Funding Advice

Hello,

I'm a relatively new entrant to the film industry, and was wondering if anyone could give me any tips or advice on funding.

I graduated from Brighton Film School last summer, and am producing my first short film, which is going to be filmed in May.

I have sourced a crew, locations and a cast/have set up all the relevant social media sites, but am just in the process of trying to find funding to get the ball rolling.

Most of the funding sites I have looked at, the deadlines have sadly passed.

I am going to be setting up a Crowdfunding site on the 1st of April (for 30 days), but was wondering if anyone had any other tips on how to source money?

All suggestions are much appreciated (as I have said before, this is my first major project, which is low budget).

It is directed, written and produced by women, and we are hoping to use this opportunity to kick start our careers.

Thanks!
 
wondering if anyone could give me any tips or advice on funding.
You're going to need some to pay your guys. When you're new, finding it often becomes a chicken and the egg issue. You need the money to gain the experience and success in which you need to get the funding.

Most of the time the answer is fund it yourself (credit cards, crowd fund with family/friends) or attach people who have the experience/value to get that funding. Harsh reality: You're one of tens of thousands of talented teams of filmmakers in the same situation.

The women angle being hot topic (at least in my country still) there may be grants you could chase. Talk with your producer about chasing down this option if you're interested.
 
I just noticed. Short film. Ignore all that. Beg, borrow and steal from your family and friends. In the end, you're going to have to pull most of the money from your own pocket.

I finished editing a film much like what you're describing late last year. A female producer/director/writer team. They're doing the festival circuit now with their world premiere at a women in film festival tonight. I guess we'll see how it goes.

Good luck with your film.
 
Hi,

welcome to the forum. I just finished my short which was crowdfunded. We got 3500 (500 went on fees etc) and paid everyones expenses. The rest went on gear. Not 'gear'.

I feel we made a mistake going for flexible funding (ie You keep what you raise regardless of if you hit your target). As was pointed out here in the forum, people are more hesitant to put a larger sum in if they feel they don't fully know what budget film they are investing in. You live and learn.

I managed to get us to the target by hitting the papers, news sites, twitter and then.... Messaging everyone I knew on Facebook. Literally, people I hadn't spoken to in years. I felt grubby and awful, but It worked. Some of the people I hadn't spoken to gave the most. Class.

Anyway, hope that helps. Any other questions just hit me up here.
 
Thank you so much for the responses guys! This is all SO helpful!

I'm going to start the crowdfunding site on the 1st of April. I'm spending a lot of time researching how to properly use social media (it's such a fantastic advertising tool)!

Thanks again - all these tips are much appreciated!
 
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