I’ve recently uncovered a really cool forum at FilmmakerIQ. One of the posters there has an excellent forum post about how to raise money for a film. You can check out the original post here.
I agree with nearly everything on the list with one exception. Setting up your LLC in Nevada has some benefits, but it may not be worth it. You have to have someone in Nevada you acts as an agent on your behalf whereas if you incorporate in your own state you can be your companies agent. Also, you may miss out on some incentives that different states offer. For example, where I live in Louisiana you can recieve a 25% tax credit on all spending over $300,000. You can then actually sell that credit for cash. But you can only get that credit if you are a Louisiana based corporation.
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I wrote an article not too long ago about raising money for filmmaking. If you don’t mind, I’ll go ahead and share it here for you…
Filmmaking Tips-3 Ways To Raise Money For Filmmaking
You can learn all the filmmaking tips in the world, however if you have no funds for your movies it won’t mean a thing. This article will give you 3 ways to raise money for filmmaking.
Build a Fundraising Website
Publish a site that is centered around your film. This will add credibility and viability to your project. You can simply ask for donations online. Have you ever been to a website and saw the “donate” button on it? Sure you have. Only difference here is, the proceeds go to funding your movie. Make sure your website includes a synopsis of the film, your statement, script pages, the storyline (storyboard) and any other relevant information about your film. Include your cast and their bios as well. Again, this will add credibility to your site.
Select an Easy Fundraising Platform
There are many ways to raise money online. You can use online payment systems and selected fundraising services. Choose a service that will let you collect donations continuously instead of a certain time frame. Some fund services will even put a link of your website on their page. This too will add credibility to your site. When this happens, you can use that page to talk about your film and offer a free DVD to all people who contribute to your film. Make sure to add links, donation buttons and other tools to make it easy to give donations.
Make a List of Potential Donors
This list will be the people (or companies) that you think may donate money. Contact everyone in your donor group via mail, email and phone and ask them to contribute to your film via the online donation platform you put together. Ask the people on this list to encourage their friends to donate as well. Getting donations will not be the easiest thing to do. However, it may be a necessary evil if you want to produce your film. You can learn a lot of other filmmaking tips online so continue to do your research.