Funding a Movie

I feel the strongest factor that goes into a truly great screenplay is that the writer is willing to go with his or her "gut instinct" and is not afraid to go where the storyline takes him and explore his own imagination in the writing. These are the scripts that will allow you to get funding for a film. Please go out there and write something cool and innovative. The world needs more of this type of screenplay right now!

Independent filmmakers sometimes find it difficult to know where to begin. To get information on getting a film funded, there are a few directions people tend to take.

1. Film school.

Film school can be a very useful resource for learning about filmmaking from all angles. Obviously, you will learn the basics- how to shoot, edit and direct movies. However many of the teachers are filmmakers who found that they,themselves weren't able to make it in the business. So listening to their opinions on film funding may not be the best path to take

2. Film Books

There are a wide variety of books with tips for getting films funded. I will update this page with some recommended books shortly.

3. Resources online

There are also a wide variety of websites and tools online with tips and tricks for getting funding for a movie

4. Networking

Networking and making friends with industry experts is often considered the best way to make inroads in the film business. But not everyone has access to these insiders or lives in Hollywood...

I was recently visiting a very popular website focusing on Funding a Movie. At this site called Hollywood-Dreams., an aspiring filmmaker videotapes himself calling different production companies in a quest to get independent film financing.

A few people watched this video and commented in response "how did you get those phone numbers?" As it turns out, this particular filmmaker had direct contact information for some of Hollywood's biggest production companies including Harvey Weinstein, Jerry Bruckheimer and others. So where did this filmmaker get the phone numbers for these big Hollywood production companies? Is it possible for filmmakers to effectively find this kind of contact information?

The genres that are the hugest box offices successes are also, no surprise, much more expensive. The fact they make so much money, allows the immense the enormous amount of resources that go into funding a movie

We have our massive budget blockbuster, record-breaking successes like Titanic and Lord of the Rings (loaded to the gills with special and visual fx, action, stars, and elaborate sets and costumes. Then we have our intensive animation category ie Lion King, Shrek and Cars, also very expensive to create(sometimes taking massive animation teams years and years to produce.)

At The Sundance Film Festival each year, filmmakers roll out innovative marketing schemes and memorable forms of self-PR. I have heard of filmmakers wandering the streets handing out beautiful posters and postcards by world famous designers to achieve to get independent film distribution. And also filmmaker often give away quirky giveaways designed to ingrain the film's name into potential audience member's memory: for example, pacifiers with the film's name on them, cupcakes dealing with the film's theme, even things like condoms (with the film's name of it, of course) get handed out at Sundance. These types of promotion really do work to create a buzz and make people tell their friends about a film. If on top of (sometimes) brilliant marketing strategies, the film is actually truly good, well then the filmmaker does have something he or she can potentially take to the bank.

In a day where technology has evened the playing field so very much, it really doesn't make too much sense for would-be directors not to have at least one short in their "filmmaking portfolio." Digital technology allows virtually anyone to make a short film of some kind. The power of this simple fact should not be dismissed, as it was not long ago that the entire filmmaking process had a much steeper financial curve. Some would-be filmmakers may say, "but I am a FILMmaker, I only work in film." This is very shortsighted for filmmakers looking for that big first break and looking for independent film financing

Having your film on the Internet also allows you to self promote and market easily and quickly to potential investors and connections. Social networking, let's face it, has changed the world. Today if you have a great short, it is amazingly easy to have it seen by thousands of people on the Internet. Think about it for a moment and consider how much easier it is today for someone to see your short than it was even ten years ago thanks to the Internet. In 1998, the easiest way to see a "bunch of shorts" was to go to a film festival. Today, almost anyone in the Industrialized World has instant access to thousands and thousands of independent shorts. This is one decent strategy to get on the path to get get funding for a movie

It should be a given that having your short film or feature in a film festival is a good thing on your path to independent film financing. One big trick is figuring out how to get into a festival in the first place. It can be a tricky endeavor for, as with anything in life, you have to make it past at least a few gatekeepers.

The most important mistake that filmmakers make where film festivals are concerned is that they simply do not apply to enough film festivals. It's not easy, in general, to get into film festivals and that is why its important to apply to as many as you possibly can. Film festivals can really help you get your work out there and most importantly can serve as a magnificent networking opportunity to get future independent film financing or distribution. You must get into as many festivals as possible. Few things open up the eyes of a would-be producer or employer in the film industry as a few awards on your shelf. They may say it does mean that much- oh. but truth be told it does.