Archaeologically digging for funds

Since starting my Kickstarter campaign to help fund a re make of the student film I made, I have realized that sourcing funding, even from pals on social media is quite difficult. I am sure our economy has some to do with it, I mean the film wasn't that horrible, or was it? Either way, I wanted to look back at some of the more traditional means of funding so off to EBSCOhost I went.

 One of the articles that I found quite interesting was from the December 2010 issue of Art Monthly Magazine. The article titled, Filming The Alternative, by Sophia Phoca, tells of several independant artist filmmakers who had to resort to a more traditional funding resource for their projects. Long before crowd funding, most films were produced by private backers who secured the funding in exchange for royalties, which basically secured the monies with the final project as collateral.

 In the article, the author writes about Carol Morley, a filmmaker from the 1990's, who sourced funds from outside of the U.S for her latest film. "Carol Morley, who emerged in the 1990s, directed the autobiographical experimental documentary The Alcohol Years, 2000, but had to turn to UK private funding to make her recent film Edge, 2010. Her producer Cairo Cannon says: ‘The future is uncertain, it always is, but it’s vital to look at all the avenues that can secure funds for a project. Private finance is probably a key component to how artists’ films will get made in the future, and it’s worth looking at local businesses and business people to help secure money and support.’ Giannaris strikes a more cautionary note and warns this approach inevitably leads to less risky work being funded. ‘The problem with the private funding route is that mainly commercial films will be made and there will be no money for films with low box office returns’, and points to the US as a precedent." What this passage is describing is how indie filmmakers need to think outside the box when securing funds for projects. The majority of commercial films are funded privately because the reward is much greater than the risk of an indie film. This is why crowd funding has become such a relevant resource. While there are risks, they are quite minimal because the entire cost is spread out over several investors.