Financing your film

Financing your film:

Every film needs finance of some form. Even the most basic short film needs finance. Finance pays for the Cast Crew Equipment postproduction music creature comforts and locations. Films cost money. However you can be very clever with how you make your film happen. I personally have made three many films where three months out from shooting we had no money and ended up with about $50,000 Cash Budget and about $500,000 of Contributios on the first shooting day. Where there is a will there is a way and when you set a deadline, everything will fall in your way to make the film happen.

The Prime Directive of Micro Budget Film Production:

The Principal of Micro Budget works on the fact that
• every contribution
• every free location
• every crew member who works as a co- owner and
share holder
• every actor who works for a percentage
• equipment that you can get at a reduced price
is Finance for your Film.

This is your Non Cash Budget and should be 80% or more of a total budget for your micro film budget

It is difficult to get everything donated, if you are making a professional standard Film. Minimum professional Standards imply that you look after
Crew and Cast and feed them and treat them well. This costs money. Sometimes a location will cost money. Sometimes you have to pay for Equipment hire Editors and Sound Mixes.Here is a great rule of thumb and only a guide. Everysituation is different.

Budget Categories:
Home Video $ 0 – $100
Amateur short film $ 1,000
Professional Short Film $2,000 – 5,000
Micro Budget Feature Film $ 50,000 – $100K
Low Budget Feature Film $200K-$1millionK
Low budget Feature with a B Star $1 millK – $4millK
Mid Range Feature $4 mill – $10millK
High Range $10 million plus,
Studio Big Budget $50 – 200 million

If you are starting out, think about jumping to Professional Short Film level. It is ultimately more fun and what our film courses are all about. I guarantee film students of mine will become more compeditive than 98% of those trying to make their first few films. This means Film festival exposure work and faster rise to your film goals.

There are six different methods for raising finance and our Online Film School and our Weekend Film Schools will show you how to raise your finance.
One of the methods is my new favourite. By taking our Online Film School or Weekend Film School you will be able to use a combination of the finance methods to make your budget. The Online Film School or/and the Weekend Film Schools  will be worth literally thousands of dollars in finance for you.

Best till next week

Colm O’Murchu

Director Australian Film Base

Strong Mindset is exceptionally important in the film business.

Strong Mindset is exceptionally important in the film business.

Why is that? Well when you start out in the film world, it can seem like Mount Everest is in front of you. It seems like you will never get to the summit and this can lead talented people to give up.

I think the mountain analogy is a wonderful one. I remember when I climbed Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, I was not prepared for how difficult it would be to climb. My mindset was not initially strong.

Mount Kinabalu is exceptionally steep. It just rises out of the ocean and goes up and up to 4300 meters or about 14000 feet.  It is the biggest moutain in South East Asia.  There is no let up, it is just one direction…UP.  When I started to climb the mountain, I kept looking up at what was ahead and it seemed nearly impossible. I felt exhausted and dispirited.

Once you get to the half way point at 2100 meters, you naturally begin to feel altitude sickness. What I discovered is that if I just looked at my feet and took it one step at a time, I discovered that I did not get tired or dispirited. If I just kept focused on my feet, I began to feel fine and just found a rythm. However, if I looked to the top I would once again become exhausted. When I stayed focused on the now and on where I was now, I felt fine and energized. And what happened after two days of climbing, I arrived at the summit and could see all over the island of Borneo. Beautiful.

The same is true for film. Just stay with what you are doing that day.If you are starting out in film, set a goal of making your own short film now and take one step at a time. Keep with what you can achieve that day and when you have completed production, do your very best to get your short film out to the world via film festivals and the internet( You tube, Blip TV)

Then move on to the next film. It is a great idea to get five short films behind you and then move on to feature films or documentary at that point. Till that point, do not even think about them. Just one short film at a time.  Five Short films gives you a chance to learn how to produce and direct films and learn via film courses how to make them better and better.

The second part of a strong mindset is having a supportive team and people you like working with. Everyone has their strong points and therefore teams that work the best is where everyone is working to their strong points. That is a Producer and Director team.

There is nothing worst than feeling lost and isolated and not knowing how to get motivated to make a film. That is why it is so important to attend film courses like ours.

Why because you will

Learn how to make a short film

Network with people who want to make films

Become very motivated and find that strong mindset that you need to make films.

And if you have all ready made short films, you will re-energize and get your next film happening with enthusiasm and gusto.

Please look at our film schools on our website and we look forward to meeting you there.

Till next time, have a great week          Colm

Colm O’Murchu is the owner of Australian and International Film Base.

He has produed and directed films for the past 15 years.