I’ve almost given up on funding for my feature documentary. It seems easier to use the money from commercial shoots to support the documentary instead. Plus, with China’s economy slowing down these past few years, there’s less and less space for film especially doc.How’s everyone else with funding these days?
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I need to find funding for my movies. My fundraisers haven't worked in the past.
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Yea, I've been funding my own documentary for years. Sure isn't easy. Now I'm to the point I need to find the post production finishing funds to make it the professional final movie it should be. It's a challenge.
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Yixin Zhang The markets for documentaries are tough ones to really make an impact in. There are 3 major problems with this genre. One is the general public are very cautious about whether they are seeing a factual film about an issue or if information presented is leaning too far to one side or another. This is the fault of MSM (Main Stream Media) that is bought by Leftist elites that tend to cover the truth about serious corruption in the government systems. When the general public loses faith in the news, they will be very apprehensive about documentaries and where they get their information.
The second problem is with distribution. Investors want a favorable Return On Investment and only a handful of feature length documentaries have broken past their budgets to bring in impressive revenue. What is the budget you're aiming for? I have a $1.5M budget for a fictional action/thriller film with a worldwide known talent that is extremely interested in playing the title character. This project falls into many categories of favorable market shares. In 2024, (in US domestic numbers) documentaries came in 9 th place in market shares according to genres at 0.46% and only 3M tickets sold over 81 films. That's 37K tickets per movie. It's not a big streaming attraction either. In US domestic markets, In 2025 so far, again documentaries come in at 9th place with a 0.79% of the market with 642K tickets over 14 films. These are better numbers then the previous year by average, but they are not very exciting numbers to investors hoping to recoup 120% of their initial investment and 50% of net profits.
The 3rd and final factor is the political temperament in specific territories. A lot of governments around the world are fighting against free speech if they feel it is an attack upon their plans to govern their countries. Many documentaries are banned or censored in certain areas of the globe because information in these documentaries do not support their political agendas. This cowardly tactic also hurts distribution.
Documentary filmmakers are some of the most courageous and important creatives in the film industry. Not only do they, for the most part, expose unfair or even evil stories that litter every corner of society, they have to fight against governments that will go to whatever actions they will take if they don't want certain information exposed.
I feel your pain. I know your frustrations but you can never give up in your quest to tell your story! Continue to be authentic, never compromise your integrity and be a champion for the truth. Your goal will be reached and the honor of your soul will remain intact. Find investors that also believe in your voice. They are out there, I just don't know where.