Fri, 2025-May-16 14:34 (BST)
Hello,
So, I know we're all looking for people to help fund/produce films, but are there any sites/groups specifically geared to teaming up new/young/micro-budget indie producers and productions? I have an experienced cast/crew and the ability to shoot a good quality film at an "ultra-low" cost, but would love to find someone to team up with to help production and hustle as a team to open doors for the film. This isn't a hollywood-type blockbuster, so it seems like most listings on sites don't apply to what I'm trying to do.
thanks
doug esper
No responses?
Well, I don't know of any "sites/groups" looking to wave their magic wands. Let me get this straight: You're not looking expressly for help for Indie producers, but writers who want to make their own I.P. into films, am I right?
That's been my quest since 2018, and I've never found much help out there. Primarily, while I've corresponded with some big names in the biz (directors, agents for cast, sales agents, distributors, financiers and producers), without a credit they all want to know what my equity (meaning financial) or up-front capital position is.
It's all about the money.
Why, it's to the point where most of this year's effort has been to raise money. And there you go, sites to do that include IndieGogo, Patreon and all the others. Not having much of a social media presence beyond my clunky websites, and positively none on X, Meta or the other usual suspects, all of the normal crowd sourcing sites say you "start" with your social media contacts - of which I have virtually none. I had built up 260 darned good connections on LinkedIn, after 15 years, till suddenly last year they kicked me off the platform (reason still unknown).
So while I have something interesting going on right now (and for the past few months), re: raising my own money, until I have analyzed the results it's not really worth going into here.
I guess the point of this essay is that as long as we writers (or ex-writers, as I am, since 2018) have to beg for other people's money, we're just not going to get very far.
But, when the bough breaks, and somebody finds a template that all of the rest can use, talk about a seismic shift in the entire industry!
Sadly, because most people are aiming at the very top, there's very little out there targeting starting at the bottom. There's some indie focused groups on Facebook and LinkedIn, and that's all I know of. Everything else is just pockets of people getting on with it.
Steve,
I appreciate your reply. Yes, begging is no fun. I have worked on a few films funded by upcoming producers who help raise 20-30k and i know those folks are out there looking to start up/gain experience/create a resume/build networks. Just wish (like a million others) I had access to those folks to pitch to for a foot in the door instead of the big fish who are less interested in the micro/small/indie stuff.
doug
CJ,
As usual, your comment seems spot on. I do think there are audiences interested in "smaller" films at the bottom, but it sure is hard to get the word out when budgets are so restrictive. All we can do is keep plugging away.
douglas esper