With the coronavirus pandemic still ongoing in many countries, many amateur filmmakers are wondering if now is the best time to chase their dreams. The truth is that although the ability to film in outdoor spaces may be severely limited, filmmakers are still finding ingenious ways to get out there and finish their budding masterpieces. There’s never been a better time to start thinking about how to get funding to become a professional filmmaker. Here’s how you can amass some cash to start down the right towards realising your dream.
Play some games
Yes, you heard us correctly. Believe it or not, playing games to earn cash can become a reality if you’re smart enough. There are sites out there that will give you cash for playing games and offering your opinion, and while it may not seem like much at first, you’d be surprised how quickly the money starts to pile up. If you’re feeling lucky and you’re skilled at casino gaming, you could even try out some Novibet online casino games and shore up some cash that way. It can be very lucrative with the right approach in play.
Try crowdfunding
Crowdfunding has become an extremely effective platform for getting movie projects funded. Sites like Kickstarter allow people to give you a small amount of money as an investor. Depending on the amount of money donated, you could either offer them a copy of the finished product once it’s done or simply appreciate their support. Either way, you’ll be getting a reliable source of income. Of course, with crowdfunding comes a host of problems you might not experience with other funding methods, but it’s worth trying it if you think you can shore up the support.
Use up your savings
According to a study in the Independent, a quarter of British adults don’t have any savings stocked up. If you’re not one of them, you may want to consider spending your savings on financing your dream project. After all, what else are you waiting for? If the savings are stashed away for a rainy day, that’s understandable, but nobody has ever managed to achieve success in the film industry without taking a few risks. You may not want to part with your savings, and if not, there are other methods available, but if you have a significant amount saved up, it may be worth considering using it.
Appeal to governments and councils
Depending on where in the world you live, there will be different ways for you to get money from your local authority. In the UK, you could go to the British Film Institute, which allocates a certain amount of money each year to independent filmmakers. Local councils may also contribute a certain amount if you decide to film in their area, although this is a decidedly less reliable source of income for you. The application for authority funding is a fairly drawn-out, arduous one, but it’ll be worth it at the end when you have the cash you need.
Take out a credit card
Being cautious with credit is incredibly important for your financial health. That being the case, it may still not be a bad idea to take out a credit card and finance as much of your film as possible that way. If you’ve got a realistically small budget for your first feature or short film, your credit limit may well cover all of the costs – shooting, casting, et cetera – but if not, you can at least use the credit card for certain pieces of equipment. Worse comes to worst, you’ll be paying off the card for a while, but that’s a small price to pay for making sure your film sees the light of day.
Use product placement
Again, depending on the scale of your production, this may not be as easy as it is for larger studios. Still, you could hook up with local brands and businesses in order to place their products in your movie in exchange for funding. Smaller businesses will likely drive a less difficult corporate bargain than their larger cousins, so this might be an unintrusive way to maintain artistic integrity and still get the money you need. Businesses might be a little recalcitrant to commit unless you show them you have a good marketing strategy, though, so bear that in mind.
Try deferral
This is a very risky strategy that could harm your relationship with your cast and crew, so only use it if there’s a high degree of trust between you and you know that your production will be profitable. The concept behind deferral is simple: you don’t pay your cast and crew now, you pay them out of profits that come from the production later. The risk here should be obvious: you don’t know if you’re going to make any money from your production, so there’s a chance you might not be able to pay your staff. Still, this can keep costs down significantly and give you more money to play with during production.
These are just some of the ways you can get funding together to finance an independent film. Did we miss any? What are your suggestions for funding a movie?
