2013 Post 21- Film Funding

It is a known fact that if a filmmaker intends to get their short film funded, a good idea is more important for their project than high production values. A frequent problem for getting short films funded is that the filmmaker usually wants to include too much information in their film, which may ruin the dramatic effect and confuse the audience.

The most crucial consideration for potential funders will be the script, which requires the three basic elements of a world, a character and a problem; the best short films generally involving a story that follows one character and one event. What must also be apparent in the story is an obstacle that makes it difficult for the main character to pursue their need, this would be the crux of the plot and without this problem for the character to face there would be no interesting film for funding.

Little development work on scripts is often the reason why submitted work to funding bodies is shot down. To resolve this, my group and I have given our script to a professional scriptwriter  and pitched our short film to our friends, from this we gained useful feedback that allowed us to see where the problems were so we could plan how to fix them.

Two principals are the key to good cinematic storytelling: Unity and Causality; Unity meaning that every scene should be increasing the audience’s understanding of the problem and character, and Causality suggesting that each scene must move the story on. The first audience for any film will be the reader of the script, who may have the power to get it funded, thus a filmmaker will be a disadvantage if they cannot help the reader visualize their project as they read. These people looking to fund short films would be hoping to find writers and directors that have something to say and in a unique way, ‘simple’ stories can make a big impression if they are told in such a way that encompasses all their depth and the idea behind it.

Using social media and having an online outlet for a film can help make the public more aware of your film, inviting film investors to view your work. ‘Kickstarter’ is a popular ‘crowd-funding’ online platform that can help raise significant funds for a filmmaker’s project (http://www.kickstarter.com/?ref=nav).

The BFI, UK Film Council is an example of a UK film funding body; they have a variety of schemes to fund new films from rising British talent, who can create distinctive and entertaining work. They have £15 million to invest on the funding of a variety of feature films, providing assistance, advice and practical help to filmmakers along the way.