Using the Internet to Find Funding for Your Film

By: Ryan Vinson

If you’re an up-and-coming filmmaker, you don’t have the big coffers of studio money at your disposal like most filmmakers in Hollywood. You know that you have to fight and scrap for every cent you can get just to get your films made, and even then, your budget is tight. That’s why finding the right investors can increase the success of your film. One of the benefits of modern technology is the advent of the internet, and it is proving to be helpful in more ways every single day. Now, it’s simple for filmmakers and investors to come together online.

Web 2.0 There are several ways you can use the internet to your film funding advantage. First, you can set up a social network to solicit funding and private investments from friends and family who support your work. With the advent of Web 2.0, you can literally create your imprint on a social media site, publicize your work and what you are trying to accomplish, and draw people to it, including investors. Many social media sites provide great networking tools that work just like word-of-mouth advertising, only virtual. Plus you can keep your investors and friends updated on your progress, marketing and release of the finished product!

Lend Me a Hand (or Dollar) If you would prefer to find someone a little less close to home to fund your project, there are investors that you can find through the internet yet another way – social lending sites. These are sprouting up all over the place, and they put those who need money with those who have it to invest. You may never meet them face to face, but you can borrow the money you need from many of these sites thanks to many members who are willing and savvy investors. Such sites include: Lending Club, Prosper, or Zopa. You can use Circle Lending to help gather money from family and friends, or use ChipIn or Fundable in order to solicit donations from fans through your film’s website!

Grant Me This Wish Finally, depending on the type of film and subject matter you are focusing on, you could use the internet to research and find grants available to you. There are, of course, the well-known grants that everyone knows about (National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Science Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation). The problem is, everybody knows about them!

Go for the smaller amounts of funding that are less sought after. You can still put them together to create a large amount if you approach this method wisely. There are also organizations that offer sponsorships specifically for films and documentaries, so there might be less competition with these: International Documentary Association (IDA), Independent Film Project (IFP), Film/Video Arts, Film Arts Foundation, IMAGE Film and Video Center, Women Make Movies, Film Forum, and Documentary Educational Resources.

Gaining funding for your filmmaking can be a tedious and daunting task. But, thanks to the social networking and new social integration brought about with Web 2.0 on the internet, the task is getting a little easier each day!