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A beginners guide to film financing

Most common errors in investor packages:

• "I'll do the proper documents after I get the money"  proper legal documents not only set apart the amateurs from the professionals, they are necessary to attract any serious investors
• "I have a great idea for a movie"  Investors don't invest in concepts, they invest in well conceived plans.  Ideas, even completed scripts are a dime a dozen and investors should be cautious of investing in projects that are not complete plans.
• "I think Joe Superstar will do this movie" Name dropping is unlikely to impress investors, in fact it may turn them off - fund-raisers should not mention names of attached stars unless there is already a solid commitment from that talent.
• "I need $100 million for my independent film" Unrealistic requests, especially for newcomers and unproven talent, are common.  Even Hollywood legends often have difficulty getting financing for relatively small films - the number of people in Hollywood who can command $100 million budgets numbers only in the dozens
• "I have eight projects that need financing in one package deal" - It is far more realistic to focus on one project of reasonable size with a solid plan for profitability, once this is completed, fund raisers have one thing that investors covet: a track record.
• "I can get X dollars in foreign distribution rights or product sponsorships before we even begin" - Producers should only make claims about what they can certainly get, if your project can get funding for product placement or distribution rights then by all means do it, if the plan is only a hope, then say so.
• "My script is done and I need a director" or "I am an award winning Indy director, give me money for a project" - A project needs more than one or two strong elements to be attractive to investors, ideally it will have all elements needed to produce the film - the cast and entire crew biographies, schedule and budget and specifics of exactly how the funds will be used.
• "This small project will launch my career" - Unless investors are getting benefit from career boosts, fun or other factors in a project, they should not be mentioned - plans should focus on the financial benefit to investors from this project.
• "The artistic integrity of my movie is more important that commercial success"  If you are expecting a grant or handout then this approach may be fine, but if you are asking for an investor to part with money for your project as an investment, then there must be a solid plan for the investors to recoup their money.  This does not mean that your project has to be non-artistic or a Hollywood stereotype, many artistic projects have been profitable, in fact small, limited audience movies are sometimes excellent money makers when produced in a cost effective manner.
• "I think this movie will do $X at the box office and beat Blair Witch and Fully Monty combined"  Confidence in a project is fine but speculation on wild box office projections, or worse, a plan contingent on these is a red flag for many investors - smart fund raisers base their claims more on realistic projections.
• "I don't know how, but just know it will make money" - Having a plan for exactly how the investors will recoup their money is key - for example, Who will distribute the film?  Will the producers try to distribute it?
• "All I need is..."  Having a project that "just" needs a director, writer, actor or some other key ingredient makes financing more difficult.  If the other elements are extremely strong, this type of project may still appeal to investors but the more complete the package, the better.