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Who should I ask to help fund my film?

9 years, 4 months ago - Anthony Monisteri

I'm making an animated short film, and currently have a Kickstarter campaign running; however, it's not doing too well. I was thinking about contacting some filmmakers/producers and ask if they can pledge or even get the word out.

Do you have any advice?

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9 years, 4 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

It helps if you're really clear how you'll spend the money and what similar work you've done in the past. Everyone is chasing money to make films, even the producers you ask about are trying to get investors and backers for their own projects, so instead think of who you know who'll take a punt and isn't expecting to make any money back. A patron, if you will. Friends and family are probably a good starting point!

Response from 9 years, 4 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin SHOW

9 years, 4 months ago - Anthony Monisteri

Thanks for the advice, Paddy.

Where do I find these "patrons"? Where do you find backers for your films (specifically, shorts)?

Response from 9 years, 4 months ago - Anthony Monisteri SHOW

9 years, 4 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

I don't make shorts, I make features, commercially viable ones, and I get paid a fee to do so. The producer raises finance from investors he's built relationships with over the years (he produces 6-8 films a year) on the grounds that they have sales figures based on casting.

Shorts aren't generally commercially viable (ie everyone getting paid to do their job), and have a limited market - that makes it very hard for any industry people to get behind them, because they know it's lost money. Your best bet is to excite people from outside the industry, think about people with good incomes and dull jobs. Maybe doctors, dentists, IT workers, city boy bankers, it's up to you to find people who have cash and want something interesting to talk about at parties. Then you need to convince them that by backing you, they're becoming a part of the movie world and a patron of the arts, etc. You do that by making them like your previous work. You must speak to their hearts, that's what backs guaranteed loss-makers for artistic credibility.

Response from 9 years, 4 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin SHOW

9 years, 4 months ago - Louise Marie Cooke

What Paddy said - ask your friends and family to start you off on a good road. You just need to get the word out every way you can think of, crowdfunding is a full time job. Its absolutely pointless building a campaign and then siting back and expecting people to pledge? Are you on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram? What genre film is? What is the films USP? This will help you find your target audience.

Response from 9 years, 4 months ago - Louise Marie Cooke SHOW

9 years, 4 months ago - Tony White

Trust me Anthony, you are not alone and your journey is a well trodden one. I would like to know however how you (Paddy) 'make features' when I (and many others) have spend a lifetime trying to get one off the ground - despite making countless award-winning commercials, short films and TV Specials in my time. (40 years in the business and still have NEVER secured the finance for one feature - despite being extremely close several times!) The truth is that hardly anyone ever makes a movie in the indie animation world anymore that's worth seeing - or they are the crappy mainstream 'special effects' ones that come out of Hollywood - all the same 'stand up comedy' style formula and all pretty interchangeable with one another. The reality is Anthony, if you want to make a short film you need to do it with the love and passion of someone who has a voice, who wants to say or show something no-one else is doing - and yet be someone with no other expectations. In reality you will rarely find anyone who will seriously fund it - especially on Kickstarter - because there really is no money in it, as you have been told, and the production time is so long that rewards are not particularly attractive. So simply make your film for the love of making your film, nothing else. No matter how long you take, no matter how hard it is for you, make it simply for you and no one else. Have no expectations of financial success, as that will never happen anyway. Do it, offer it to the world and if the world loves it (through festivals and maybe rare TV showing here and there) it may take you on to other things - probably well paid commercials at best, but rarely, very very rarely, funding for a feature film. So 'good luck' with it! But remember... just do it for the love of doing it - and with no expectations of others. That way you will find happiness and 100% creative freedom, if nothing else. :)

Response from 9 years, 4 months ago - Tony White SHOW

9 years, 4 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Hi Tony, I work for a financing producer who backs a director I've worked with since he was doing corporates. He works with many new directors, and knocks out 6+ movies/year. I do my bit, and get a fee for doing so. I only say it as I don't raise finance, and don't have a list of patrons for shorts, just stated for clarity :)

Finance for a feature isn't hard if you know where to look and the project is suitable. Most aren't!

Response from 9 years, 4 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin SHOW

9 years, 4 months ago - Paul Campion

Hi Anthony, What other films have you made, what is your project called, and where's the link to the Kickstarter campaign? The first thing is you need to be promoting it and yourself wherever you can, including here. You're amongst a very supportive group of filmmakers who may help you out, but without any information about the campaign, nobody knows it exists.

How big is your social media reach? How many of your crew are helping promote it? Do you have a facebook page, website for the film and twitter feed you're posting to regularly? Have you approached all your family and friends individually and asked them to pledge money- generally you want to try and raise 30% of the money from family and friends in the first 3 days.
How much money are you asking for? Is it too much? Are your rewards too expensive? How much money are you putting into the project yourself? How much time did you spend building up an awareness of the project in advance? Did you get any feedback on the project, or the Kickstarter campaign before it launched?

I just ran a successful Kickstarter campaign for my short film The Naughty List :
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paulcampion/the-naughty-list-a-wicked-black-comedy-short-film/description

I started blogging about the process of trying to get it made 9 months before we ran the campaign, in order to raise awareness of the project. Then myself and the producer and author Brian Keene, who's short story it's based on promoted it constanlty social media constantly for weeks before the campaign launch and everyday during it, posting out onto 12 social media sites daily, in addition to our cast and crew getting involved and spreading the word.

If you want people to give you money, or give you feedback on why your campaign might not be working, or feedback on how to improve the film project itself, the first thing you need to do is give people a link to the Kickstarter project and promote it more.

Response from 9 years, 4 months ago - Paul Campion SHOW

9 years, 4 months ago - Andrew Morgan

Some great advice here so all I'll add is that I'm a firm believer in assessing what resources you have to hand *before* deciding what kind film you're going to make - I'm currently putting together an ambitious short that'll cost deceptively little to make since it's written around some interesting locations I have unrestricted access to for zero money.

A lot of low/no-budget filmmakers get or write their screenplay first and then try to cost-reduce it in order to get it made - I prefer to look at what's the most effective use of whatever budget I can scrape together and make that film instead. Nothing wrong with going the Kickstarter route of course (and providing you can sell yourself and your project then there's no reason that can't be successful) but going that route means your film is utterly dependent on the generosity of others to get made.

Oh, and I tend to stay away from animation - it takes way too long/costs too much unless you're doing it all yourself as a labour-of-love type thing - live action is a much more cost-effective way of telling a story.

Response from 9 years, 4 months ago - Andrew Morgan SHOW

9 years, 4 months ago - Jane Sanger

It's a very popular subject, because everyone wants to know how to fund their projects. So for the past few years I have been collecting info for short film funding and have successfully funded 7 short films. I am going to publish this info either in a dvd or download soon. There are over 100 sources but of course it's competitive, these mostly consist of competitions where you enter your idea/script etc and then the winner get £5 -£10,000 or even £40,000 to make their film, but on top of that the film is hugely marketed for you. Some competitions like ishorts also have the accolade of a possible BAFTA nomination so there are rewards out there on top of funding sources. There are many places that will mentor you, more if you are a woman, there are also several other ways to fund, obvious things like save up! start a side business selling on ebay, preloved, run an event with funds going to your film, set up workshops with profits going to your film(like film in a week for students, drama or crew techniques) ask friends and family to back you, crowdfund. I have not looked at paul campions project above, but remember that the average amount successfully raised on crowdfunding for film is £2,500 across Indiegogo, kickstarter, seed and spark etc and you have to work hard at it. As another shooter says why should anyone back your film, you have to sell yourself as a new rising star. I am onto feature funding funding now and in a few years hope to be able to publish a similar thing for feature's. The short funding thing won't come out til around Xmas this year because I am working on a feature. Producers getting the word out? Unlikely as they have so many requests like that and need to keep publicity for films they are actually producing in my opinion.

Response from 9 years, 4 months ago - Jane Sanger SHOW

9 years, 4 months ago - Jane Sanger

Ok I have just looked at Paul Camion's kickstarter and the amount he has raised, fantastic! But the average film maker can't do that. Why? Because he already has some back history and pretty spectacular one at that. He has history in making films already, he has a much loved and acclaimed author with a following. His marketing campaign is very well thought out and as he says above he started raising awareness 9 months before. It's an excellent example of how to crowdfund but unless you can match that kind of thing you won't be as successful.
Other really successful campaigns I have seen for instance use music for their film that already has a following and then merchandise images of that eg rock band. The film's about a famous artist and they then merchandise images of that artist. The computer game that already had a following and those fans want the characters from their game to be made in to a film animation, that will be successful.In fact a well known company did that and raised several $million. It's not easy!

Response from 9 years, 4 months ago - Jane Sanger SHOW

9 years, 4 months ago - Jane Sanger

Sorry Campion, not Camion , - shooting people should allow revision of posts!

Response from 9 years, 4 months ago - Jane Sanger SHOW

9 years, 4 months ago - Vanessa Bailey

Hi Anthony - you haven't put a link to your Kickstarter, so it's hard to tell why it's not working. I've run five crowdfunds and the work for the campaign starts months ahead of the actual campoaign via your social media platforms. If you don't have a track record, a built-in following (your film's genre for example) or a named actor attached then you really have to work 24/7 to build your audience before you launch. And then you work 24/7 to engage them. I honestly, I mean 24/7!! Crowdfunding is a brilliant way to democratise the process of producing and also show people whay you are capable of as a filmmaker, but it does require planning, creative promo, PR sensibilities and some sexy media :D All the best with it! :) Vanessa

Response from 9 years, 4 months ago - Vanessa Bailey SHOW

9 years, 4 months ago - John Lubran

All of the above responses and observations are helpful and supported by experience. I'd have to add that every project has its own reality bubble, largely made up of a set of associated circumstances. "One ought not take ones own case for a generality".

The methodology of 'crowd funding ' is not restricted to social media campaigns though. Lots of films get funded by groups of backers for a range of reasons. We've made six films that have been funded by what might be better described as 'group funding' if one thinks of how many people constitute a crowd.

Then of course there's the issue of comparing apples with oranges. I imagine that the nature and scale of people's project referred to here differ conciderably. Successfully raising £3,000, £10,000' £70,000, £500,000 or a £1,000,000 are profoundly differing achievements. However what makes one achievement differ in magnitude from another is not necessarily about how much but from which starting point one is obliged to begin. Spielberg must find it a piece of cake to raise a few million whilst an unknown penniless artist might find raisoing five grand much harder.

Learning about how other people have successfully raised budgets is always hugely helpful but there's several ways to skin a proverbial cat. Without an inate or acquired creative producorial nous though the prospects for success are much reduced. At the end of the day it's always going to be easier to sell ambrosia than it is to sell boredom.

Response from 9 years, 4 months ago - John Lubran SHOW

9 years, 4 months ago - Susi Arnott

Is 'Anomalisa' the most successful Kickstarter-supported movie to date?

Response from 9 years, 4 months ago - Susi Arnott SHOW

9 years, 4 months ago - John Lubran

$400,000 puts it up there in terms of money raised, though there's been bigger budgets raised. It's significant that those most successful crowd funded films on Kickstarter and the like all required big investments, usually several times more than was crowd funded, in order to turn them into theatrical and distribution winners.

As always however, one thing leads to another.

So farthe feature film 'Ambosia' awaits its opportunity in the vacuum of potentiality;-))

Response from 9 years, 4 months ago - John Lubran SHOW

9 years, 4 months ago - Jane Sanger

May I draw your attention to this: https://webmail.123-reg.co.uk/appsuite/#app=io.ox/mail&folder=default0//OWCX\&message_discuss_post_5702977a131f0b721607517816075178. Its a pitching event. If you pitch your idea and it wins you will attract attention and possibly funders. There are other events like this, Raindance do them occasionally and you get top industry advice from a panel of experts plus the possibility to win hard cash - maybe towards your funds.

Response from 9 years, 4 months ago - Jane Sanger SHOW

9 years, 4 months ago - Jane Sanger

Sorry that link should be:https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/live-pitching-with-lucy-scher-tickets-21826644080

Response from 9 years, 4 months ago - Jane Sanger SHOW