Applying for funding...

[sammo]

Heya,

I was just wondering if anyone's applied for funding from regional film bodies for either a short or feature... and if so would appreciate some pointers on going about it. My 2 bodies which I could apply to would be South West screen and Southern Screen.

I've spent ages trying to navigate through the sites, and I've founds loads of schemes and training events and talks and lists of films they've funded ... in fact I've found everything but the somewhere that says how to apply and what to do next!

I've had a meeting with someone from Screen South West and they liked my idea - and recommended their site, but I'm pretty stumped!

If anyone else has worked with a regional funding body, I'd appreciate a couple of pointers!

Thanks all.

[Tom]

I would recommend you email the film bodies and introduce your film directly. I always call and ask who the head of development is and ask for their email address. Working with a producer who isn't the writer is also favourable so if you have one, introduce them in the email. You should also have a treatment of your film ready to send. They will then recommend the fund to go for. Then you can concentrate on getting together everything you need and sending the best possible submission you can. Try to be clear in your objectives but don't budget the film in your introduction. Save that for your application. But I definitely think you should make first contact with the head of development.

Tom.

[roger1]

Tom's got some great advice - I really like reading all his threads.

You could always do what I did - enter a program such as DV Shorts, every regional screen agency will be part of this scheme run in conjunction with the UK Film council. I wrote a couple of scripts and got selected as one of the 12 to go into development.

Now, if you get selected to go into development on the DV Shorts scheme you've got your foot in the door. I was having one on one development sessions with the guy who exec produced Dog Altogether, among many more shorts - the advice and guidance you get is invaluable. Basically you're in development for 3 months and then they commission the best scripts, this year it was just 4 projects, to get made.

Luckily I was one of the four - now this is an amazing opportunity. From sitting down in my kitchen and bashing out a couple of really rough scripts last November; scripts that weren't technically great but which obviously had something, I'm now in the position where we're preparing to go into pre-production on a 17 minute short, with a fourteen grand budget, 2 producers, a great director and the backing of The UK Film Council and EM Media (my regional screen agency).

Now this is going to be a great calling card for me as a writer. And what it really gives you is confidence - I've written 2 more shorts since and am writing a feature - what's more I've got some great contacts and have access to brilliant advice. What I'm saying, only not as eloquently as Tom would, is that in 3 months I've gone from someone with no idea about how to get a short funded, to someone who's now getting his film made. And you have to look at the bigger picture; with a short made and doing the festivals (hopefully) it's going to make it easier to get people interested in any longer format ideas you have, any features etc. I'd really recommend thinking about putting something in to a scheme such as DV Shorts.

Sorry if that waffled and you're none the wiser. If you want to ask me anything I'll do my best to answer. To be honest, I've just read that back and slightly confused myself!!!

[sammo]

Thats really great thanks both Tom and Roger, what I love about this forum is there are alot of people in the same boat, and alot of people who've experience similar situations. Cheers guys.

In terms of my treatment, what have you guys found to be the best format? In terms of length and detail?

I've never sent one off to a funding body before, I'd quite like to be prepared when I do send it off.

Sorry for the simple sounding questions, I'm still learning I'm afraid and appreciate all of the help.

[roger1]

No worries mate.

I don't know how anyone else would go about it, but if you're going to apply for funding through a screen agency and aren't going to submit through a scheme like DV Shorts I'd approach them with a full script.

The fact that you've written it will tell them that you're committed and if it's good, you'll get funding/part-funding for it - simple. There aren't that many good scripts out there, people won't turn away a really good one. At the very least, it will open doors that could lead to it getting funded somewhere else.

There's no secret to getting funding - write a really good script and people will want to see it made.

[jimmy975]

I don't know how it works there, but the funding bodies in Scotland only do it through one or two sources, and you have to have made a short film that has been funded already to get the funding, and the only way you can get your first film funded is through gmac, the glasgow media access centre, and i feel that the matierial will only get looked at there if you've been there a long time, like a meritocracy.

[Tom]

jimmy975 said:

I don't know how it works there, but the funding bodies in Scotland only do it through one or two sources, and you have to have made a short film that has been funded already to get the funding, and the only way you can get your first film funded is through gmac, the glasgow media access centre, and i feel that the matierial will only get looked at there if you've been there a long time, like a meritocracy.

I don't think this is totally correct. You don't need to have made a funded short prior (although having made anything previously does help).

I'm up in here in Glasgow, and I've not had to sniff at the GMAC, yet I'm still getting on with the funders.

It's really as Roger1 says - write it good and it'll get fans. Simple as that.

[sammo]

Thats really great stuff - I'll keep you all updated with anything and everything which happens with it.

Thanks alot guys. Best of luck with your own work.

[roger1]

Cheers bud - good luck!

[halfpint]

Gonna speak to my dad about asking his boss for a grant, he's a multi millionaire and always asked about how i'm doing etc. so maybe he could throw a few grand our way so we could get a new camera.

The morale is: If you don't ask, you don't get!

[jimmy975]

Hey Tom, Scottish Screen have specifically told me that I need to have already made a funded short film before they actually commission a script. They have also told me i need to go through GMAC. I mean i can write a good script. How do you go about plugging the script if you haven't already had a script commissioned or got a short film funded?

It is not as simple as that, there are loads of scripts kicking about that are fantastic but have never had a break.

[Tom]

jimmy975 said:

Hey Tom, Scottish Screen have specifically told me that I need to have already made a funded short film before they actually commission a script. They have also told me i need to go through GMAC. I mean i can write a good script. How do you go about plugging the script if you haven't already had a script commissioned or got a short film funded?

It is not as simple as that, there are loads of scripts kicking about that are fantastic but have never had a break.

Well. if that's what they've told you, fair enough. I'm not totally certain of the scheme you were going for, but it's not something that has affected my process. In fact, we had a meeting with Scottish Screen last week, and this wasn't an issue for us.

My producer and I are working on getting development money, and all I have to my name is shorts that cost next to nothing and Icharus Broken, which was shot for peanuts.

Funding naturally becomes the hot focus when you're trying to get a film made, but it can make you think that your project is pointless if you're sent away with your tail between your legs. In my experience, fantastic scripts rely on a number of factors to get made, and that will include scoring a top name. A great script will only get read if the people behind it can gather steam and make connections.

Something I did when I started out was to work out ideas that DIDN'T need other people's money to get made. That means I wrote small locales, but got great actors and really struck a chord with the writing.

The UK is one of the few countries that has a publicly funded system. It doesn't happen in the USA. Now, I know there's been a whole lot of banging about the way funding is issued on this forum of late, so I won't dredge up the politics, but if a script really is great, in my opinion, one of three things will happen: 1) It gets funded through a public body on it's own merit. 2) The film maker behind it will get it looked at by a prolific actor who signs on and this opens the doors to more money. 3) The film maker gets out and makes it themselves for the cost of a tin of beans, and the film does really well. The film maker will then have some serious clout and the big oak doors to the funding offices creak open.

The key thing to remember in all this is that having a good script snapped up on the back of nothing is rare. Now I'm not saying that the advice you've been given is totally untrue, but I am saying that it is not the only way.

Good luck with it. Tom.

[jimmy975]

Thanks Tom, i looked into Film Bang to see if i could find a producer but none of them wanted to touch short films as there is no money in them. This is before they even looked at my stuff; they're all doing factual docu's to be sold to the telly. So you're saying that it's not strictly a rule that to get funding from Scottish Screen you have to have a film funded before?

Or can anybody recommend any good producers?

I have Richard Strange who appeared briefly in Gangs Of New York interested, he is also at the top of his game in acting in plays in LA and NY at the moment.

[Tom]

jimmy975 said:

Thanks Tom, i looked into Film Bang to see if i could find a producer but none of them wanted to touch short films as there is no money in them. This is before they even looked at my stuff; they're all doing factual docu's to be sold to the telly. So you're saying that it's not strictly a rule that to get funding from Scottish Screen you have to have a film funded before?

Or can anybody recommend any good producers?

I have Richard Strange who appeared briefly in Gangs Of New York interested, he is also at the top of his game in acting in plays in LA and NY at the moment.

No worries.

As far as funding is concerned, there really are no hard and fast rules that everyone has to adhere to. You have to think of your film as if it was a product. That's obvioulsy quite hard, because you never get into film making to make money, but if you want to progress, money will always play a factor. When you say that you're struggling to find people to produce your short because there is no money, that's because they're looking at it as a product also.

To make your film, you have to consider a) do you need a producer to make it. And b) what will that person do that you can't? If you can shoot your movie for nothing, you won't need a producer. The point of making short films is different for every film maker. Some see it as a way of finding their voice, others will shoot a short to test out an idea before turning into a feature, and some, well, they just do it for fun. I was impatient and just jumped into shooting a feature, and that was me working alone, hiring guns and calling all the shots. Then, to shake loose a few ideas, I made Colin  Can't Be Killed as my first short film. I learnt a lot in shoooting the four shorts after Icharus, but I didn't need a producer for any of it. I made all the calls, arranged all the equipment and hired all the actors on my own. Now that I'm moving on a little, I'm working with a producer so that I can share some of the workload. The only way I got the producer was by putting all that effort in at the start.

I suspect that you're doing a lot of work already, and are just going through the natural process of getting all the things you think you need in place first. If I was you, I'd slim it all down to it's basic elements and work out how you can get the film shot on the bare minimum. If you do this, using your actor, and the outcome is good, you should then send it to festivals. Concentrate on sending to fests you think you stand a chance of making and can reasonably attend should you be accepted. You'll neter a ton, but once you make one, get along there and hustle, hustle, hustle. Nothing works better in this industry than a face to face meet sealed with a firm handshake.

It's never been easier to shoot a film on no-budget. Digital technology and editing software that is loaded on computers these days is incredible, and so you don't have to have a lot of finances to make a good film. But one thing you do need is a good story. If you have that, your short film will stand out against all the films with a budget, and before you know it, you'll start meeting lots of producers etc. etc. We shot Colin for six quid, but it went on to play festivals in Toronto and LA.

If you really do need a producer to shoot your short film, I would suggest hooking up with a fellow film maker (preferably someone who owns a HD camera!) and you'll have someone who is on set and knows what you're going through. I would also suggest producing a few no-budget short films as well, as this will allow you to see for yourself just what you do and don't need to get something made.

Tom.

[jimmy975]

Cheers Tom, i've just bought a Z1 camera and i've attracted a couple of big name actors (not household names though). But these actors are only interested in a commissioned film i.e. they want to make money. Richard Strange has given me his blessing to use his name for it to get commissioned. Speaking of producers it was cool talking to Barry Mendel at the student BAFTA's.