Last time I addressed some of the general aspects of the business side of fund raising, but I wanted to get to a few specifics that really helped me. I have banged my head against the wall for many years on this side of the biz, so I am hoping to save you the flat forehead and hair loss.
If you already have a flat forehead and hair loss, just tell everyone that you have a tall hairline. It works great for me.
If you have followed my advice and have decided to talk with a few people who understand money, and have asked for advice rather than cash, then make sure you have a few things ready.
First, I have found that the more ways you can visually represent your project, the better off you’ll be. For example, make up some sort of poster art for your project.
Sample art for the film, "Searching for Winter"
If you really want to whet their appetite, try shooting a sizzle piece or a movie trailer for your film. A sizzle piece being an excerpt from the film.
A word of caution here, don’t do this if you can’t properly represent your project. If you know you want to shoot on IMAX, but can only afford to shoot on mini DV tape, it’s probably best to skip shooting anything. You might end up hurting yourself more than you’re helping.
Okay, you’ve got poster art and a kick-butt movie trailer, but you’re not finished yet. Remember, investors are also investing in YOU. That means that you need to have the rest of your company look as good or better than your movie. This is something that surprised me. I thought that the thing that would open doors would be the cool movie trailer, but in reality it was the marketing materials that I created for the promotion of my company that got me way down the road. I highly suggest creating a booklet about what you do. This is a sample of what I created for Big Puddle Films.
Cover page for the Big Puddle Films presentation booklet
Sample pages from the contents of the Big Puddle booklet
I made this booklet, had it printed and bound, and coupled it with a slick DVD case that held my most recent demo. This is what I normally hand to potential clients, and it’s a fluke that this landed in the hands of a potential investor. In the end, THIS is what impressed them. A big surprise to me.
This next tip is one of the most important:
MAKE SURE YOU KNOW EXACTLY HOW MUCH MONEY YOU NEED.
This is so vital that I think you should print it out and put it on your refrigerator. If a potential investor asks you how much you are trying to raise, DO NOT SAY, “Somewhere between $750-$1 million.” This will cause an investor to lose confidence in you faster than you can say, “This will cause an investor to lose all confidence in me.”
Do everything you can to nail down the exact number you need. There are a several ways to do this, but the best way is to find someone who has some budgeting experience and is willing to help you. Find a producer, assistant director, line producer or someone similar and have them look over your script and break it down for you. There are also programs available for this kind of thing. This exercise will also reveal to you potential problems.
I was once involved in an indie project that featured a scene where a guy fired a rocket launcher from a rooftop in downtown Nice, France, and blew up the top floor of an adjacent building in broad daylight. This was just one of several big action scenes that peppered the film, and it was obvious that the writer had not thought through how difficult it would be to film. Once the script was broken down, the final budget came to 17 million dollars. This terrified the producers and scared off all the potential investors. To date, this film has never been made. It’s unfortunate too, because at its core it was a good story. All that was needed was a simple rewrite to reduce the ballooning budget.
"Big Giant Explostion" The Motion Picture
Do you know exactly how much money you need to make your film?
Finally, understand how much to pay yourself. This seems a little trivial, but it’s worth mentioning. You don’t have to work for free, and no one expects you to. However, don’t think that you deserve to earn the wage that James Cameron commands. Take an honest look at your level of expertise, look at how how much time you need to be released from your “day job”, and calculate accordingly. If you feel uncomfortable with the number you come up with, then ask an expert.