BUSINESS PLANS: THE BEGINNER'S CRASH COURSE IN ATTRACTING INVESTORS TO YOUR FILM

For most, especially those who don't have a solid track record of making films that make money, or at least break even, a solid business plan is the number one way to attract investors to your film. This five-part series for beginners explores that concept.

Part 1: Raising Money Responsibly:

Raising money responsibly can save you a whole lot of headaches, and can actually put you on the road to a career as a filmmaker a lot quicker. So in that respect it's not only ethical, it's imperative.

So you have a script all ready to go. Maybe you have a business plan already drawn up. And maybe you even have several investors lined up to present to. They have the money to invest and are considering investing in your film. Now it's a matter of getting them to invest in your film and not someone else's.

Now whether you're seeking financing from a savvy film investor or from your in-laws who never go to movies, you'll be presenting them the same business plan. And I can tell you from experience: they both want to see the same thing. They want to know exactly what they're getting into and they want to see hard, realistic numbers. They'll also want to see a potential timeline for recouping their money.

In the time I've spent as a foreign sales agent and independent sales reps, I've seen hundreds, possibly thousands of business plans. Some great. Some not so great.

I've also seen a lot of business plans with a lot of fluff and no real substance. I've seen lingering 30 page plans who lose the potential investor's interest by the time they've hit page 10 cause it's all a bunch of rhetoric with no meat. I don't know about you, but if I was a filmmaker looking for investors to finance my dream project, I would not want to find myself in this situation.

I've seen pages upon pages written on the history of independent film and it's box office revenues, where only a few independent films that did well, out of the thousands produced, are mentioned in an attempt to entice investors. The box office figures of major Miramax releases from 15 years ago are dangled in front of investors in hopes of exciting them enough to make them forget that was yesterday's marketplace, not today's.

This is what I call irresponsibly raising money for your film - putting stars in an investor's eyes without anything solid or pertinent to the project at hand to back it up. And this can often backfire cause this is where investors will lose interest more often than not. They don't want to see box office numbers of a Miramax release from 15 years ago. While they might be happy to look at a short history, in this situation they really only care about the relevance of your film in today's marketplace. And they want to know that if they invest, their money will be in good, capable hands.

Think about it like this: would you expect someone to invest in stocks which were hot several years ago but no one's heard much too much buzz about them recently? No, you'd expect them to demand to see current numbers. Just like stocks, film is a very risky investment and investors want to know what they're getting into before they commit.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not knocking business plans and how they're written. There is a very fine art and MBA's spend years in business school and beyond honing this priceless skill. Business plans are an invaluable tool in many industries, including film.

There is a formula for writing an effective business plan, but when writing a business plan for a film, so many of the normal rules are thrown out the window. While film is a business based on generating revenue, it is a highly unique business. Film investors want to know one thing right up front: When will I see my money again?

Okay, so now we know what investors don't want to see. But what DO they want to see? They want to see a SMART business plan. This is the key to raising money responsibly and includes:

1. A solid distribution strategy 2. Realistic sales projections

3. A solid plan for recouping investments

4. A well-conceived and laid out business plan

Above is the simple strategy for not only raising money, but raising money responsibly. Of course, this all exponentially helps the filmmaker. The more responsible the filmmaker, the happier the investor. And a happy investor, who's been paid back, is very likely to trust and invest in the filmmaker again. Maybe next time with more money.

Responsibly raising money can be the difference between a long and vibrant filmmaking career and one filled with mounting debt and a lot of bad blood.