Indie Film Financing: Everything You Need To Know

Independent filmmakers often find the financing process one of the most challenging parts of producing their films. In this video, we explore some secrets to successful independent film financing.
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(00:00): I will do two unique videos here, taking gigantic topics and trying to cover them as quickly as possible. This first one is called Indie Film Financing, Everything You Need to Know. So I will try to put everything you need to know into the two or three-minute video. Here we go!

(00:17): FILM FUNDING TIP ONE: You want a killer screenplay. Starting with a crap screenplay always leads to a crap movie. Starting with a good script could be just an okay movie. Starting with a killer screenplay... It's no guarantee it will be a killer movie, but you're setting yourself on the right path.

(00:31): FILM FUNDING TIP TWO: You must have a strong cast and crew. If you can get names for the cast, please always try to cast names in there. If you can get professional people for the crew, obviously, that will also help.

(00:41): FILM FUNDING TIP THREE: You need to have an actual budget, a real budget that you're not going, "Oh, I don't know. I don't know what the number is. Two, three million. Let's put it together." Have that budget so that this is an intelligent budget for this movie with this cast.

(00:54): FILM FUNDING TIP FOUR: Have a film business plan. You need to know what's the film's business, how will you get it out there? If you put it on paper and have that business plan, it will be much easier to attract investors.

(01:04): FILM FUNDING TIP FIVE: You need to know your market, okay? If you can understand going in, this is who will watch my film. This is how I will get it out there into the world. Obviously, that can attract investors as well.

(01:14): FILM FUNDING TIP SIX. have a distribution plan, okay? Don't just go into it like, "Well, we're just going to make the best movie possible and just see what happens." Right? You have a distribution plan. Obviously, an investor will want to know, if you make something great, how are you getting it out of the world, and how am I getting that money back?

(01:28): FILM FUNDING TIP SEVEN: Okay, this is a term I created called catch investor, and I'm doing a whole thing on catch investors, and what they are is an investor that has a little catch for them to invest in your film. So you want to find those people, find the catch investors.

Without going into crazy detail, it could be something like, well, I'd love to invest in the movie, but I want you to shoot it at my golf course, the golf movie, whatever. That's the catch, all right? So you always have to find what that catch is and how you could supply that investor not only the investment in the film but you could successfully supply the "catch."

(01:59): FILM FUNDING TIP EIGHT: Always be pitching. Always. No matter where you go, you're at a family picnic, and there's a cousin you haven't seen in a while. "What have you been up to, you, Tom?" You tell him, "I'm raising money for this horror movie." Okay? Because you never know what that cousin has come into their orbit and who they're working with, they may say, "Oh, I just met this neighbor. That's what he does. He invests in things." And it's something perfect like that, so he always has that pitch on you so that you're just putting it out into the universe.

(02:24): FILM FUNDING TIP NINE: Embrace the NO. Really has to be something that should be taught in every sales school that a no is so much better than a maybe. Maybe most of the time is just postponing the negative. No, you go, "Okay, great." Boom, you can move on, right? The more no's you can collect, it'll get one step closer to the yes because each time you're refining, you'll be refining, and you'll be seeking out that person who will say yes.

(02:49): FILM FUNDING TIP TEN - Improve the project. Improve the project. I've said it so many, so many times. The more you can give value to the project, and that's cast, that's crew, that's locations, that's distribution strategy, all this stuff that you can put in there, the more value you have, investors start to pop up out of the woodwork.