Where does the money come from? or: why kidneys come in pairs.

[Coloradosploitation Films]

I always enjoy talking about this part of the game. Where do we get the money? Because movie making is just like life according to Scarface....'first you get the money, then you get the power'....... and no, it's not coincidence that most movie producers end up riddled with bullets in climactic shoot-out.
I always tell people, how bad do you want to make this movie? Because there's always a way. Sam Raimi shot an 8mm film for nothing and then showed it to every single doctor, dentist, and business owner his parents could put him in touch with. He raised enough to shoot 'The Evil Dead', Robert Rodriguez subjected himself to weeks of medical testing to get his hands on enough money to shoot ' El Mariachi', and there are folks like Chad Ferrin, director of the Troma released 'Unspeakable' sold his house to finance his project.
If you're willing to risk humiliation, pain, rejection, starvation, and perhaps homelessness, there's a way to get things done.
The first and best step is simply to tell every person you can about your movie....like my upcoming project: 'You Can't Save Her!' A shocking suspense horror film were planning on shooting this spring. See, now we're talking about my movie! See how easy that is? Keep it up because you never know who's ears are going to perk up in interest. Tell anyone and everyone you know about how awesome your movie is, about how hot the girl playing the lead is, and how you're willing to introducer her to the doctor who is performing surgery on you as you speak.
Be prepared for rejection. We live in Denver, not New York or LA. We're not a big film town. Heck, we're not even New Mexico big. But there are people out there who will pick up on your near manic passion for the project....and manic passion is what you're going to need. Watch a panhandler on the street. He gets insulted, rejected, spat upon, occassionally set on fire, but he manages to fill his cup with enough quarters to get his fix of booze and smack. The movie has to be your booze and smack.
There's also the magic of a fun raising party. Get a location [your house? Your favorite bar? Your uncle's art studio?] and pack it with as many people as you can. Charge them ten bucks to get in. Get your cousin's band to play, then continue to tell everyone how kick ass your movie is. If they're drunk enough, you may get a ten here and a twenty there. Every bit helps. Or if you're going slightly more classy, invite all those doctors, dentists, and drug lords you've met in your travels and bring them together to talk about the project. Make it an investment party. Show a previous film you've shot to impress the pants off of them. Once their pants are off, steal their pants. They usually contain wallets.
One thing you should try to avoid is paying to use a location for a fund raiser. Nothing worse than paying two hundred bucks to rent a fancy art gallery on Santa Fe then only make fifty bucks above cost. Every penny not going directly into the movie is wasted!
Remember, be ethical! Sure, it's profitable and fun to bilk senile war widows out of their social security money, but you may end up in jail. Tell everyone that Russel Crowe may be showing up in your $5,000 dollar DV film? Illegal if it's in writing, but you're a scumbag just for mentioning it. Keep in mind that you may want to make another movie someday, and that these people may come in handy again.
There are other suggestions to get the job done.
Sell anything you don't need that has value. You're kidneys come in a pair for a reason [the liver also will grow back if you sell off half of it!]
Once again, tell everyone how awesome your movie is. If it's almost as kick ass as 'You Can't Save Her!' You may be in luck.
Be darn sure you've gone over that budget twenty seven times [never twenty eight, however]. I can guarantee
there is about five thousand you can shave off of that fifteen thousand dollar movie if you need to. Crafty, costcutting, corner shaving skills are the hallmark of successful independant producer!
And no, don't take the three grand you've raised and take it BlackHawk or Central City.....that's not a sound investment.
Be sure you're ready to make a personal sacrifice before you commit. Don't apply for seven credit cards and then max them out unless you're ready to be in crushing debt/bancruptcy. Don't sell your house or car unless you think it's worth it. Keep in mind that the odds of your movie being the next El Mariachi/Clerks/Bad Taste are very slim, so don't go on a Kamakaze movie mission unless you are willing to live with the consequences.
Whew...enough typing. Keep in mind that you need to raise enough money to get the thing shot. Or just to get shooting started. There are movies like 'Eraserhead' that took years to shoot, or 'Phantasm' that was shot over nearly a year. So long as you're willing to stick to it, you'll get it finished....or die trying!

[Darlene Cypser]

I'm not sure where you are getting your ideas but they do really spend hundreds of millions of dollars on movies in Hollywood. That is not a lie. Whether it is wise is another matter.

[Peyton Quinn]

Well here is true story for you on that score as I discovered all is not as it seems on the cost of big budget Holywood films. And keep in mind MGM will declare final bankruptcy sometime next week.

I have done some technical advising on films, mostly automatic weapons, explosives but mostly advisng on stage fighting as though I 60 now I am internationally known as a reality based sd instructor.

I got into this by teaching a SD class in Holwierd to some actors, camera people ,sound etc in LA starting 25 odd years ago. I wanted to make an independent film so I thought picking these pros brains would be usefull to me, and it was. I absolutley hate LA, and it is torture for me to have to go there. I live on my rancho here in Colorado

But I was talking to the the producers of Jurasic Park, the main guy was a litle drunk as was semi-part of my plan too. Now that film was released as a 100 million dollar production remember?

Well my drinking pal laughed and said "Peyton, that all ad-hype I made that film for about 35 million. But we figured people would want to go see what 100 million spent on a film could buy".

Then I started to think, my friend Jeff Goldblum had been in my classes back then But he was not a really high paid actor back then either, his girlfriend at the time Laura Dern sure was not either.. There were actualy on three sets in the whole film too! Most of it was computer animation and I can tell yuo that one can hire very first rate CG coders for $175K a year and they will be happy to get it too, So 10 of them all working on the same picture are just 1.7 million!

One thing I can tell oyu the waste in Holywood productions is tremendous and evry studio is begging to see they can't afford it nay more. Money for films in Holywierd has abolutley never been tighter. I have a friend who has half the money from China for a Chinese shot film (children's film) and he told me last month he still has not raised the US half of the productionn money. That situation he told me was unheard of really unitl now. He said before if he got the Chinese money in escrow then the US half was in the past easy to get, but no longer it seems..

[Rick Shipley]

That is some great ideas on fundraising and I also enjoy your humor as well. Fundraisers are a great way to get your production off the ground and in the can. Honestly, I sold many things I didn't use or were willing to let go on ebay to help fund projects and I did put that in the discription as well. Sometimes that works too.

I do agree with Tom when he says that if you can get your movie made for $14.95, make it. I've seen some pretty amazing things over the years and I've been involved in zero budget productions, but keep in mind that zero budget productions can still cost the production team thousands. The cost of tapes, food, F/X, props, time and more should also be factored in but on low to no budget productions, these things aren't factored into the bottom line.

Yet I do agree with Darlene that Hollywood features DO cost Millions to make. Imagine paying a cast & crew of over 100 people (not to mention any "star" costs big bucks), the cost of 35mm film, food, rentals, postproduction, promotions, theater prints and more can easily run the bill up.

Remember, stay positive, get it done and hope for the best.

[Peyton Quinn]

The cost of tapes, food, F/X, props, time and more should also be factored in but on low to no budget productions, these things aren't factored into the bottom line.'>>

I did not realize that for the low budget filmmakers ( and here I am talking the guys I know who make films for $350 k or so but who almost always make profit on them) just how much food & lodging cost in a film budget!

Hence, I am trying to sell the use of my facilty here for film making on my ranch (non working ranch) in Colorado here in the Pike National Forest (35 minutes west of Colorado Springs).I have a 2400 sqft Quanset hut studio and dormitories for 16 + persons and showers etc here .

It looks like I am going to make it with one Lion's Gate group here for another one of those 'horror films' in 2011. It is clear that horror sells as kids are about he only people who go to theaters these days, but all genres go in out of fashion rather promiscuously too

Now if anyone here wants to shoot their film on this magnificent mountain facility and house their crew and actors etc here, well good people, let’s make a deal!

I need to meet some production talent and actors in Colorado. My own film will be shoot here in 2011.

Also, if your film needs machine guns, explosions and fight scenes, I am an acknowledged expert in this arena and my place is somewhat remote too. I am 61 now but am I still pretty or what? And I just bever take myself too seriously either at my age. Check out the facility at www.rmcat.com

[Kristine Hipps]

Excellent Advice -- As a theater company owner in the early 2000s I funded several plays with events at Cafe Netherworld, because a friend was a friend of the owner. We not only got the space free, we got a cut of certain drinks mixed especially for the fundraiser (We did a Dark Valentine event in which the bartender invented a blood-red drink and we got half the money per drink sold). We never had problems finding a band to play for free (upcoming bands who just want stage time), had volunteer actors walking around in costume selling raffle tix for prizes that were always donated, and made sure the event was FUN -- that is the key. If you can't find a band get an improv group or a couple standups or a solo musician who's funny.
It's honestly not that hard to get a bar if you offer them a fun event -- one of our big selling points was that we'd bring people into the place that normally didn't go there, offering them a new customer base. They like that.

[Michael Haskins]

If you are interested in funding sources, keep an eye on the development of the "crowd funding" idea/movement/development. It's certainly not new. Some successful producers on this very web site have used the idea of pre-selling a product to fund the development. However, the base form of crowd funding has generally met with set backs from the SEC.

There have been more direct challenges to the SEC's position of late, and it would be worth any producer, financier or anyone interested in the business of production to pay attention.
http://filmclosings.com/2010/06/crowdfunding-is-2-for-2/