AFM Film Financing Series - Where's The Money?
+ my personal take-aways on the realities of film financing today
In the lead up to AFM, IFTA is out with another Film Financing series of webinars and they released the first one which you should take a look at here, if you’re in the throes of trying to put financing together.
Similar to last year’s series, these are an invaluable resource and though there’s lot’s of good tidbits throughout, I’ll share my personal take-away’s below as a summary you can skim.
But first a note of context, IFTA’s perspective is obviously geared towards independent producers and filmmakers and so that’s the filter to run everything through.
Obviously, they’re also hoping these webinars will inspire and motivate you to attend AFM coming up in November. 🥳
Ready? Here we go!
The Realities Of Film Financing Today
You want to know the value of your package? Talk to sales agents - they are your conduit to understanding the market value of your project.
Where do you talk to sales agents? AFM of course! (or EFM, Cannes, TIFF) These markets become valuable before you even start packaging as you can gather market intel straight from the source. Conversations like, if I had X actor, how much would my film be worth and would you buy it?
In most cases and in most market-based conversations, you’ll be advised to lower your budget or move locations to a more tax-advantaged location. Most independent Producers are forced to move production outside the US in order to lower budgets as much as possible these days.
As an example, one of the Producers mentioned he started with a $1.8 million horror film with 2 actors attached that was supposed to shoot in Canada but they couldn’t make the numbers work. They reduced the budget to $1.3 million and moved to KY but couldn’t make it work there either. Then finally they shot it for $850K in the Dominican Republic. This is the type of math that is prevalent right now! 🤷🏻♀️
When considering where to shoot for the most cost-effective situation it’s critical to not only invest in actually commissioning budgets from each state/country to get an accurate picture of actual costs, but to properly vet production partners before getting into business with just anyone (lots of minefields to avoid here!)
Get used to doing everything at once - packaging while vetting different places you can shoot for a tax credit while figuring out potential debt players, and looking for equity. Think in parallel rather than sequential.
Keep in mind that while packaging directors and talent, the higher up food chain you go, agents are going to want to know there’s a reputable producing team in place or at least someone they know and trust before getting their client involved.
Thoughts? Questions?
Hit me up in the comments below where I’m happy to field any follow up questions you have to the webinar or my personal take-aways.
And if you already listened, I’d love to hear your take-away's too!
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That’s a wrap for today everyone. I hope you have a lovely weekend ahead and see you next week…
Stacey
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Yup 😊👍 I'm a seasoned Agent and virtual indie production company CEO and we're doing everything you mentioned. We are in progress with our studio build getting it designed has been exciting and now seeking investment partners for the build in Vegas for domestic headquarters and Dubai for international location.
Figuring out the logistics of film production is daunting as it is. Reading your posts makes things more approachable. Thank you!