Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi everyone,

My name is Steve Hamilton, and my company is DM Entertainment. We are
a small film production studio based in Northern California.

We have been doing music videos and a racing movie line but now we
have a screenplay that we developed in house that we feel will be a
winner. It has been test read and it did well.

Does anyone have any suggestions for how to get some capital to work
with to film this movie? I would like to get the film into Sundance,
Cannes, TirBeca, Mill Valley and the LA Film festivals this year.

Please let me know if anyone has any suggestions on how to go about
getting some funding for the film.

Thx,

Steve Hamilton

Steve,

If you haven`t already, develop a business plan that identifies and describes the amount of funding needed, who`s on your production and management team and why they`re good, your target audience, and previous production hits.

Once you`ve done that, there are various venture capital fairs in Northern California - hit them often and meet as many VCs and angel investors as you can, pitching your screenplay along the way.  Unfortunately, these investors get a flood of these types of requests, so you need to find a way for yours to stand out.

Good luck!


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The Legal Considerations of Starting an Online Business

Actually I have the business plan ready to go. I split with another larger
production studio and I am venturing off on my own.

As far as the VC fairs go, do you have any resources for them? I have drawn
up a marketing plan for this film, obviously, that would be beneficial
information to give to potential investors, no?


Thanks a bunch and once I have redrafted the screen play, I will move on
this for sure.

Thanks!

Hello Steve. I think it is important to distinguish between funding your production/entertainment company and individual projects, such as the screenplay you mentioned.

Since screenplays and independent movies are generally considered to be high-risk undertakings, I would recommend forming a separate entity for each of these projects and solicit funding accordingly. Since entertainment projects typically have a very limited lifespan, this will make it easier to manage them.

While there are some VCs that entertain funding requests for entertainment projects such as independent movies, if you don’t have a long-standing track record in the industry, I don’t think that VCs are the most suitable capital resource for you.

I would be very surprised if there weren’t a number of state agencies and support groups that facilitate independent entertainment projects in California. Here in Florida, the governor’s office has a special entertainment commissioner that regularly hosts workshops and symposiums with industry leaders, entertainment lawyers, representatives of the studio and TV network landscape, and independent filmmakers. Besides valuable advice and networking some of these agencies offer funding of up to 45% of the total production costs.

Depending on your capital requirements, doing a private placement or Regulation D offering might also be a viable option to fund individual entertainment project. A recent change in Florida tax laws enables investors to write off a certain amount of their investment in entertainment-related projects before they actually incur any losses, which offers additional incentives to investors in that field. (Check the California tax code).

I guess my point is that there are many viable alternatives to soliciting funding from VCs and so called angel investors. We have recently completed two private placements for independent movie projects both of which secured distribution and achieved limited release.



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Jackson Steiner
http://www.JacksonSteiner.com

Advanced Document Design for entrepreneurs, intermediaries, and the financial services industry.
http://www.Publications.FastVentures.com

Steve,

Acquiring funding for an entertainment project is frequently a staged process.

At the production funding stage - the "team" is an extremely important factor in attracting investors. Who is involved (both in front and behind the camera) and what have the done before.

Also, since you said you split off from another studio - you`ll need to have clear ownership of the property.

Generally, each project is funded under a separate entity and usually through a private placement.

-------------------------

Business Growth Masters, LLC -
Capital Catalysts for Entrepreneurs
Home of the Scalable Business Plan and QuikStart Capital Programs
http://www.bizgrowthmasters.com
info@bizgrowthmasters.com

Steve, do you have a website where investors could check you out, see samples of the script/project, and contribute funds online? That might help.

Darren

Also, if you blogged about the project, that would probably draw some interest... certainly from potential viewers, which would in turn be attractive to investors.

Good Luck


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