pre-pro Fundraising Question

Family and friends, working overtime.

What @indietalk said.

Hi Adia,

What has inspired you to donate to a filmmaker who is making a short film?
Have you ever donated from a fundraising website? How did you find the
website? How did you decide on what short film to help?

What fundraising websites have you been looking into?

A lot of questions, I know. Your answers will help me answer your question
about fundraising raising websites.

Chasing money for a short can be demoralizing and difficult to garner interest. Short films are calling cards and generally people don't want to invest in someone else's sample work. There are also a lot of scammers out there. Use your own money. You know how long it will take you to save for the budget you need, and you won't have to rely on anyone else. Or make a different project instead, something you know you can make much sooner on a shoestring budget.

Crowdsourcing works if you have a lot of loyal followers/fans on your YT or IG. If you don't, strangers will not invest.

adia.clark said:

Does anyone have any suggestions or tips about being able to raise money?

Click to expand...

The best thing to do is empty your pockets and use your own money.

Poor AF? Do the Robert Rodriguez. Rent your body for scientific research. It seems to be an efficient thing to do. He did it and look at him now. He owns his own network these days. What's the worst that can go wrong? I'm sure his third arm comes in handy when shooting a complicated scene.

Not your flavour? Ask mommy/daddy/relatives/friends for money?

Poor parents and stingy friends? Get a job.

Too lazy? If you exude some hotness, you could go the Dodgeball route and try.... a car wash. [What's the chances of the film next door doing the same thing with their hotness?]

Too ugly for that? You could always try renting your body to medical research... [Sings: There's a hole in my bucket....]

All that doesn't work for you? Make something with no budget. Build your army of volunteers and shoot with what you have available. Embrace being broke.

Out of interest, what amount of money are you looking at raising?

You’ve not stated the topic for your short film but if it would lend itself to the greater good - investigate Fiscal Sponsorship

Kickstarter and IndieGoGo are good, but have different styles. IndieGoGo is a little better in my opinion for short films. Another option that you may consider is Seed&Spark. I haven't used it, but it guides and helps you in building a quality campaign.

As long as your idea is novel enough, and already has interest BEFORE you launch, it will be successful. All my funding came from people who already knew me personally or contacts I made while working on other people's projects.

I did get an angel investor for my Alaskan short film, but that was because a lot of people wanted to see a film based on that particular idea, it was a very niche film.

One thing I've noticed, each time you ask for money to complete a project, it takes a chip out of your friendships and relationships. Eventually, people will get tired of trying to help you follow your dream... So you have to realize that ahead of time, and really really have a solid vision before you expect your family and friends to pitch in.

Watch out for that. Crowdfunding might hurt you more than it helps.