Fear-Free Fundraising

Writing a kick-ass funding proposal

To land a foundation grant for your film, you need a well-edited trailer or work sample, chutzpah and, importantly, a kick-ass written proposal. Today’s topic is that proposal. Here are the basic ingredients.

Good ideas
You have to know what you are trying to create and what success looks like for that creation. With a film, your proposal is only as strong as the ideas, images and people your film contains. Do you have strong characters that give the audience somebody to identify with or whose story will move them? Are existential truths revealed through your film? Are there ideas, themes, lessons and morals to give your film shape and life? Have you thought through what the film is about, and is there a driving rationale for what it contains?

topics: bay area, directors, distributors, diy, documentary, features, festivals, funding, hbo, how-to, independent film

The Edit Room

Documentary story structures that funders love

We all know an editor who needs to get out of the edit room more often. (I just have to look in the mirror.) I recently had the delightful and heady experience of being on the other side of the fundraising table, giving the thumbs up or down to a slew of documentary directors seeking money for their works-in-progress.

topics: bay area, diy, documentary, hbo, how-to, itvs, sundance