AFM & Your Financing Dream Team
+ most common objections you'll face and how to overcome them
With AFM kicking off next week in Vegas, I checked out another installment of the Financing webinars put on by IFTA. This one on building out your dream financing team. You can catch the replay here.
As usual, It spawned a few take-away’s as well as reminded me of the multitude of objections producers and filmmakers face when shopping a project for financing at AFM. So I thought we could go through a few of them here.
💥 But first - if you’re planning a last minute jaunt to AFM and could use some targeted resources and coaching that fits your specific situation, email me at stacey@filmspecific.com. I have a few slots left for AFM ‘pinch-hitting’ support that’ll set you on the right path and help you make the most of your time and money investment at the market.
We’ve also got a targeted list of indie-friendly sales agents in my personal network you could leverage as part of the FS Pro Vault. Click this button to check it out.
Building Out Your Financing Dream Team
First things first, it starts with your Producers. That’s your foundation from which everything else should be built.
Next up is getting a realistic budget and schedule from a credentialed line producer and first AD.
Ask yourself - is the budget realistic for what you’re trying to accomplish?
Also ask yourself - are you speculating on a budget without a Director attached? If so, focus on attaching a Director and work in tandem on re-budgeting for their creative vision (obviously taking into account what you want to spend and/or what you think you can raise)
And finally - have you involved a DP (vetted for your budget level) to know whether or not the budget, schedule, and Director’s vision you’re proposing is realistic or is it a pipe dream?
I recently went through this very process and it was back to Go to rewrite and rebuild for the budget amount we had to work with.
☝️ Some other objections you might encounter at AFM….
• Is the cast you have attached or are planning to attach appropriate for your budget level?
You’ll probably hear a whole lot of NO where that’s concerned. So the trick is to engage the sales agent enough to offer up productive suggestions for where you’re at (not pie in the sky go on a wild goose chase suggestions).
If they are serious about working with you and see market potential in your project, trust me they will want to cultivate a relationship with you and help advise on cast and budget suggestions.
• Another common objection you’ll face is that the market can’t support the budget you're proposing. Push for intelligent suggestions on how you can adjust your production plan to reach a budget more aligned with marketplace realities. Could be as simple as reworking or another state/country with a better tax incentive, more favorable currency conversion, or local resources.
I know AFM is old hat to many of you so feel free to add your own favorite or not-so-favorite objections you’ve encountered and what you’re hoping to get out of going to AFM this year. As always, I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction as best I can!
On that note, I’ll wrap things up for today. Have a wonderful day ahead and I’ll speak to you again soon.
Stacey
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