Equipped with unwavering confidence in your idea, a solid plan for your documentary and a proposal that would make Shakespeare jealous, you are now ready to embark on the, often long and strenuous journey to get your documentary funded. Even if you have done your due diligence with planning and preparing your film, it can still often be a mountainous task to convince the right people that your idea is worth investing in.
Who do you approach?
The first and most important step is to find funders that are just the right fit for your documentary plans. You need to find that one in a million broadcaster, company or investor whose program, interests or convictions match up perfectly with your ideas. All the while you always need to double and triple check that your exact idea has not been done yet by the very broadcaster you’re trying to approach. If the match seems too perfect, chances aren’t low that someone else might have pitched the same film to them before. So to avoid that embarrassing moment of pitching their own movie to them by doing your research beforehand.
While you’re at it you might also want to figure out whether your film would be a good fit for them. Does the topic fit within their usual program? Is the playing time one that is already being broadcasted and would fit into the schedule? All of these are questions you want to ask yourself when looking for investors.
Compared to investors in the UK, US or Australia, European broadcasters often allow for a more creative and individual approach to your documentary. This is also due to the fact that in Europe it is possible to get funded by multiple different broadcasters from different countries at the same time, leading to less financial commitment and thus influence by each individual one. It also helps to convince other investors if you already have someone backing your project.
However, this also makes finding funding in Europe a lot more complicated, as you have to navigate the complex world of broadcasters in different countries all across the continent. Knowing your way around commissioning editors and broadcasting agencies all across Europe will be essential in successfully getting your film funded. Not only is it important to know who to approach, but also how you should do it (Glynne, 2007).
How to approach them
Once you have decided which companies or agencies would be the perfect fit for your project, you need to carefully plan how you will approach them in order to convince them of your idea. There are a few different ways of getting your film funded, each of them coming with their own sets of advantages and drawbacks. Before starting your communication with potentials funders it is essential that you familiarise yourself with the different terms and know what it is you are looking for.
- Commission:
The funder, often a broadcaster, pays you, the filmmaker, money to create your documentary. This funder pays 100% of the costs and usually get a say in the production as well. - Co-production:
– From a broadcasters perspective: Multiple different broadcasters become involved in funding one film.
– From a producer’s perspective: Multiple production companies cooperate in creating one film. - Pre-Buy:
A funder buys your film in advance for use in their area once it is done. They don’t have a say in the production of your film and pay a lot less than commissions do. - Acquisition:
Broadcasters or distributors buy the finished film, which might have been funded by someone else beforehand.
Once you know what you want, it is time to start thinking about what you can offer that they want. What makes your idea special? What will your film have that nobody else does? What will make it stand out from the countless other pitches those companies get each month?
Maybe the characters in your documentary are unique and special, maybe you yourself can provide input for your film that no-one else could, or maybe you, for some reason, have special access to people, areas or organisations that will make you invaluable to the broadcasters out there (Glynne, 2007).
Although getting your film funded might seem impossible at some points during your journey when you receive one rejection after the other, keep in mind that there are many different ways to get your passion project funded. Whether that be through various broadcasting agencies, different companies wanting to support the cause or maybe even relevant NGOs. And there is always the last resort of funding your film yourself or with the help of family and friends and hoping to make back the money with the finished product.
Wherever the funding for your film will come from, you have to keep in mind, that you will never be fully independent of the opinions of certain “gatekeepers” in the business. After all the end goal to producing a documentary will always be to get it out there and have as many of the right people as possible get to experience it. In order to achieve that goal, you will always have to appease those who are in charge of deciding whether your film gets played as well as those who should watch it.
The tricky part here is to find a balance between staying true to your vision and convictions while still appealing to as many viewers as possible (Glynne, 2007).
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