This is the second out of three guest posts from London-based producer Savannah James-Bayly who recently produced Fingers, a short film by Alex Marx you can watch below.

Read her first article 8 Tips to help get a producer for your short.

All pictures credited to Yann Besrest-Butler

Short Changed: Creative Financing for your Shorts by Savannah James-Bayly

Anyone who’s made a short film will know that raising finance is often the biggest hurdle you face. Soft funds tend to open for submission once a year and are fiercely competitive…

It’s almost a given shorts won’t a make profit so private investors rarely touch them… Crowdfunding is a full time job…

It sometimes seems a miracle anything gets made at all! I’m not pretending to have a secret formula, but here is a collection of tips from my experience producing eight shorts, each funded slightly differently.

#1 – Do your research

This may seem obvious, but it’s key to success, and I’m always astounded by how many people haven’t even looked into what funding might be available to them.

The research needs to be part of a regular routine, as new competitions and funds pop up all the time and rarely stay open long – Underwire have teamed with Tommy Vine for a competition closing on the 1st November. Shakespeare’s Sisters, London Calling & London Calling Plus are all closing soon. Magnum had a short film competition earlier this year, so did WaterAid, so did Jameson…

Sign up to newsletters from any organisations that have run competitions in the past so that you hear if they open for another round.

On one of my short films, Fingers, we won £2.5k of our production budget by coming runner up in Enter The Pitch competition – the top prize is £25k and a trip to LA, so it’s well worth signing up to their mailing list.

#2 – Prepare to get scrappy

Independent feature films are barely ever fully financed from one source, and there’s no reason why short films should be either.

People are much more likely to put in £500 to your project than £2000, so when approaching potential investors let them know what you need to make your film, but also make sure they know that any size of investment/contribution is welcome. What you’ll find is that once one or two people have put some money in, it’s easier to persuade others.

#3 – Crowdfunding as “gap” finance

This follows directly on from the above advice, as crowdfunding is the pinnacle of piecemeal financing.

On Fingers, our final segment of finance came from a successful Indiegogo campaign, which saw over 300 contribute to raise the film’s budget by £7000!

I strongly believe that one of the biggest factors that made this campaign a success was that we started with £7500 already in the bank.

The psychology is that people like backing a winning team – if they feel they’re helping tip you over the finish line, as opposed to building your project up from the ground, they’re much more likely to want to support.

Additionally, it helps reassure potential contributors to see that other people have had the confidence to back the film.

#4 – Talk about your project to everyone

Following on from Enter the Pitch we knew we’d never be able to make Fingers the way we’d envisaged for the £2.5k we’d won.

But because we’d been shouting about the film for months already (part of the competition involves a public vote), it was the first thing friends would ask about when catching up.

With one such friend, after telling him the outcome of the competition, I joked “I don’t suppose you know anyone who might be interested in financing it”. Low and behold he had a contact who went on to become one of our major funders.

#5 – Know what you’re selling

Ultimately, for a short film, the product is YOU not the film.

In terms of your career you’re probably making it in order to sell yourself as filmmaker, but secondly, from an investors point of view (whether they be private, public or people you know) they’re also buying into YOU above anything else.

Public funders in particular want to help budding filmmakers get a leg up in the industry – part of their remit is to discover new talent.

A crucial part of this is to have your feature pitch ready. If someone is thinking about helping to give you a leg up in the industry by financing your short film, they need to be reassured that you have a project lined up that this will springboard you onto.

#6 – Know your audience

Absolutely everybody wants to know that the film they’re putting money into will be seen. Your audience doesn’t need to be big, but you must have a clear strategy for how you intend to reach them.

If they’re primarily investing so as to help your career then they’ll want to know how you intend to get the film seen by the industry gatekeepers.

Will you do a private screening? Does your film have strong festival prospects? Do the themes of the film align with any specific interest groups? Where do you see it being suitable? Will you release it online? If so, what’s your release strategy? Will it be available for free, or will you seek distribution from a short film platform?

We have recently released Fingers online, where it’s had over 4000 views in its first week.

This is because we began developing this audience early, which helped enormously with the crowd funding, but was also beneficial when pitching for finance and in-kind help as we could show there was an audience demand.

#7 – Be creative with in-kind support

There are plenty of people who are willing to help filmmakers setting about making shorts.

Hire companies will often offer fantastic deals, as will post houses. Set about connecting with these people early on in the process – before you’ve even started fundraising. They are looking to build lasting relationships that become profitable for them later down the line, so do what you can to reassure them that you’re not just going to exploit their good nature this once!

You’re more likely to get investors attention if they know that people in the industry and championing you – plus they know they’ll get more bang for their buck.