#11  
Old 02-17-2013, 05:23 PM
TSOlson TSOlson is offline
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How did you raise the funding for your film? I am planning on launching a Kickstarter for a feature film I am working on, and any tips would be appreciated!

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  #12  
Old 02-18-2013, 11:55 AM
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bank robbery - or if you don't dig felony charges - convince people they can be in our film if they donate time $$ or stuff. then make them an associate producer.
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  #13  
Old 02-18-2013, 03:27 PM
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Aw funding

Funding is always an important question, and rarely has a good answer. I haven't tried kickstarter for funding but I have heard of a lot of films trying to get funding that route, and can't recall ever actually watching one that succeeded in it. I might be wrong about that, but the one rule of thumb for kickstarter is that your video is everything.

We tried a lot of funding options, including having people contribute to get in the credits (we got some contributors in this way, but never made more than tiny bits of funding). We looked for angel investors, but those people didn't get rich by investing in something as risky as a movie. We even considered the Coen brothers method of calling all the dentists in the phone book, but I'm not much of a salesmen.

Ultimately we went the Kevin Smith route and funded it with credit cards. The idea being that if you really believe in your movie you should be willing to put yourself on the line, and if you don't then you shouldn't ask other people too. Michael Bay used his directors pay for Bad Boys to fund an explosion the studio wouldn't pay for, because he believed it was necessary to make the film a hit (of course if you watch any Michael Bay film you know he believes this is all it takes to make a film a hit).

So, paying for a film with credit cards is possible if all else fails. I should mention this did result in actual bankruptcy court for me, but fuck Visa, not many people can say they have a feature length movie.


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Originally Posted by TSOlson View Post
How did you raise the funding for your film? I am planning on launching a Kickstarter for a feature film I am working on, and any tips would be appreciated!

www.facebook.com/solacefeaturefilm
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  #14  
Old 02-18-2013, 06:41 PM
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LordofTears LordofTears is offline
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My advice is think bigger! There are a ton of states in the US and countries around the world that have film tax credit incentives and grants. A lot of them are seriously complex and confusing but find a producer who has used them before, get them onboard and you're onto a winner. That's how big budget movies do it but the same avenues are open to low budget films.

There's also the possibility of getting pre-sale money from distributors - again this is TOUGH but possible. It does happen. If you have the right idea and can prove that there's an audience for it you can get some money from a distributor upfront.

Kickstarter etc are great for filling funding gaps but it's very very tough to raise any sort of decent amount to pay for you and your crew/cast's time.

A site called filmspecific has a ton of great advice from working filmmakers and producers on how they do it - there really is a tried and tested formula once you start looking closer. Unfirtunatley you do have to pay to subscribe to that site but I would say it's worth it to get your knowledge to that next level. I think we all wish we could just make our films and not worry about the finance side of things but the further along you get the more you realise that you have to put as much effort into that side of things as the creative side to get by.

Hope any of that is helpful!
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  #15  
Old 02-18-2013, 06:43 PM
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LordofTears LordofTears is offline
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Oh and sorry I never gave advice on Kickstarter - my best advice there would be to study the ones who have succeeded in reaching their goals, even try to get in touch with the filmmakers and ask what they did.

And once your campaign is running - promote the hell out of it any way you can! Don't forget your local press - they can be your best friend when other avenues seem difficult.

Best of luck!!
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  #16  
Old 02-26-2013, 03:55 PM
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JasonLuck JasonLuck is offline
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May I ask what was the total budget of the movie?
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  #17  
Old 02-27-2013, 07:25 PM
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super secret budget

That is a little hard to answer, because the costs don't come in all at once and are spread across a million things. Also we are potentially looking at having to re-edit in high def which would be another $3000. And of course, they say you should never say the budget because it might hurt your ability to negotiate.

BUT, it used to drive me crazy when I was starting out that I could never get a straight answer on how much a movie cost to make. So here it is, best guess is we made it for $20,000 (that is counting every single thing). The target was $12,000. If I made it again today on high def video instead of Super-16mm film, I think I could shave off at least $3000.

My target was $12,000 because the amazing film Primer was made for that much. Some things you can skimp on and some you can't, know which is which. Most of the crew you can get for free (well, barter for helping on their movies), but pay the actors something. Don't ever treat sound as less important than visual, it is more important. And if you are making a horror, get your makeup/gore effects guy in as soon as possible, let him help with concept work. Hell, I could write a whole book on the topic...

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May I ask what was the total budget of the movie?
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  #18  
Old 03-11-2013, 08:23 PM
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JasonLuck JasonLuck is offline
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Interesting...

How did you distribute your movie? And how did it do, was it well received?
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  #19  
Old 03-13-2013, 07:53 PM
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Mr. Dark Mr. Dark is offline
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Distribution

Well that's the thing right there, we still haven't found distribution. Reading the how to make a movie books starting out they all made it sound easy, like you just shoot the thing, go to a market, and stand at a table and wait for the offers. But guess what, ever film festival in the country is showing the same 6 movies as Sundance, and those movie markets don't even really exist. Half the distribution companies you enquire with aren't even in business anymore, and the other half are full up.

I'm not saying it is hopeless, but you do have to be prepared in filmmaking for the possibility of bankrupting yourself and giving up everything important in your life to make a movie, only to have no one have a way to see it.

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Originally Posted by JasonLuck View Post
Interesting...

How did you distribute your movie? And how did it do, was it well received?
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  #20  
Old 03-24-2013, 03:19 AM
jessieblood jessieblood is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Dark View Post
Well that's the thing right there, we still haven't found distribution. Reading the how to make a movie books starting out they all made it sound easy, like you just shoot the thing, go to a market, and stand at a table and wait for the offers. But guess what, ever film festival in the country is showing the same 6 movies as Sundance, and those movie markets don't even really exist. Half the distribution companies you enquire with aren't even in business anymore, and the other half are full up.

I'm not saying it is hopeless, but you do have to be prepared in filmmaking for the possibility of bankrupting yourself and giving up everything important in your life to make a movie, only to have no one have a way to see it.
I have seen the problem you are talking about here with Distribution companies. What I have seen done is self-Distribution, Net, Horror film festivals booths, independent video stores and some non-independent stores, ads in horror mags, websites, screenings. I find a lot of films that way, however, down side is; no Money. This dose take money, you are somewhat making a mom and pop distribution company, that is starting on the right foot, you know your limit. However, you could put a ton of work into advertising working to get your film out there and have nothing to show for it. I shudder to think of all the indy films that are awesome that I will never get to see because the film market is a hard thing to bust into. Getting your work out is easy, youtube, facebook... etc, its hard to remake the money you have put into it a film when you have to build the advertising foundation, for your film. That's why you should look at it more like you are building a small business, learning, slowly growing something, that has the potential to bring in the money but knows it's limit and knowlage of the film world. There are people like me filmmaker/fans who look for and seeks movies like yours, it may not pull the millions and millions that a big budget movies dose, but it builds a fan base if the passion is there and the script is good. This is why indy filmmakers should always budget for a small amount of avertising for pushing there film into the market if they do not find a distribution company.
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