Raise $7,000 for your short film with no audience, virtually no followers, and no crowdfunding

I see it all the time. There are bright dreamers amongst us microbudget filmmakers who want to raise funds for their film. There's usually that desperate plea to support their film on reddit or facebook groups (cue the eye roll). They set monster goals (a good thing) with no strategy (a bad thing).

The problem is obscurity. Without attention, I can't know who you are. Without knowing you, I can't trust you, and without trust, the chances of me dusting off my visa for your project are no bueno.

The math doesn't work in our favor with crowdfunding either. If we want to raise $5,000, then with the average contribution clocking in at $50, and with a 1% conversion (meaning 1 out of 100 campaign visitors will donate), we'd need to reach 10,000 people at minimum with our project. I don't know about you, but even after a full-time job's worth of campaigning, I've always seen results like this:

Cats and their infernal videos garner way more attention, even on Myspace. Heck, Myspace profiles get more hits than our crowdfunding campaigns. 

Some time ago, I podcasted with a man named Diego Contreras. He does commercial work as a director for big names like GE and Wells Fargo. He shared his pitch deck for a personal project, modeled in the same manner as his commercial pitch decks. Needless to say, it's more exhaustive and detail-oriented than Jimmy Carter on the Oval Office telephone. Be sure to check it out.

With mixed results when crowdfunding in the past, I knew their had to be a way to raise funds without these massive platforms. I don't have a massive platform. My newsletter is humble and has about the average engagement rates of most in our industry: 20-30% opens, 1-5% CTR. And most of microbudget filmmakers don't have prolific social media profiles, and even if we do have 30,000 subscribers on YouTube, it's such an empty number these days when the best of the best YouTubers VLOG daily and have a million subscribers and still only manage to eek out $4k a month in revenue from their videos. These days, tentpole Hollywood films crash and burn. 

So... without much attention in the online world, I knew I needed to approach a few key people with a solid, butt-kicking pitch deck. The key is to communicate, over-communicate, and then show intentionality above and beyond the words and pictures. Backer says they'll back you and weeks go by? Fail. You should be thanking them by email, phone, SMS, e-cards, Amazon gifts, and telegrams - weekly - to followup. 

Now, it won't suffice to send your pitch deck as an email. It has to be a hardcopy - with a personal note - and an invitation to call you to discuss the project further. Nothing beats tangible mail with a personal note, even if your handwriting looks like comic sans.

My email-newsletter-building (virtual) mentor Bryan Harris says this is where most people become lazy and quit like chumps. It's true. 

To build a 20+ page pitch deck with pictures and detailed information on

1. The story's premise
2. The end plan for the story (distribution, pitch it to studios, develop it into a longer piece of content, etc.)
3. The tone
4. Cinematography
5. Editing
6. Music and sound
7. Budget
8. Timeline for pre-production
9. Timeline for production
10. Timeline for post-production
11. Cast 
12. Crew
13. Final remarks and contact info

it takes time. Shoot, you could wait in line to register 28 cars at your DMV with the safety inspections in the same time it takes to build your pitch deck. It's that part of producing where we can level up as filmmakers or retreat like weak sauce.

Don't retreat. Put the time into it, visit your FedEx and print out some spiral-bound copies on heavy paper stock with a clear cover and solid matte black backing. Here's what mine looked like for my short film, a pilot promo called Powers & Principalities:

Mail those out to your closest people who believe in you. Indie films have hilariously abysmal ROI, so your pitch better be about investing in you. Do this, and I dare you to do better than $7k. Out of 5 people that I sent hardcopies of the pitch deck to, three collectively contributed $7k.

So what's holding you back? Say a prayer or two, take a leap of faith or five, and do the work. 

If you need a more detailed blueprint, even a pitch deck to model, and further inspiration and encouragement, you can get more info at my blog. 

Let me know when you're funded.

Jake the film guy