how your film will make money
There are certain elements to include in your financing package which will help to convince investors. No one element will do the job on it’s own. Instead, you need a long list of market strengths.
These are elements which are going to persuade an investor that you are going to make an amazing movie a movie which creates more wealth than it cost to make.
- great screenplay
- Who wrote it? Do they have a track record for writing scripts for recent commercially successful films?
- great director
- Who will direct? Do they have a track record for directing recent commercially successful films?
- great cast
- Who are your main cast? How well known are they? Have they played lead roles in hit movies or TV shows?
- great producer
- Who will produce the film? Do they have a track record for producing recent commercially successful films?
- Awards
- Of the cast and crew involved, how many awards have they won? The higher profile the award the higher market value it has. Tip: An Oscar beats the Best Director award from the East Anglia Short Film festival.
Fund My Film: Catch-22
If you’re reading this, chances are you haven’t written, produced or directed a commercially successful film. And that’s the Catch-22 we often find ourselves in.
“There was only one catch and that was Catch-22″ Joseph Heller, Catch-22
To get funding for your film you need to have made a successfully commercial film. But to make a successfully commercial film you need funding. Now do you understand why directors often fund their first films?
What if I haven’t written, produced or directed a commercially successful film?
Besides having a track record of making a profit-making film, there are other ways through the well-secured gates of the film industry. These are less appealing to investors, however.
- Award winning short
- You directed a short film which won an award (preferably, lots of awards). Winning an award from a major film festival is far more useful to your funding chances than a smaller festival. Winning one Best Director award for your short at Cannes, Berlinale, Toronto or Sundance will have more influence than winning 40+ awards at smaller festivals.
- Attach someone with a track record to your film
- cast a well known actor in your film. Preferably in the lead role. If not, then a smaller role. If not, then a cameo. If you have connections to Benedict Cumberbatch, for example, and if you can get a script to him, and if you can persuade him to read it, and if he loves your script, then… you might persuade him to give you a few hours of his time to be in your film. That’s an awful lot of ifs though.
- attach a writer, director or producer with a track record. While you haven’t made your mark in the biz yet, working with people who have will elevate your projects market value.
- work on commercially successful films in a more minor capacity. ie: as a director of photography, editor, CGI artist, production manager, assistant director and so on. While this is unlikely to get your project green lit, you make connections with all those filmmakers with successful track records. You will also learn a ton about how the film industry works and how films get funding (especially in a production role).
Work your way up the ladder
Even getting a “lesser” role such as director of photography for a commercially successful film is obviously a huge achievement. Most cinematographers dream of reaching this level. It could take decades and there’s no guarantee you’ll make it.
So this is clearly a very long and uncertain route to funding your film. Film crews are generally structured in a strict hierarchy, from the procer down. The further down the hierarchy, the easier it is to get the job, but the less clout you have in the industry.
Many aspiring filmmakers start as runners, producers assistants, or camera assistants and so on. Then work their way up the ladder. The industry is quite precarious, but it can work for you this way.
On the down side, your film project can fall by the wayside. Your plan to be a film director can get put on hold indefinitely as you struggle to reach the top of the ladder. And even getting work at the bottom rungs is hard enough, let alone reaching the top.
When I left art college, my tutors suggested I get a job as a runner and work my way up. But in the end I decided not to fund my film this way. Instead I took a diversion which turned into a very long route to funding my debut feature myself.
Making an award-winning short
Obviously, making a major-film-festival-award-winning short is a very unlikely event. It’s not like you can plan to win an award at one of the few major festivals. However, that’s how the film industry works. Be under no illusion, the odds are absolutely stacked against any aspiring filmmaker.
Having said that, you could get lucky. And you will never know if you don’t try, right? At least by making shorts you’re practicing your desired career as writer, director or producer.
OK, I know what you’re going to say…
But… how do I fund my short film?
So here we are again. You have a short film screenplay ready to go and no funds to shoot it. So now what?
On the plus side: shooting a short requires much less money.
On the minus side: shorts almost never make profits so they’re not attractive business propositions.
- Fund the short film yourself
- how much can you shoot your short for and can you afford to spend it?
- Crowdfunding
- crowdfunding is less effective than it was but still works, if you put the effort in.
- Short film funds
- many countries or areas run short film funds. They’re usually dependent on your project fulfilling certain requirements. State or local funding is often a box-ticking process. Maybe the scheme is for people under 25, for people local to the area, projects which promote the area and it’s culture, represents under represented minorities and so on…
State or local film funds
What funds do you have in your local area or where you grew up (if different)?
When I discovered there was a short film project to which only people living in Norfolk could apply, I wrote a script for it and it was selected. This was the first screenplay I ever wrote (without training). But I knew there would be far less competition in Norfolk than where I lived (in London).
So I used my grandparent’s address and said I lived there. Box ticked.
The short had to be set in Norfolk, so of course I set it on my grandparent’s farm. Box ticked.
The short was semi-autobiographical about being a child with severe asthma. Box ticked.
When applying for state or regional funding, it makes sense to study (not just read) the submission requirements. Watch the films produced by the scheme in the past. NOW write the script for the project you intend to apply for.
If this sounds cynical, it really shouldn’t. I wrote a screenplay about my personal experience as a child. A story I was passionate about and felt needed telling. But it’s also a story which fitted the needs of the scheme I was applying for.
I learned a little about how to write a screenplay and I had my first experience working with producers. I wrote a personal story, but I was smart enough to look in the right place for opportunities. And this is a very important lesson. No story fits everywhere – is there a home for your story? Go find it.
Go to a film market
This is my recommended Step One for any budding filmmaker or film producer. You will learn more about the film business during a few hours at a film market than you will learn from 20 years at film school. And if you want to know whether film is an art or a business, go to a film market and talk to distributors, producers and sales agents.
Some years ago, I spent a few hours with some film distributors at the EFM (European Film Market). Being shy by nature, I sat and listened to them talk business. And they certainly talked about film in a way I’d never heard before.
These film distributors measured a film’s quality in the number of units sold. At the time, they were talking about DVD sales, although even then they were looking for older customers as younger customers didn’t buy DVDs any more. Therefore, to sell DVDs their films had to appeal to older generations.
If your film doesn’t appeal to old folk, then you’re probably going to be selling it to a streaming platform like Netflix. The returns for video on demand (VoD) are generally lower.
The business of filmmaking is like any other business. It’s about looking for a market demand and serving it. But you also need to make a profit from your endeavour. So, if you are looking to raise money for a film, before you do anything else, I recommend you go to film market and get wise to the reality of film sales.
How Do I Fund My Film?
The answer to the question “How Do I Fund My Film?” is not simple. There are almost infinite possibilities in a complicated, opaque industry where much goes on behind the scenes most of us are unaware of. For that reason, it’s very easy to get bitter and cynical about the funding process.
Although it’s understandable (we’ve all been there), if you do feel this way, it’s not going to help you or your goal of funding your film. Be reassured, there is no giant conspiracy to prevent you from making your film. It’s just that film is foremost a business, albeit a business with it’s own weird quirks, traditions and twisted pathways.
As someone new to filmmaking, to be successful you need to learn to be a better filmmaker at the same time as being a better business person. And it’s perhaps to be recommended that you put the art business before the art of filmmaking.
Of course, you can just make films for the fun of it (I do). But just don’t expect anyone to fund them. Ultimately, being realistic is your first step making a commercially successful film, which will make it easier to fund your next films.
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