Monday 2 January 2012

How To Get Money To Make A Movie

Meeting an investor is like going out on a first date — you have to impress on the first date, or you don’t get a second one. Your first meeting with a potential investor will probably be over the phone. You need to sell him on getting involved with you and your film so that you can move to the next step and have a face-to-face meeting. The potential investor may request a copy of your prospectus or business plan before wanting to meet in person. This is why your presentation package is so important: If it intrigues the investor, you’ll get that in-person meeting and have a chance to close the deal.

Keep in mind the following when approaching investors:

1, Be enthusiastic about your project, but don’t be phony.

2, Be honest and don’t guarantee that they’ll get rich from investing in
your film. If you prove that you can be trusted, they may invest in you —
and fund your future projects.

Don’t ever guarantee investors that they’ll recoup their investment and
make a profit. Nothing in life is guaranteed, especially getting rich off
making a movie. You don’t want to mislead them. If you guarantee they’ll
make money and they don’t, they could legally come after you stating
you made false promises to them.

3.Be prepared. Before calling, be ready to answer any questions the
investor may ask. This can include what your film’s about (be ready to
pitch your story), budget amount, shooting schedule, post-production
to release schedule, and how long it will take for them to see a return (if
any) on their investment. Before your face-to-face meeting, review all the
material in your package so that the investor will know that you know
what you’re talking about.

4 Be respectful. Assure the investor that you will treat his or her money
as if it were your own.

5 Follow up with a thank-you note to the investor for taking the time to
meet with you and for considering your proposal.

You have to look at it as a win-win situation. People get excited about the idea
of getting involved in financing a film. It’s a lot more exciting (and definitely
more glamorous) than buying $5,000 in toilet paper stock. You could be doing
the investor a favor. The investor has the potential of making money with your
film (also the potential to lose his pants — but you probably don’t want to say
that). But again, be honest, and let them know investing in a film is a risk —
there’s no guarantee they’ll get their money back or make a profit — but that
it’s your honest intention to make money for them with your film.

You can also entice your investors by offering to give them an Executive
Producer credit in your film’s opening credits. If so, be sure to mutually agree
in writing the appropriate credit that your investor will receive on the film. You
can have as many Executive Producer credits as fits the number of investors.

After you’ve found investors, a company agreement between you and your
investors must be drafted before anyone is going to hand over cash for you
to make your film. When the investor agrees to participate in the financing
of your film, it’s time to move on to forming a company and ironing out the
details of putting your project together.

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