Hey All, We are currently in preproduction on an original docuseries and putting the pilot together to film. My question is on where to start searching for possible funding sources I.e. Grants, Crowdfunding, etc? We’re keeping it low budget so we can to hopefully be more attractive and just cover some basic costs. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Producing : Funding options by Jeffrey Walesa
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You got a job & credit cards?
What he said. Seriously, I look on IMDB and don't see you with any credits. What can you show any potential backers?
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Studiobinder.com has some great advice for writing a business plan for a film. Take their advice, and especially the statement about "doubling" what you think the budget will be. You can also look at their documents section, where there are some really good templates for shot lists, shooting schedules, etc.
Here is also a great link for a budgeting worksheet, shared by Henry Finn through Google Drive, with additional worksheets at the bottom.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nIVEyzYeIdAOWL8JvAsuFmpVEwpj7ntH...
Joleene Moody did a blog a couple months ago that lists many of the grants that are available, and you should probably check it out.
https://www.stage32.com/blog/Got-Grants-Heres-a-List-to-Help-You-With-Fi...
Stage32 founder Richard Botto has a great crowdsourcing book, which you can find here.
https://www.amazon.com/Crowdsourcing-Filmmakers-American-Market-Presents...
Finally, Stage32 member Sean Mannion has a nice list of free/inexpensive resources available to producers as well. Here's the link:
https://www.stage32.com/lounge/producing/List-of-free-or-inexpensive-res...
Best fortunes to you, Jeffrey!
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Jeffrey: crowdfunding is a full time job in itself. The most successful one I worked on raised $350K but took people full time for several months, and ~$50k in advertising - and these people had a large constituency built-in. Grants?? Not likely, and it takes ages. The money is where it is, and you have to locate it through private sources, other producers, distributors, etc. and everyone wants a piece of the pie. Sorry to say, it's work and there is no straight line to success.
Credits do get you somewhere in terms of forestalling the objection that you have no credits. But they don't get you anywhere in terms of "yeah, you have credits, but not in this specific genre, or not with ensemble casts (etc). Yes, that is the kind of incapable thinking you are up against. The truth is, if your concept is good and your script is well executed (and if your pitch is well executed) and IF THE PEOPLE YOU PITCH TO LIKE YOU PERSONALLY your credits or lack of them are irrelevant.
As for imdb - imdb is really not reliable; and once you get past gatekeepers and wannabes no one sees if for anything other than what it is: a platform which Amazon uses to track and manipulate stats, and where anyone can get useless and phony credits which impress other wannabes but not serious industry. Actors I never heard of keep adding themselves as cast on my films. I can link to several people's imdbs with 5 and 10 feature films "announced" and "status unknown" in the last several years, and even "released" (but never done). I won't because they are on Stage32 and it would be embarrassing to them. One "producer" here has wriggled his way into a film I am helping to fund, and holds himself out as very experienced with an imdb to "prove" it. When I looked at it, I found 8 prominent credits, ALL of them unproduced concepts he came up with, and all of which he put up on his own. Unfortunately, because he thinks everyone is fooled, his ego is as if he had the actual experience behind him - but of course his skills are what you would actually expect from someone whose industry experience amounts to writing 8 concepts and loglines...
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Haha...Name and shame, Shadow! :)
Thank you everyone for the assistance! We’ve put a lot of work into this project. I’ve even conducted a few small focus groups to see what people think and I have not received one negative comment. In fact, everyone agreed it’s something that is definitely needed today and couldn’t wait to see our finished project. Most of the planning, concept, film crew, music, etc. is in place and now we’re working on a budget. Again, thanks for all help!
I would start with a business plan. Once you have a business plan , you should look for a more established producer that have the connections you have to assist raise the funding and distribution channels you need.