In my most recent post, I highlighted the importance of
having a business plan for independent filmmakers. Though it is not related to
the main topic of this blog, as a filmmaker myself, I believe it is important
to be knowledgeable about all aspects of the industry (not just the creative).
I am currently in pre-production on a short film called ‘Origins.’ This is a
short film based on three feature length films I am currently writing. My goal
with this short is to highlight my skills as a writer/director and present the
film both through the film festival circuit and to independent investors, in
the hopes that I can raise the necessary funds to make the subsequent feature
length films. This is an extremely ambitious project on my part and the only
chance of being successful is to show investors that I know what I am doing
both on the filmmaking and the business sides.
The two business plan experts I reviewed in my last post
Kevin Geiger and Nicole Williams, made points that any person attempting a
business venture would find useful. Luckily for me, I discovered them right as
I was beginning the process of creating business plans for my film. Kevin
Geiger talked about the importance of creating a plan that will govern all
aspects of the film from creative to business. Meaning, don’t just make a plan
to fund the film but make a plan to fund the film and set up a film company to
govern production at the same time. I think every filmmaker hopes to have the
Kevin Smith experience. In 1994, he showed his first independent film at Sundance and the film was picked up by Miramax. He has since had a filmmaking career that has spanned nearly 20 years. But that is not a likely scenario for every
independent film. While I would LOVE to have that chance, I also want an active hand in making my films and hope
that by building a business plan that establishes a film company as well, I will be able to continue making movies beyond the initial one.
For the short, my producer Chris Tobiaz and I went the Kickstarter fundraising route. On August 14th, 2013, we launched our Kickstarter with a $4,000 goal. We were lucky enough to have achieved our goal in 9 days! We are now pushing to raise $6,000, as there are a lot of special effects in our vampire/witch film and the additional funds will go a long way in helping us achieve a realistic look to our magic scenes. This has been an exciting and also educational experience. We have learned a number of different ways to market a film that has not been made in order to entice people to contribute. While a business plan has not been used in this portion of the filmmaking process, it does lay the ground work for our future films.
Nicole Williams suggested in the video I posted last week, that you offer multiple levels of
expectation for your investors to consider. For my trilogy, this would be very
helpful because I could provide the independent film level (under $100,000) as
well as the independent studio level (under $3 Million), such as Lions Gate or
Dimension Films. This would show that I am willing to make the film at either
level and I am not afraid to aim high for the studio level. She says that the investors will pay more
attention to the bottom line than the creative areas of your business. I agree
with this. It is good to show a sample of your work to prove your abilities, in my case the completed short will accompany the business plan. There are some investors out there that just want to invest in film,
though may not have any knowledge about the creative aspect. But ultimately, the investors will want to know how they will get their money back and with how much profit. Showing a realistic
investment and return structure will help investors in the decision to support your
film.
