Funding for Senior Film??

[dharma23]

Hello everyone,

So in a couple of weeks I am entering my Senior I class (pre-production) for my Senior film. Just wanted to know if anyone had any tips on where to pick up funding for short films? I've emailed a few producers but have had no luck. Please let me know whatever tips you may have!

Thanks

 

[M1chae1]

Holding a fundraiser at a bar or club can be fun and lucrative. I'm not saying you're going to make thousands, but it may help you take the edge off. Make sure you plan well for the event...make it fun...do a lot of promotion for the event--just don't try and put together a 'Red Carpet' dealeo...keep it humble and fun. Put together a few small performances...show a short film...make it a costume night...anything to bring in peeps.

Asking friends and family can bring about a few bucks.

Any grants available through school? I'm sure you've tried that route already.

Just a few ideas. Good luck.

 

[dharma23]

Wow after I've spent all this time looking for producers, investors and such...never even thought of a fundraiser or some event like that haha, thanks!

 

[M1chae1]

Wow after I've spent all this time looking for producers, investors and such...never even thought of a fundraiser or some event like that haha, thanks!

I'm not saying don't look for producers...but if you're doing a micro-budget production, it can sometimes be beneficial to hold a fundraiser.

We've done it a few times, and it's brought in a nice chunk of change. The trick is to spend as little on the setup as possible...so tickets at the door start going into the profit pot right away. You can also sell posters of your future or past movies...DVDs of your previous films...you know, some kind of swag table.

 

[directorik]

Something to take into consideration is investors are looking for
an investment in the truest sense of the word - they want to make
their money back. A Senior film isn’t likely to make a profit so
it isn’t a good investment.

Producers will be interested in seeing your Senior film when it’s
finished but they don’t put money into Senior films. I suspect
that’s why you haven’t had any luck with producers.

In this case you are asking people to “invest” because they
believe in you and want to help you as a person and filmmaker.
You have to make this very personal. Sell yourself as as an up
and coming, dedicated movie maker to people who know you and
believe in you.

Do you have a full line item budget?

 

[dharma23]

Something to take into consideration is investors are looking for
an investment in the truest sense of the word - they want to make
their money back. A Senior film isn’t likely to make a profit so
it isn’t a good investment.

Producers will be interested in seeing your Senior film when it’s
finished but they don’t put money into Senior films. I suspect
that’s why you haven’t had any luck with producers.

In this case you are asking people to “invest” because they
believe in you and want to help you as a person and filmmaker.
You have to make this very personal. Sell yourself as as an up
and coming, dedicated movie maker to people who know you and
believe in you.

Do you have a full line item budget?

Ah yes that does make sense, I figured that might be the case. I do plan on entering into several festivals with the film upon completion but that's still a no guarantee on a money return.

I begin my pre-production class in one week where I will be completing a full line item budget and everything necessary for production. I'm sure all film schools are set up the same way but I will have only three weeks by the time I finish pre-production to actual production which doesn't seem much time to send out budget top sheets and such. I definitely will be contacting family and friends and those who I know want me to succeed but I still know that's not going to get me the budget range that I'm looking for. Any other ideas?

 

[directorik]

Not knowing exactly how much money you need is a
contributing factor to producers not responding to your
emails. But I understand why you don't have that figure.

How do other students at your school raise money for
their senior films?

 

[dharma23]

Not knowing exactly how much money you need is a
contributing factor to producers not responding to your
emails. But I understand why you don't have that figure.

How do other students at your school raise money for
their senior films?

Well...that's an interesting question. I don't want to make it sound like other students have it east but I would say about 80% have funding from REIT parents solely. The rest usually save up their money (which I am desperately trying to find a job) which is hard for me to do because I pay for a lot of my school portions. Once I start the class I will be working on a budget immediately to get it mostly set and continue to look for funding. If I had to estimate a vague budget range now I would say 4-7 thousand which is a big range but just a loose guess.

 

[dharma23]

well I found this site and thought I'd maybe be able to get something started so for the record here is the link if anyone is interested. I'll update as I get more info on the budget.

http://www.fundable.com/groupaction...upaction_view?portal_status_message=Mail sent.


I've sent that out to a lot of family and friends so maybe I'll get my hopeful destination amount.

 

[knightly]

Just got finished with our senior thesis projects in college. For funding, we used parents, loans and credit cards... just like year after year of student filmmakers before us

If you can get the fundable thing to go, let us know please! That would be awesome.

The way I was "selling" our productions (I was a producer for 2 of the projects), was to use the introduction:

Hi, my name is Cole McDonald. I'm a student pursuing a film degree at St. Cloud State University and we are working on our senior thesis films. I was wondering if you'd be willing to ... donate/ let us use/ contribute ... whatever I was approaching them for.

I tended away from asking for money and looked instead for material donations to offset what would otherwise be incurred costs. Asking for money for catering is difficult... trading advertising time/ posters at the screening for supporters etc... for actual foodstuffs is relatively easy. They get positive local advertising to a relatively affluent local crowd who supports businesses who support local artists. Make sure you have a big screening event for all the senior projects, thank all of the "Sponsors" before the screenings and in the special thanks credits of each film.

Invite them to the screenings and have them stand up and be recognized.

Our school has Student research colloquium funds that are available by application. They are research grants, but can be requested by any department even if they are not in the sciences. The drawback is that you need to know your line items and costs before you apply and apply a year beforehand to allow time for committee consideration and award.

Ask around at the college and see where people from other disciplines get their funding. See if there are grants for artists. Ask lots of questions.

 

[H.Z.]

Holla dharma... I'm really not sure what kind of results you'll get with this, cos it didn't go very far for me but def. put stuff up on your facebook myspace etc. asking for small-scale donations... some people might throw $1-10 your way which can add up...

 

[Blade_Jones]

It's difficult enough trying to get funding for an indie film, let alone a school film. The vast majority of indie movies lose money. You need to find someone who doesn't know this.

 

[Scoopicman]

You can also suggest that the donations come through PayPal. Basically, people send money to your email address (via PayPal). Because credit can be used, you can sometimes get some nice amounts.

 

[Scoopicman]

You can also suggest that the donations come through PayPal. Basically, people send money to your email address (via PayPal). Because credit can be used, you can sometimes get some nice amounts. As someone suggested, announce this on Facebook, MySpace, etc.

 

[Zensteve]

I tended away from asking for money and looked instead for material donations to offset what would otherwise be incurred costs. Asking for money for catering is difficult... trading advertising time/ posters at the screening for supporters etc... for actual foodstuffs is relatively easy. They get positive local advertising to a relatively affluent local crowd who supports businesses who support local artists.

This is very good idea. You gotta get in there fast, mind you.

I operated a series of delivery joints in about a dozen various collegetowns, many years back. Every organisation on campus would be hitting me up for "food donations" at the start of the college year - sad story is; the start of the college year was already too late.

Every campus radio-station, theatre group, heck - any ongoing concern of any type - they've already tapped many of the local businesses well before the college year starts. There's only so much that local businesses can agree to give away in advance. Most of this happened at the end of the previous year.

Still, it's worth asking for. The worst they can do is say "no".

Some tips:

1) Go talk in person. Much harder for a manager to tell you to go pound sand, if you're standing in front of them. It's very easy to, over the phone.

2) Talk to the daytime managers. Night-time can get ridiculously busy. (Drunk/stoned college kids ordering late-night food? Say it ain't so!)

3) Even if you're too late to arrange a dedicated commitment for free food, you'll still be able to work out some kind of significant discount - if you have a schedule planned, and appear to be organised.

4) If you happen to suck at asking strangers for free stuff, send (or bring with you) someone who's good at it. Consider this part of the "delegation" aspect of filmmaking.

In short, local businesses do want to get involved with local college productions & enterprises. You just gotta be in there, before the rest of the pack, to get the most out of it.

Of course, this doesn't directly answer the original Q of "how to get funding"... but, as mentioned, the more resources you have freely available... the less actual dollars you need.