Financing
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Greenslate’s John Finn Talks Rebranding and How Technology Can Revolutionize the Payroll Industry
John Finn, founder and CEO of Greenslate, remembers the good old days — and they weren’t that good. In 1995, when he first got into the independent film industry, he was a freelance production accountant, loaning himself out to productions where every penny counted. The standard practices of production accounting were daunting back then: there were seas of paperwork, year-end production company tax filings were strenuous efforts and, on set, accountants would spend entire days running around just trying to get signatures on start paperwork from producers and crew members. “I realized there was a need for financial acumen,” Finn recalls. […]
by Matt Prigge on Sep 27, 2017 -
Alamo Drafthouse Partners with Fan-Owned Studio Legion M
A new partnership between Alamo Drafthouse, the independent theater chain and distribution company, and Legion M, the world’s first fan-owned entertainment company, could help pave a new way for independent films to get financed and developed. The two companies announced yesterday that they had formed a strategic partnership to develop and distribute genre content, including feature films, shorts and virtual reality. On May 16th, Legion M launched a public equity crowdfunding campaign under new rules adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the the 2012 JOBS Act. Since it launched the campaign last week, the company has raised $400,000 from accredited investors and […]
by Paula Bernstein on May 27, 2016 -
Venice Production Bridge Announces Gap Financing Market to Take Place During the Venice Film Festival
The Venice Production Bridge, a platform connecting European and international producers with potential sales agent, distributors and financiers able to provide final financing for their projects, announced today a new Gap Financing Market to take place during this year’s Venice Film Festival. Running September 2 – 4, the initiative will curate a selection of 25 European and international projects seeking the final 30% of their financing. Projects can be at any stage, from development to post-production, but must prove that the 70% of their existing financing is secure. Significantly, the initiative is open to both documentaries as well as fiction […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 23, 2016 -
Cassian Elwes and Producers Discuss Economics of Independent Film Financing
Kudos to my Twitter feed for brushing the dust off this nearly year old video of Cassian Elwes and other producers covering the basic economics of film financing. For every experiential tidbit acquired by aspiring filmmakers on sets, in the classroom, or at home, there is a disproportionate amount of information available on the first step towards making one’s film: securing the money, and making the most of it. Elwes touches upon pre-sales and credits, though the independent film industry standard for debut directors is proven to lie within private equity. In the informational short clip, the producers discuss why the […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jan 27, 2014 -
15 Guided Picks for the SXSW PanelPicker
In a saturated festival landscape, SXSW has long distinguished itself through a grounding sense of community and accessibility. The ever-expanding conference put this notion to the test with the implementation of the SXSW PanelPicker, which calls upon the public to curate its panel programming. Originally launched for the Interactive Festival in 2007, before successfully spilling over to the Film and Music arms in 2011, the PanelPicker invites interested parties to upload presentation, conversation, and panel proposals for broad consideration. Weighing the public vote at 30%, alongside 30% for the festival staff and 40% for its advisory board, SXSW will invite […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Sep 3, 2013 -
13 Ways to Cast A-List Actors in Microbudget Films
My film Between Us is about to come out in theaters and one of the questions I’ve been asked at some of the 22 festivals in seven countries I’ve been to (and yes, that sound you hear is my feet splashing on the beach when I won the Grand Jury Prize in the Bahamas) is how the hell I got a cast like Julia Stiles, Taye Diggs, Melissa George and David Harbour in a movie that according to Kickstarter only cost $10,000? So let me explain… 1. Choose Castable Material. One reason I chose to adapt an Off-Broadway play in […]
by Dan Mirvish on Jun 20, 2013 -
Ten Lessons on Filmmaking from Director Takashi Miike
Few directors out of Japan are as controversial as Takashi Miike, a man who has been surprising audiences for years with anything from stomach-wrenching horror films to slick yakuza films to happy-go-lucky children’s films, with no less than 70 directing credits to his name. This year at Cannes he surprised fans perhaps more than ever before by premiering his most mainstream film yet, a smart thriller that seems to be begging for a Hollywood remake. Shield of Straw follows a team of security police who must transport a psychopathic killer across Japan to Tokyo for trial. The criminal in question […]
by Ariston Anderson on Jun 3, 2013 -
13 Takeaways from the 2013 Cannes Film Market
Earlier this week I posted “15 Lessons for Producers from the Cannes Film Festival and Market.” With the festival and market now firmly in the rear-view mirror, the consensus is that it was a solid one for the international sales community, without, perhaps that one giant locomotive title but with an appropriately modest number of films hitting their ask prices. Tastes were noted to have shifted, with buyers wanting “more Jennifer Lawrence and less Sylvester Stallone.” And on the pure indie level, I noticed, as I wrote in my piece on producers, a new crop of American independents have figured […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 31, 2013 -
Councilwoman Castillo: Margo Guernsey on Making Her Feature-Length Political Documentary
Margo Guernsey has produced promotional mini-docs and videos for a number of non-profits, but for her first feature-length project, “Councilwoman Castillo,” she is focusing on the story of a hotel housekeeper, Carmen Castillo, elected to the City Council in Providence, Rhode Island. The project will cover Castillo’s first three years in office starting with her election in November 2011. Guernsey spoke to us recently about how she became interested in the project and her strategy for shooting and funding this low budget, multi-year project. Filmmaker: What is the story? Guernsey: It’s a story about a hotel housekeeper elected to […]
by Michael Murie on May 29, 2013 -
Cannes 2013: Five Questions with The Congress Director Ari Folman
It’s been five years since Ari Folman came out with the Academy Award-nominated Waltz with Bashir, an animated personal combat story. He’s back with an incredibly ambitious project, The Congress, that blends real life with fantasy in an adaptation of Stanislaw Lem’s celebrated book. The movie opens with actress Robin Wright being scolded by her agent, played by Harvey Keitel, for all the poor choices she’s made throughout her career. Faced with a sick child and no job prospects, she meets with Jeff, the studio head of Miramount, a daunting figure played impeccably by Danny Huston. Jeff is sick of […]
by Ariston Anderson on May 28, 2013
