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Filmmaking resources for indie filmmakers, including, screenwriting, financing, producing and film distribution

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Film Financing

Film financing and financing movies for independent filmmakers is one of the most challenging aspects of the movie making process. You can have the greatest screenplay, the most talented cast and stellar movie locations – but without movie money, you are just another would-be filmmaker with a dream and a passion. The film finance articles at Filmmaking Stuff provide tips on how to view independent filmmaking as a business.

How To Meet With Film Investors Without Looking Like An Amateur

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If you’re looking to meet with film investors, you’re not alone. Go to any film festival and you will see dozens of other filmmakers looking for someone who can write big fat checks. The challenge is, most prospective investors don’t walk around with t-shirts advertising their net-worth. Even if they did, you’d have to shove your way through a crowd to even pitch your project. Ugh!

Here’s the good news. Meeting with investors is not a new concept for any industry. Many people who invest in film projects run successful businesses in other industries, OUTSIDE of Hollywood. For example, my first meeting with an investor was a local car dealer in my hometown. He was worth (as I found out) over sixty-five million dollars!

meet with film investors

How To Meet With Film Investors Without Looking Like An Amateur

Before you even seek out a meeting, you’ll need a clear vision for what you want to accomplish. More importantly, you’ll need to find a reason why your prospective film investor should care about you and your project.

When it comes time to meet with film investors, the process can be distilled down a few steps.

  1. Find and Qualify Prospective Investors –  Begin by asking around: “Who do you know who has money?” Go back to your hometown. Find out who runs successful businesses. Then get the business contact information.
  2. Contact Your Prospective Investors – Telephone your selected individuals at their place of business, and ask for a meeting. Let the person know that you are an entrepreneur and you’d like to meet. Don’t sell yourself short either! As a filmmaker working to make a film, you are absolutely an entrepreneur.
  3. Set Up A Meeting – When you go to your meeting, dress nicely and give a firm handshake. Be prepared with at least 10 thoughtful conversational points that reveal your passion and integrity. (I always rehearse the whole conversation in my car before I even go there.) Then shut up and listen.
  4. Build A Relationship – Do not ask for funding at your first meeting. The goal of the initial conversation is to make a friend. Then as the conversation flows, naturally you and your goals.
  5. Ask For A Second Meeting – If there is interest in you and your project, let the prospective investor know that you’re going to put together a proposal and come back. Maybe it’s going to the be right fit, maybe not.

You should set a personal goal for yourself. For example, in the next couple weeks, you can look to meet  at least one wealthy person who could potentially fund your film. And if you don’t live in a big city, that’s okay. Every small town has at least one wealthy individual willing to offer advice to entrepreneurs. Ask around and identify who this person is, then go from there.

If you’re looking to meet with film investors,  The Independent Producer’s Guide To Financing Your Movie might be worth checking out. It provides info and tactics on how to find and meet with prospective film investors so you can make your movie.

You Need More Than An Independent Film Business Plan

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An independent film business plan allows you to fully understand the business aspects of your project. You will want to outline your budget and show how the money will be spent. You will also highlight your team, your objectives and importantly, your marketing, sales and distribution strategy.

Completing an independent film business plan is a great step towards getting the money,  but this is not the only step.

Independent Film Business Plan

You Need More Than An Independent Film Business Plan

In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission was set up to protect uninformed investors from scams. With the creation of the SEC, several laws, regulations and guidelines have been put in place to protect the innocent. In order to stay compliant you will need to talk with a qualified entertainment attorney who focuses on securities law.

The reason for this is simple. You want your movie project to be taken seriously.

With your attorney’s help, building off the information outlined in your business plan, you will create a set of documents called a private placement memorandum. Your PPM will outline the goals for your film. It will explain the possible upside to your project, but more importantly, it will help prospective investors understand the inherent risks.

The name of the game is compliance, transparency and trust.

In addition to creating a PPM, your attorney will probably advise you to set up a legal business entity such as a corporation or limited liability company. While most anybody can bring litigation against you at any time, it is important that you find ways to keep your film business separate from your personally assets. Taking this step may be worth far more than the price you pay for the paperwork.

With all of this said, writing an independent film business plan is a good start. This film business plan template may help get you started with something to evaluate with your attorney.

How To Access The Secret Film Investing Club

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In this week’s filmmaking question, a reader asks the following about investing in a film.

Question: I’m doing a film and I am distributing to iTunes. I’m not launching till at least Feb when everything is done. I am doing this out of pocket and need funding. I don’t have wealthy friends nor do I know any rich people. What’s the first step in obtaining an investor? Is there a group of people that invest? I’ve tried those crowdfunding sites to no avail. Any suggestions?

One of the most frequently asked questions in filmmaking is: How do I find someone to invest in my project? While the answers vary from asking your dentist for money to calling your rich uncle, I am going to tell you a secret that most filmmakers don’t want you to know. Are you ready?

Film Investing Club

How To Access The Secret Film Investing Club

There is a top secret, underground group of prospective film investors who are hungry to invest in unproven projects, produced by unknown filmmakers and they are chomping at the bit to give you their money. That’s right. I’m taking about the secret film investing club…

But before you can be admitted to the club, you must first decipher the secret password.

Just kidding… There really is no such secret film investing club.

But there is a myth perpetuated in this industry that leads most filmmakers to believe otherwise. This is evidenced each year by the gazillion, first time, hopeful filmmakers who flock to The American Film Market and end up hobnobbing with Hollywood posers who pretend that they are actually interested in financing unproven projects.

While some filmmakers get lucky, many leave AFM with a list of “good contacts” and “great feedback” on their project and spend the next two years chasing a carrot on a string. So instead of taking this route, I suggest learning how to think like an investor.

What’s the first step in obtaining an investor?

When I started out, I didn’t know any rich or successful people. I grew up in a small town surrounded by factory workers. Like most filmmakers, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I would find an investor for my projects. At one point I read a book totally unrelated to filmmaking called Rich Dad Poor Dad. The book talked about rich people – how they think and what they look for in investments.

Inspired by the book, I started asking friends if they knew any rich people. One of my friends mentioned a local auto dealer who owned a dozen dealerships. One day I picked up the telephone and called his dealership. I left a message with his secretary. And to my surprise, the prospective investor called back and agreed to meet.

That single meeting was the beginning of a business relationship that I still maintain to this day. (For the record, this guy was worth 67 million dollars.)

Later when I worked with a producer in New York City, I found out that the strategy for finding investors wasn’t much different.

So the first step in finding a prospective investor is to ask friends and family if they “know of” any rich people. If someone mentions a name, reach out and request a meeting. If no names are mentioned, then I would pick up the Yellow Pages and look for the biggest ad. People pay a lot for those ads – so if you find one, why not attempt to connect with the CEO for a meeting?

Is there a group of people that invest in projects?

If you Google “investment clubs,” you will get a ton of results. Just know that if you find a legit group, they probably focus on popular investments like stocks or real estate. While I would encourage you to attend a few meetings, refrain from pitching your agenda until you make sure members are open to new types of investments. Your initial goal with any first meeting is to make friends and see where it takes you.

Assuming you take the necessary actions that lead you to prospective investors, I would not make a pitch until you figured out how to answer a few basic questions, usually as part of your business plan:

  1. How will the money be spent?
  2. How will you recoup the money?
  3. How soon will you recoup the money?
  4. What is the projected ROI?
  5. Why should they invest in your project over other investments?

Think of it like this – Most investors make 8% to 12% on their money in a good mutual fund. Add the fact that a solid real estate investment could produce this return, plus cashflow and it is easy to understand why asking people to invest in an unproven project is challenging.

Thoughts on Crowdfunding?

Aside from raising money, the more important aspects of crowdfunding include testing, proving and pre-selling a concept. Additionally, a crowdfunding campaign allows you to test the footprint of your social influence. When crowdfunding attempts fail, it could mean the concept is not yet interesting to the marketplace, the filmmaker’s social media reach is limited or both.

When in doubt, think of your project from the perspective of a prospective investor. What seems more risky? The guy who just had a successful crowdfunding campaign, sourced a mailing list of 10,000 people and has advertisers offering to buy advertising space… Or the unproven project with no plan for ROI. Don’t be that guy.

Just because you are filmmaker, producing a short, webseries or feature film does not mean that you are no longer bound to the general principals of business. You must never forget that you are creating a product. So before you approach any prospective investor, you need to first figure out how your project will make money.

In the end, while there is no such thing as a secret film investing club, the are financial rewards if you’re willing to hustle. If you like this film finance advice, check out the Film Finance Guide.

How To Find People Who Invest In Movies

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If you want to find people who invest in movies, look for giant billboards in your home town.

That probably sounds goofy. But it works.

I grew up in a small farming community in Pennsylvania. Nobody around me made movies. Starting out, I didn’t know how to find people who invest in movies. In fact, most people in my town worked at factories. We didn’t know rich people.

But like you, I had an odd ambition.

people who invest in movies

How To Find People Who Invest In Movies

My friends and family thought I was crazy. My mom won’t admit it now, but there was a time she actually thought I would grow up, take a job at the local factory and have a few kids. But I wanted something… Different.

I wanted to make movies. And for that to happen, I wanted to find people who invest in movies (or at least people who could potentially invest in movies.) But I had no idea where to start.

Around this time, I started reading a bunch of books on business and how to become successful. One book in particular was called Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

Rich Dad Poor Dad is totally unrelated to filmmaking, but reading it changed my life. Prior to reading the book, I viewed rich people like kings in a kingdom. Like they had something I did not. But the book gave me a context for how rich people actually live and think.

This was important. I realized most rich people started from humble beginnings. I also realized that one way the rich get rich is by creating and growing successful companies. And I also realized that successful business owners are bombarded by business pitches all day long.

Your movie is a business. Why not pitch it to the very people who invest in businesses?

This led me on a quest to find successful companies.

Look For The Biggest Billboards

You probably thought I was kidding.

If you want to find people who invest in movies, look no further than the biggest billboards in your hometown. In my town, there is a very popular, massive car dealership. I know this because you see billboards for it everywhere!

So one day I called the dealership and asked for the owner. And to my surprise, this guy called me back and agreed to meet. During our conversation, he told me how he started out as a tire salesman. Eventually he garnered more and more success and eventually grew his net worth just over 60M dollars. Can you imagine that? 60M dollars?

I know this profoundly simple tactic seems silly. But wealth is everywhere. The film finance expert Tom Malloy talks about this a lot in the film finance guide. But as soon as you start believing in prosperity, you start finding new opportunities.

Understand The Language of Business

Before you pick up the phone, there is something you need to do. If you’re like most filmmakers, you could probably talk about cameras, audio, lighting and gear all day. Heck, you might even know a thing or two about how to break down a screenplay or direct actors. But when you are looking to find people who invest in movies, you need to speak the language of business.

Understand these terms for starters: Cashflow, capital gains and ROI. This is because most people who invest in movies come from other industries. And knowing how to talk in the language of traditional business will go a long way towards helping you communicate your proposition.

Always remember that goal of the indie filmmaker and traditional business professional are the same – You are joining forces to produce, market, sell and distribute a product. The problem is, when it comes to creating a movie, most filmmakers focus only on the production.

But that is limiting. Never approach people who invest in movies, until you are ready to answer the tough questions. Aside from creating an awesome product, how are you going to market, sell and distribute your movie? And why the heck should anybody take you seriously?

If you would like to find out how to meet investors and raise money, check out the film finance guide.

How To Woo Private Film Investors (Even If You Hate Pitching)

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You may have all the creative talent in the world, a team ready to help you make your film and an idea that’s sure to be a major blockbuster… But if you lack the funds needed to fund your movie, the whole process is gonna be tough. It is at this point when most filmmakers start wondering how to find private film investors.

When you start exploring your funding options, you will also experience a few fears. losing control of your movie, uncertainty about where to look for an investor, and more. But one that is high on the list is actually figuring out how to pitch to private film investors, especially if you hate the process of pitching your movie.

With that in mind, it’s worth taking a look at a few key points that can help make it easier to figure out just how to woo those private film investors and get them to put up some money to help you make your movie.

  • First, understand that this is your passion project, not an investor’s. In other words, just explain to prospective investors just how much you want to make your movie or what it means to you will be insignificant to them. Investors are looking for how a movie benefits them, nothing else. 
  • That’s not to say that all investors are just thinking about your movie for financial return. That’s a majority of private investors, for sure. But others may just want to be famous or feel significant. Some may own a local business and expect to get marketing through the film somehow. The key thing to understand is that you need to be able to identify what it is that interests an investor and focus on that during the pitch, not things that they don’t care about. 
  • Another point to remember is that finding investors can be an emotional roller coaster ride of epic proportions. You’ll gain interest and see enthusiasm from an investor only to suddenly lose traction and be turned down. Calls won’t be answered. Investors may ignore you. Don’t lose faith or motivation – perseverance is a major part of what drives success forwards in this industry. 

Those are the three fundamental things to pay attention to when trying to woo private film investors. Know their motivations and target them, and be ready to experience a challenge. If you can do this, you’ll be on your way to attracting better opportunities for yourself and your movie.