Way to Go Patrick! . . Grazie

I cant get too excited until I get an investor. Like I told Frigid earlier today, doesnt matter how many great ideas I have, it dont mean anything unless I can shoot them. :)

I guess that's true. However, people do pick up on your/one's enthusiasms . .even us Brits have been known to get a tad excited . .once in a while. Being naturally & honestly excited about your aims and aspirations aint the same as being "phoney". And yes I do appreciate your position. . .get over to the Cafe and let's beat this one up! Yeah? C'mon mate let's talk .. . NOW!

Grazie

Ill be there shortly. Installing updates for DX9c so I can use Serious Magic Ultra.

I dont know what I am more excited about, shooting it or the amount of hype the subject will get. Either way, it will translate to dollars and hopefully Ill be be able to shoot my major script with the proceeds from this one.

Just think along the lines of Blair Witch but with more reality. It will be amazing.

I'm there now ... G

If all you are looking for is a camera then there is probably going to be easier ways to get the use of one than seeking out a direct investor.

1. Renting. Check out rental rates in your area. Depending on how many days the camera will be needed than this might be a way cheaper option. (A local shop here in Minn rents the grade of camera you are talking about for between $75-$150/day) If you can get your PP done in a few days than this would be a way more affordable route.

2. Borrowing. If you had a friend that owned the camera you were looking for than I would assume that you have already asked but..... Check out local video producers in your area. Maybe wedding videographers, event videographers etc... Tell then about the project and ask them if they would be interested in being involved. Offer them a piece of the pie for their help. They most likely will not hand over their camera to a stranger, but they might be willing to let you use their equipment if they were involved (i.e. if they are there at the shoot)

3. Grants. Free money. Hard to get and takes a long time but if you find the right one at the right time well....nothing beats free money!

4. seek smaller investors. $2000 is not a big investment true. But, it is not a small amount of money to most either. Instead of trying to find that one person out there that will fork over the cash, seek out lots of people to fork over a little (every $5 counts right?) Ask friends, relatives coworkers etc.... share the project idea with them and offer to put their names in the credits. Talk to small local businesses (the kind where the owner is the one that is working at the counter) Ask them if they would be interested in having their business name in the credits of your project. Offer them a return. Have a document written up that spells out the return rate, time of guarantee etc, all ready with a blank for their business name and amount given.

Remember.....it never hurts to ask................................................except when it comes to prostitutes.

Hey!

Just wanted to say lots of luck with the project and how i wish we were on the same side of the world so i can lend a hand.

If ever you decide on conquering Asia (Phil) as well, do let me know! Hehe!

Goodluck and Cheers,Ü

-Ana-

If it's a small project, why don't you just rent a camera? That way, you don't have investors on the hook (or on your back), and in the end -- if it's as good as you say it is -- you'll end up with all of the profits and a nice piece to show off to future investors.

JohnnyMac, no cash to do it with. Thats why I have been writing alot for the last month. Have to keep being creative some how. I will say this though, this script scares the hell out of me and I am not one for horror flicks. Just to know that my script is taking place every day somewhere in the world will twist the viewers minds.

Wow, I got some emails today. Now I am not so frustrated. I know its going to hapen, I just wish it woud happen now LOL.

I look forward to everyone who had a look at it responses.

Hi, Patrick,

I've been loosely tracking your projects throughout the forum and I must say, I felt a stir of excitement for you on this current project. You seem to have so much talent and enthusiam going for you. With those attributes, money is important, yes, but way down on the list for success.

Wish you all the luck in the world. AND, if I had the $ to invest, would love to be involved in your production. Hang in!

Thanks. I guess after all that whining I did last year about all of my bad luck, I just manned up and started taking responsiblity to make things happen for me. Its good how things are working out honestly. If I had a camera last year that would have been great but Id had nothing to seriously shoot other than a gig here or there. Now I have two scripts with three more currently being written (finally got writers block on one of them) so when I finally do get a decent camera, I will have plenty of work that I created for myself.

I am still going to do the teaching thing though. Its important in my quest for success and riches that I remember that I have to give back to the community and help foster the future writers and entertainers as well.

Im hoping this current project gets funded soon and if I get some great success from it, Im hoping to have some others here on the forum take part in the big script. I think it would be awesome for a collaboration of those in this forum to do something big together as a group.What better way for us all to learn from one another?

I can say after being fortunate enough to see an advance copy of the script that this project is right on target. It's chilling and real. Good work. Could be a quick industry rave!

Much thanks. See, I wasnt blowing smoke when I said this project had huge potential. Just let me make a 1/10 of the Blair Witch and Ill be happy.

pmasters,
it was good to talk with you offline. Sorry we wont be able to help you. Our grants are very specifc on how and where they can be used.

Since i am involved in finanicing and grants for very small independent budgets (5000-25000). I thought i might give some suggestions. We see over 100 grant proposals per quarter. for our qurtly grant worth 5000. And we see over 750 grant proposals for our yearly 25000 grant.

Very basicly, at this small time level of independat films we condisder that there are three types of financing.
1. Your own. If you have the money its the easiest to get to. (if you dont tell the wife your making a film and using the 10,000 dollars you have in savings).
2. Grants for the sake of ART. Great if you can get them. Nothing to repay.
3. Grants/finacing to make money. These are investors that you would find. Everything from parents,frineds, credit cards, second loans, bank loans etc.

Now here are the tips.
1. if your going after a grant for the sake of art. Have a great script. Have it critclty read by everybody. Family, friends, Coleagues, Film makers, your dog. Take everybodys ideas to improve it as opinions, and be open to suggestion. And if one of those opinions can make your script better. Revise it.We rarley see a good script that hasnt been revised many times.
Understand that you will be competing against many others for grants. and you need to show that your film will be critcly liked, even if it is 5 minutes long. This will give you a springboard for the future. And gives the grantors a film that they can get more money for there organization for grants.

2. Investors. All they care about is making money. Doesnt have to be criticly liked, just make money. Now there are many ways to make money, but you need to show that. Have a plan. Just dont tell your in-laws that you hope it will be picked up by somebody and make lots of money. This will make for some fun family reunions. With them asking for there returns on there 10,000 dollars. Be realistic. If this is your first movie, let the investors know that you probally wont make any money, but this will help you get a film together where you can showcase it in the future.

The most common way we see that brings succes for the small time independant feature maker?

1. Make a short. 20 minutes or less. If you tell a story in 20 minutes, you might have something. if you cant keep intrest for 20 minutes how will you for 2 hours?. Be invloved with your local film makers. Wether it be a film club, or a universtiy or just friends( and believe me there out there). You need to be involved and helping each other out. Once you make a couple of shorts and you have a criticly liked short. Now you have somthing, with substance. Now you can get investors to believe in you. since you have somthing that is liked.

anyway this our experiance in our area. Very generalized, but it works. If you would like more information and help please contact me. We love helping filmmakers. in whatever way we can. We do have a grant budget of 100,000 per year, so we do know what we are talking about when it comes to the very small time independt film makers.

Ski,

Likewise in speaking with you yesterday through email. I would have loved to shoot this in Utah but I can't get the wife to agree to it. Even after I had to decline the process I still tried to change her mind. Fortunately, my script is not tied to any one specific area and it is something that I can shoot where I live.

I appreciate all of the advice you have given and will study and learn it. Hopefully others who are in search of the same thing will note this thread and the priceless advice you have given.

The good thing in all of this is that so far the majority that have read my script have had awesome things to say about it so I know I have some great potential to work with here. Once I do end up with a decent camera to shoot this, I will be quite dangerous with this script and with the right distributor contacts and marketing hype, it will definitely return any investments and then some.

I think the financial beauty of this project is that it is going to cost me very little to produce this project. Conversion to film for a theatre production will obviously be more expensive but thats where I hope a distributor comes in and takes the lead over something like that.

All in all, I am quite excited about the potential for this project.

Hey Ski, don't suppose you guys have grants for small business start ups?

Dave

Not from our NPO, but i have succesfully recieved grants for our NPO, and also for my networking business i started 3 years ago. So i might have some help if your interested.