Financing / Crowdfunding

"With the screenplay complete and WGA registered, I'm currently seeking production partners, financing opportunities, and the right creative team to bring this project to life." Are there any other options I could do?

Hi Filmmakers!!!

I'd love to discuss anyone experience crowdfunding their project. I'm so close to my budget goal and if anyone has any tales of how to get over the top I'd love to hear and discuss.

here's the link to take a peak.

https://gofund.me/bd3e2fe6b

Lets all start a bad ass movement!!

Ryan (Riot) !~

I moved to Louisville from DC many years ago, and like most, I had some preconceived notions about Kentucky (c'mon... You've all heard the jokes). However, nestled along the Ohio River, Metro Louisville is a brilliant city with unique southern charm, and nearly every amenity you could ask for... Even if you're shooting a movie!

Yes, that's right... Louisville was recently voted one of the top 25 cities in America to live and work as a filmmaker. We have a bustling film community, our professional resources are growing by leaps and bounds, and our professional crews have helped usher in some of the best movies of the last decade (Dead Man's Wire, Killers of the Flower Moon, Beauty Mark, to name a few). Our locations are extremely diverse (rolling hills, mountains, farmland, big cityscapes, caverns, and ancient cave systems, and you can get here from almost anywhere in under a day. Plus, you can still buy a house without severing limbs or giving away your firstborn child.

And then... there's the tax incentive program. With $70M set aside by the State Assembly to entice filmmakers to produce films in KY (rumors of an increase for 2027), and up to 35% on qualified expenditures, Kentucky is quickly becoming a hotbed for production.

Having just recently gone through the qualification process for my next film, I can say it is fairly simple and straightforward. It necessitates having your ducks in a row, but it should... And you should.

To be fully transparent, no one has offered me any compensation to write this. I just love living and working in my adopted home, and with what the Commonwealth has to offer for filmmakers, I think it should be on your list.

Want to learn more? Visit the Film 502 website, where my friend Soozie Eastman gives all the important details: https://filmlouisville.org/incentivevideo

You can also visit the Team Kentucky website at: https://newkentuckyhome.ky.gov/Locating_Expanding/KEI

Then... Let me know what you think about bringing your next production to The Bluegrass!

https://youtu.be/LLRPw5UjAA8

"Disney has already signaled plans to increase its investment in content by another $1 billion, reinforcing something we’re seeing across the entire industry right now…" Great news and consistent with the return to steady industry output.

Extolling its advantage in content creation, library, franchises and experiences Josh D'Amaro details to staff they are poised for growth.

Again, good confirmation from the top that the demand and competition for entertainment product is strong and returning to normal levels following a prolonged retrenchment of uncertainty. All signals pointing to expansion of opportunity.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/disney-plus-digital-c...

Half the hourglass has run through, we're at the crucial stage of this project.

How do you convince? How do you grab someone's attention? How do you give them confidence?

How do you ask people for money, for a project they only have a vague idea of?

A lot of questions with one answer: you don't ask, you include.

Everyone has their place in this project, whatever impact they'll have, whatever part of it speaks to them. Some will see themselves in the subject of the film, others in the energy and drive of a young team. A short film isn't just a story, it's a group of people bringing an idea to life, one that grows richer from the differences of everyone who takes part in making it. So in the end it stops being a question, and becomes a feeling, one that will land with the right people. Don't ask. Make them feel it.

Why this project? Why a film? Why now?

Why fund an experimental short made by young artists?

Why not?

Let's be honest, in times like these, funding a film feels like the last thing on anyone's list. And yet, cinema is exactly where we escape, where we catch our breath, where we find room to breathe. It gives us the ability to build new dreams, even when that seems impossible. So you're not funding a film, you're backing the people who will help you dream again, later.

Who can give? Who should we reach? Who do we contact?

Who could genuinely step up at this stage and show their support?

You. Others. Anyone.

Someone who believes in it, who sees themselves in it, who recognises a real opportunity.

The last page of my notebook is filling up with questions. The next one will carry your names, just below "THANK YOU".

Support the short film LOST MIND: https://www.proarti.fr/collect/project/lost-mind-1/0

TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS (FRANCE)

Can't contribute? Share the link.

A WerNix Studio production. A film written and directed by Lucas Donnat, produced by Arthur Merle.

I came across this conversation from Filmart and thought it was especially relevant for anyone thinking about how projects are getting financed right now:

https://deadline.com/2026/03/filmart-co-production-peter-chan-anthony-ch...

There’s a real sense of uncertainty in the discussion, especially around AI, shifting audience behavior, and the fragmentation of the market. But one thing felt very clear: No single market can fully finance itself anymore.

Because of that, co-production isn’t just a creative or strategic choice; it’s increasingly becoming a financial necessity. What I found interesting is how differently people on the panel approached it. Some see co-production as essential for unlocking funding, accessing incentives, and expanding into global markets. Others cautioned that stacking too many partners can actually complicate things, especially when financing is tied to creative decisions or post-production requirements.

There was also a really honest point about how some co-productions end up feeling like you’re “cutting the pie into smaller and smaller slices” just to make the budget work. At what point does that start to hurt the project instead of help it?

And layered on top of all of this is AI. There’s a suggestion that data-driven, formulaic projects may become easier to finance and produce, while more distinct, voice-driven work might need to rely even more on intentional partnerships and alternative financing paths.

I'd love to hear from members of the community:

Are you approaching co-production as a primary financing strategy right now?

And looking ahead, do you think financing is moving toward more global collaboration by default, or will there still be viable paths for more contained, independently financed projects?

Financiers love to believe deals fall apart because of numbers, timing, or risk.

But upstream, deals collapse for a far simpler reason:

The identities at the table were never structurally aligned.

Every deal carries two layers:

1. The Financial Layer

- terms

- capital stack

- projections

- risk profile

- deliverables

This is the layer everyone talks about.

2. The Identity Layer

- who each party believes they are

- what they’re protecting

- what they’re avoiding

- what they’re signaling

- what they’re afraid to reveal

This is the layer that actually governs the deal.

When the identity layer is unstable, the financial layer becomes a stage play.

People negotiate numbers while protecting the parts of themselves they don’t want exposed.

That’s why you see:

- founders over‑promising

- financiers over‑controlling

- producers hiding collapse

- partners withholding information

- teams misrepresenting capacity

None of this is financial.

It’s identity architecture under pressure.

Upstream clarity means diagnosing the identity collapse before the financial collapse shows up.

Because once the identity stabilizes:

- the deal stabilizes

- the communication stabilizes

- the expectations stabilize

- the risk profile stabilizes

- the entire structure stabilizes

Deals don’t fall apart because of money.

They fall apart because the people involved don’t know what identity they’re negotiating from.

Fix the identity, and the deal stops collapsing.

Most creative deals don’t fall apart because of money.

They fall apart because the people involved don’t know what identity they’re negotiating from.

A financier thinks the pressure is risk.

A creator thinks the pressure is vision.

A producer thinks the pressure is logistics.

A writer thinks the pressure is meaning.

But upstream, the collapse always comes from the same place:

Two people negotiating from two different identities without realizing it.

When identities aren’t aligned, numbers don’t matter.

When identities are aligned, numbers become easy.

If you want to stabilize a deal, don’t start with the budget.

Start with the identity each person is protecting.

Everything downstream becomes obvious once you name the upstream contradiction.