With over 1000 ways to finance your movie, filmmakers have more financing options and resources available than ever before. Choices include film and documentary grants, prizes, investors, contests, festivals, film financing companies and much more.
Film Financing for Independent Filmmakers
Film Financing for independent filmmakers comes in dozens of forms and is spread across the entire production cycle of a film. Film financing methods include tax credits, pre sales, distribution deals, profit participation, product placement, soft and hard money, film grants, private film investors, studio financing, location incentives, debt financing, gap financing, bridge loans, donations, crowdfunding, slate financing and multiple other film financing sources.
Film Producer Financing Options: Film Financing for Independent Filmmakers
Top of Ways to Finance Your Movie
How the Best Independent Films Were Funded
Learning how the best independent films were funded is a part of the process many filmmakers miss when reading stories of other successful films. Finding funding for your independent movie is time-consuming, mentally exhausting, and an overall challenging task to accomplish.
However, we take a look at some of the Best Independent Films and discover how they were funded.
Top of Ways to Finance Your Movie
Film Financing Lessons
Get inspired and learn from these Film Financing Lessons by famous producers, such as Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, "The Daniels," Lee Daniels, Kevin Smith, Richard Linklater and how they got their film financing. Film financing is a never-ending process...no matter how famous and successful they are, successful filmmakers see film financing as an innate part of film production throughout their careers.
Top of Ways to Finance Your Movie
Independent Film Investors
The best way to find film investors is to have a solid understanding of your film FROM a film investor's perspective. If you are ready to ASK for something...STOP. RIGHT. NOW! You've got it ALL WRONG.
Filmproposals is here to help you turn your ASK upside down into what you OFFER!!! Learn to prepare for, find, pitch, work with and get Independent Film Investors
Free Film Templates and Ways to Finance Your Movie
Looking for the best list of free film templates? Here we list all the great downloads, templates, samples, spreadsheets, contracts, agreements and much more so you can get started on your film financing right away. Do you know how many free film tools and samples exist across the internet? Hundreds, and here is a great starter list of free budgets, guides, books and more for the Independent Filmmaker. Grab your Film Making Action Guide, Film Festival Report, Film Business Plan Checklist, Cash Flow Report, Movie Budgets, Film Investment Memorandum, Sample Contracts and more today!
More Info: Free Film Templates, Tools, Downloads and Samples
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Film Grants
Television and film grants, which collectively add to millions of dollars in film money available to you, offer a HUGE advantage...you do not have to reimburse the funds or calculate any type of return on investment. However, you will likey have to complete an intricate proposal.
Check out the 100s of movie and documentary grants available to filmmakers:
Top of Ways to Finance Your Movie
NEW! Documentary Business Plan & Documentary Pitch Deck
FilmPropoals is thrilled to offer help to documentary producers looking for investors, by enhancing our Film Fundraising toolkits to address the specific needs of documentarians. The highlight is a unique Documentary Business Plan Template included in all of our Film Financing Toolkits and Bundles. Much of the Documentary Business Plan is just like that of our narrative Film Business Plan Template, however, we've also done some major custom work to specifically highlight why documentaries are a great investment and how to best showcase your documentary to investors:
- Documentary Business Plan Template - this new template is completely redone to focus only on documentary films. Recent successes, emerging documentary trends, streaming and studio deals, distribution patterns, audience statistics, revenue generated for sample films and much more. When did Docs become profitable and start selling for $5M or $10M at festivals? We lay it all out for you...
- Documentary Pitch Deck - while our pitch deck template can be used for any type of film, you will use your business plan research to ensure the deck showcases your documentary as a worthy investment opportunity
- Financial Projections/ Comparable Films - our custom database and custom financial projections flow seamlessly for both documentaries and narrative films
The new Documentary Business Plan Template is included in ALL of our Film Financing Toolkits and Bundles, so you can purchase any of them and be well on your way to funding any part of your documentary with private investments.
Indie Filmmaker Tips
Do you have some great indie filmmaker tips to share with other aspiring or current filmmakers? Do you want to promote your latest film or service to a huge global network of filmmakers, producers, directors, potential investors and distributors? Here is a great opportunity to first pay it forward, and then promote your projects, products and services. From which gear to use, specific templates to email to investors, to crew deals, check out all these amazing Indie Filmmaker Tips and then submit your own!
Top of Ways to Finance Your Movie
Documentary Funding Tips
No doubt, documentary funding is tough work. But here's the good news...You CAN raise documentary capital and it may not be as hard as you think.
Get the best Fundraising advice, from the Emmy-winning creator of Desktop Documentaries, at Documentary Funding Tips and check out the industry's best fundraising tools.
Top of Ways to Finance Your Movie
Film Festivals
There are thousands of film festivals worldwide catering to every niche such as horror, short, documentary and, of course, independent film festivals. Now, you do need some funding to get your movie this far, but once you are able to showcase your film, there is lots of prize money and distribution offers to move your film to the next level, which is why festivals are a great way to finance your movie.
These festivals are a great way to get your finished film out to the public.
Top of Ways to Finance Your Movie
FREE Prize Money to Make a Movie
Film financing contests with money as the prize are a great way to get money to make a movie. What could be better than FREE money, free publicity, no payback, a sure sign your movie has potential at the box office, a built-in audience and possibly collaborating with a global brand?? One great way to find money to make a movie, is to enter contests and win them! There is money to make a movie sponsored by equipment companies, brands, advertising, festivals and many more. Film contests with film financing as the prize are a great way to get money to make a movie. Check our guide to Film and Screenwriting Prizes - free Money to Make a Movie.
Top of Ways to Finance Your Movie
1000 Ways to Finance Your Movie
- 1000 Ways to Finance Your Movie
- Film Financing for Independent Filmmakers
- Film Financing Lessons from the Pros
- How the Best Independent Films were Funded
- Indie Financing Tips
- Independent Film Investors
- Free Film Templates, Tools, Downloads and Samples
- List of Film Grants
- Top Expert Film Grant Tips
- Documentary Funding Tips
- List of Film Festivals
- Prize Money to Make a Movie
FilmProposals Best Sellers - 2023 Financing Toolkits & Bundles
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This brand new service is offered with our Platinum Plus Bundle ($1,299) and Gold + 20 Films Financial Projections Bundle ($899).
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Gold Toolkit
DIY Templates- Financing Manual
- Financial Projections Template
- Business Plan Templates (Narrative & Documentary)
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- Film Budget Template
- Indie Film Pitch Deck
- Custom Indie Film Database
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FilmProposals Tools and Templates
- Film Financing Bundles
- Film Financial Projections Template
- Film Business Plan Template
- Documentary Business Plan Template
- Film Financing and Investor Manual
- Film Budget Template
- Indie Film Pitch Deck
- Film Investor Agreement Outline
- Film Investor Tip Sheet
- Filmmaker Legal Pack
- Indie Film Database
- FREE Business Plan E-Course