Where to Find Financing for Your Next Indie Film

Most indie filmmakers I know invest much of their time attending events and seminars about filmmaking. This is both good and bad.

Good, because filmmaking is a business of relationships, so putting your best self – your “brand” out there, is always a plus. 
Bad, in the fact that conversations at these events usually center around, “How can I get my film funded?”

What struck me one evening was that I was repeatedly spending my time in a room of broke-ass filmmakers commiserating with other broke-ass filmmakers without moving any closer to my main objective…getting funding! Subsequently, I changed my focus and began attending events where people with money were. I began seeking out charity galas, high-end restaurant bars, country clubs, political fundraisers, and others.

Rethinking my fundraising efforts helped me raise nearly a quarter-million dollars in equity for my first feature.

“Why not try gold diggin' for a change? …, it ain't any riskier than waitin' around here for a break.” – Fred C. Dobbs (Treasure of Sierra Madre)

Click the video to get some tips on strategies that may help you connect to potential investors.

Joe Orlandino is a film producer based in Chicago, Illinois. Specialties: Working with filmmakers producing feature films, short films and screenplays. I have produced award-winning music videos, films and recordings. My producing specialties are investment-level packaging and fundraising. In a previous chapter of my life I worked at the management level of the television industry for 14 years. I have extensive experience and success in social media, branding, tag-lines, log-lines, Internet prospecting, sales, sales training, guerrilla & social marketing, media buys, market research, audience development, brand experience, experiential marketing, brand strategy, sponsorship, consumer engagement, event marketing and broadcast design.

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