Last night I went to an event sponsored by DCTV, a local group that helps mostly documentarians put together thier movies. It's a non-profit group, and according to them, the last film collective standing in New York City, which wouldn't surprise me.
Anyway, last night it was all about finding financing for your film. The people there included an entertainment lawyer, the CEO of Cyan Films, one of the founders of Hatchling Studios, the head of the Film Commission in NYC, and one or two others.
Now, funding is the grayest, most vague area of filmmaking. Writing a script, casting, hiring a crew, even shooting a film are relatively straightforward, compared to fundraising. To write, you get your ass in the seat. To cast, you put out a notice, and set up a day for auditions. To shoot, you get your actors in front of the camera. Of course there are nuances to all of this, a certain - as the French would say - I don't know what. But in theory, and to a degree in practice, it's all simple.
Fundraising is not. Mainly because there are so many ways to raise money for your film. You could use existing funds, say, the few grand (or even hundred) you have in savings. This could work for a short, but not a feature. So how do you get money for a feature?
It's pretty basic, but still entirely vague. The way you do it is in some weird netherworld of action. You need a business plan, but you probably won't really use it. You need to know the damn thing inside and out, and you have to cover things like marketing and distribution. I like the marketing part, because thinking up ways to pitch your movie to a potential audience can be fun. But distribution? Fuck if I know. One thing they stressed was don't rely on festivals alone. That doesn't count as a distribution plan. It can count as part of a distribution plan, but that's it.
While there was a lot of information bandied about - some of which I knew, most of which I didn't - I still left with the vaguest notion of where the money came from. In the end, I will need a prodcuer who has experience.
That's another important piece of information, and it's really common sense. If you're just starting out, with no credentials to your name, surround yourself with talent. Get a producer who knows what he's doing. Because if you don't, then you're not going to be able to make what you want.
There was more information at the panel - much, much more - and I may post more of it later, but I think that last piece is the most important piece of all. In the end, this is just a business, and you should treat it as such.
Anyway, last night it was all about finding financing for your film. The people there included an entertainment lawyer, the CEO of Cyan Films, one of the founders of Hatchling Studios, the head of the Film Commission in NYC, and one or two others.
Now, funding is the grayest, most vague area of filmmaking. Writing a script, casting, hiring a crew, even shooting a film are relatively straightforward, compared to fundraising. To write, you get your ass in the seat. To cast, you put out a notice, and set up a day for auditions. To shoot, you get your actors in front of the camera. Of course there are nuances to all of this, a certain - as the French would say - I don't know what. But in theory, and to a degree in practice, it's all simple.
Fundraising is not. Mainly because there are so many ways to raise money for your film. You could use existing funds, say, the few grand (or even hundred) you have in savings. This could work for a short, but not a feature. So how do you get money for a feature?
It's pretty basic, but still entirely vague. The way you do it is in some weird netherworld of action. You need a business plan, but you probably won't really use it. You need to know the damn thing inside and out, and you have to cover things like marketing and distribution. I like the marketing part, because thinking up ways to pitch your movie to a potential audience can be fun. But distribution? Fuck if I know. One thing they stressed was don't rely on festivals alone. That doesn't count as a distribution plan. It can count as part of a distribution plan, but that's it.
While there was a lot of information bandied about - some of which I knew, most of which I didn't - I still left with the vaguest notion of where the money came from. In the end, I will need a prodcuer who has experience.
That's another important piece of information, and it's really common sense. If you're just starting out, with no credentials to your name, surround yourself with talent. Get a producer who knows what he's doing. Because if you don't, then you're not going to be able to make what you want.
There was more information at the panel - much, much more - and I may post more of it later, but I think that last piece is the most important piece of all. In the end, this is just a business, and you should treat it as such.
posted by ctheokas at 7:11 AM
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