6 posts tagged “financing”
San Francisco Film Society is now taking applications for a sweet grant for local filmmakers. Winner gets $35,000 + a chance to get in on their filmmaker residency program for up to 6 months where they give you free office space. They'll be offering this grant twice a year. Sounds awesome. They want films that "through plot, character, theme or setting significantly explore human and civil rights, antidiscrimination, gender and sexual identity and other urgent social justice issues of our time."
If anyone hears of a grant for pure commercial thrills and chills, let me know...
Best of luck to those who apply!
Susan Ee
www.feraldream.com
The 2008 Producers Lab and Sloan Grant are now accepting applications. The Producers Lab deadline is June 9 (early) and July 7 (final). It's an intensive program for indie producers.
The Sloan Grant deadline is July 7 -- $25k in development funds, admission into the Producers Lab and year round support from Film Independent. They want scripts and films about science and technology. My mad scientist story ideas probably wouldn't qualify. :-)
Good luck!
Susan Ee
http://feraldream.com/
Check out Storybid. It's an auction house for advertisers to sponsor your film. The ad industry is shifting and they're looking for alternative ways to get their product out there. One of the experiments a lot of companies are doing is associating their products with online videos. If anyone tries this out, let us know how it went for you.
Cheers,
Susan Ee
Here are some upcoming finance seminars in case doing your taxes isn't enough for you:
Fim TV/ Production & Finance Summit - April 10-11, LA, $1,295
IIFF Financing Workshop with Film Financier Lew Horwitz - April 9, SF, $89.25
Susan Ee
Had lunch today with a friend of mine who also happens to have been the executive producer of a well known movie with William Macy and Alec Baldwin. I asked him if he would listen to a practice run of my pitch in a week or two so I can prepare for my pitch to Film Angels at the end of the month. Now I know that he's heard more pitches than he can stand and it would be a big favor to listen to mine. Before he could answer, his girlfriend happily agreed on his behalf, invited us over to their place and offered to cook. Thank goodness for sweet women. And on top of that, she's a fantastic cook. :-)
I expect to get slammed with tough questions during the practice pitch. But he's exactly the kind of person I'll be pitching to at Film Angels because not only has he been an executive producer, he's been a VC -- the exact same profile as the investors at Film Angels. I want to hear every tough question, every concern that might come up before I stand in front of a room full of guys just like him. He's already brought up a couple of points that I want to think about and that's a very cool thing to get that kind of guidance.
Susan Ee
http://feraldream.com
Got a call last night from a producer with several distributed features to his credit. He knows another producer who has a 4 picture deal with a distributor and wanted to talk to me about the possibility of having my feature be part of that slate. If the stars align, my budget would jump from 6-figures to 7-figures, with them bringing in the money and ensuring distribution.
Um... okay. Let's talk. :-)
Susan Ee
http://feraldream.com
