okay so heres the deal. I'm a highschool student over at the visual and performing arts film program in Culver City. We need to raise 15k-20k for our fall 16mm production. Every year the money is raised by students but this year the legends (seniors) have gone off to college, leaving us young-blood kind of unprepared.
so can anyone share some tips on how to raise money for a short?
wouldnt going to investors (other than parents) be a problem because they wouldnt gain there money back?
i just stumbled upon this post and just got finished with producing another project from the same program. this is what happened:
pre-production started late, december of 08.. as of then we had about $3000 left over from last year. a $10000 grant came in within a couple weeks from a local production company. then the class of 30 each pitched in $200 each (this is a really good way to raise money, if you put together a crew who is interested in learning to shoot film have everyone pitch in money. just with the students alone we raised $6000.
during fundraising the script was going through its revisions, casting took place, deadlines were made, read-throughs took place, rehearsals (tech & cast), letterheads went out for donations, and among others i started making relationships with different vendors. Vendors are key when it comes to filmmaking, and i dont think they get the respect or appreciation they deserve from most productions. we got some incredible deals and they were sympathetic to damaged equipment, and by sympathetic i mean we didn't have to pay a single cent for a couple hundred dollars worth of damage. heres a rough breakdown of the entire production:
Camera Package (Ari SR3) $1600
18 Rolls of 400 ft Kodak 7229 Expression (half donated by kodak): $1300
Dolly: $120
Grip/Lighting: $1600
Sound: $450
Set (built and shipped for free by a friends dad who works at disney, connections are everything!): $0
Set Decoration & Wardrobe: $200
5 HD Cam Tapes: $150
Processing (again, connections are everything!): $0
Supervised Telecine to HD Cam & Captured to Hard drive: $2300
Non Union Actors: $0
Petty Cash: $200
Location & Permits (used the school for our set): $0
im sure i left some things out but in total we spent a little over $10000 for our film.
right now we're still in post. a final cut is almost finished and we're curretnly preparing for foley, adr, and fx. we've been holding private screenings of the rough cut at different schools and friends houses..the audiences input is helping us out tremendously. we basically ask everyone what they thought, what they didn't like, what should be fixed, and have been taking notes of their thoughts which really pays off when you get back to the editing room.
anyways just thought id talk about the film in case anyone had any questions and give whoever motivation. anythings possible if u put ur mind to it!!! :]