Finding Film Investors: Where They Hide And How To Find Them (Part 2)

FINDING FILM INVESTORS: WHERE THEY HIDE AND HOW TO FIND THEM (Part 2)

Pretty much every filmmaker I have ever met has the belief that the answer to getting their films made is to find the secret place that all the film investors are hiding. Even though it is highly unlikely that there is a gathering place where people who invest in films hang out, filmmakers cannot shake the sense that this place really exists, and that they just need to find out where it is and go there.

Filmmakers used to think that this secret place was the Sundance Film Festival. Now that filmmakers have a bit more information about the business, the industry and the need to get distribution, they often spend thousands and thousands of dollars attending the American Film Market. I have met filmmakers who have come all the way from India and from Africa to attend AFM on the promise that they will find investors and producers who will find the money to make their films. This is a testimonial to the power of AFM’s marketing to filmmakers, but I don’t think there is any real evidence or reason to believe that AFM is the secret gathering place for film investors.

So I would like to clarify right now: there is no secret place where all the film investors are hiding.

Having broken this bad news to you, I have a question for you: If you were to meet an investor today, what would you tell them? What would you want them to know about your film? Would you know what the investors would want to know about the business proposition you are making to them?

I was teaching one of my workshops once and had, as a guest, a colleague who raises funds for films. One of the filmmakers talked about how passionate they were about filmmaking. My guest said: “Investors are people who are passionate about making money.”

So, if you had a meeting scheduled with an investor today, how would you explain to them that they would make money with your film?

Do you know what questions the investors would ask you? If you do know what questions they would ask you, do you have all the answers ready? Do you have your business set up? Do you have attachments to the film? A casting director? Your budget? A production start date? A sales agent attached? Do you have a bank account with funds already in it? Have you already raised funding for the film?

There are so many business issues that investors are going to want to know. And what is interesting, is that when you have the answers to all these questions, the investors will start finding you. Once you have a viable film production that is up and ready to go, with some money raised and already in the bank, with cast attached, and a sales agent in place to handle distribution, you will find that investors will want to get involved in your film.