An issue-oriented brief film is one that has a style of social significance at it's core. Drug abuse, poverty, the environment, homelessness ... these are all examples of a smaller film with a socially appropriate style. This is substantial as it is A LOT EASIER to get donations of time, equipment and supplies when there is a "source" behind the film.
In the mid 90's I was able to get a 12 minute 35mm film produced for under a thousand dollars, a definitely unusual amount. Catering, areas, film stock and processing, misc materials, devices - practically everything was covered with generous donations because the film had two significant social problems as the main styles - kid abuse and it's resultant connection to drug abuse later on in life.
The strategy? Experience manufacturing directories and cold call until you can't talk anymore. A common pitch went like this: "we're working on a movie that takes care of some beautiful extreme social issues and we're asking yourself if there's somebody we can talk with about making a contribution of ..." It takes a lot of calls, however it works.
Getting donations is in one sense quite easy as many production companies want to contribute. The trouble that comes from this option to smaller film financing is in the added sychronisation efforts needed, for you'll should adjust your schedule to the benefactors. An example of this is that we needed to cancel a movie shoot two weekends in a row because the 35mm camera that was being contributed to us became unavailable as it was booked out on a paid shoot (a reality that needs to be accepted taking this approach). However as quickly as the rental business's schedule cleared up, the camera was ours and we had the ability to shoot, conserving hundreds of dollars in rental fees.
Another problem with taking this path is producer coordination. It's much better if you have an unique manufacturer dealing with acquiring contributions as it's a full time job in and of itself. It's best to have one producer to manage shooting logistics and another to handle contributions. In the end, while our group was able to accomplish a lot with very little funds, the film suffered due to the fact that the director/producer (myself) was overworked with handling logistics and had less time to invest on creative shots, acting, etc. Having an one-of-a-kind producer to handle donations will fix that problem!
In the mid 90's I was able to get a 12 minute 35mm film produced for under a thousand dollars, a definitely unusual amount. Catering, areas, film stock and processing, misc materials, devices - practically everything was covered with generous donations because the film had two significant social problems as the main styles - kid abuse and it's resultant connection to drug abuse later on in life.
The strategy? Experience manufacturing directories and cold call until you can't talk anymore. A common pitch went like this: "we're working on a movie that takes care of some beautiful extreme social issues and we're asking yourself if there's somebody we can talk with about making a contribution of ..." It takes a lot of calls, however it works.
Getting donations is in one sense quite easy as many production companies want to contribute. The trouble that comes from this option to smaller film financing is in the added sychronisation efforts needed, for you'll should adjust your schedule to the benefactors. An example of this is that we needed to cancel a movie shoot two weekends in a row because the 35mm camera that was being contributed to us became unavailable as it was booked out on a paid shoot (a reality that needs to be accepted taking this approach). However as quickly as the rental business's schedule cleared up, the camera was ours and we had the ability to shoot, conserving hundreds of dollars in rental fees.
Another problem with taking this path is producer coordination. It's much better if you have an unique manufacturer dealing with acquiring contributions as it's a full time job in and of itself. It's best to have one producer to manage shooting logistics and another to handle contributions. In the end, while our group was able to accomplish a lot with very little funds, the film suffered due to the fact that the director/producer (myself) was overworked with handling logistics and had less time to invest on creative shots, acting, etc. Having an one-of-a-kind producer to handle donations will fix that problem!
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