Last week I spoke to a writer/director who told me she’s really been slacking on finding funding and it’s holding her back, plus she doesn’t know where to go

This is something I’ve heard about 100 times before, so we’re going to dive into the deep end today to talk about getting funding for your next short film

What do I do now?

If you’re a writer or director, or both, you probably have a ton of ideas and maybe even a ton of scripts

But the big question is what do you do next

You’ve probably filled out a lot of funding applications, sent a lot of emails and maybe even posted in Facebook groups or social media

But nothing seems to be forthcoming, right?

A multitude of options

When that happens, we think about crowdfunding and hopefully that’s successful, or else we start putting a chunk of the income from our day job into savings which you can use to fund the film, or slightly worse, just max out your credit card

Those are all viable ways of funding your film, money is money, right?

But it’s sure as hell not sustainable and it’s probably not having a great impact on you personally, or on your credit score

It also means you’re holding yourself back, because by making yourself solely responsible for finance, you’re actually becoming a bottleneck 

You can’t make a new film, until you save up enough, or talk your friends and family into donating (again) or pay off the credit card bills from your last film

All of this is preventing you from making your own films 

Let me say that again:

If you’re a writer, director or both, trying to find funding is actually preventing you from making your own films

Fundamental rule writers & directors tend to forget, because we’re driven and determined people who want to take action, but the basic truth is that producers are responsible for funding

(Not you)

Unless you want to become a producer

So if you’re spending your time researching film funds, filling in applications, trying to hunt down private investors or putting your own money aside, you’re focussing on the wrong thing

Read more: 8 Tips for Emailing Producers

First thing on your to do list

Instead, you need to be working on making connections and building long-lasting working relationships with producers

These are the people who you need to be spending on that time on 

A lot of film funds or investors, or wherever it is you’re looking for money, often won’t consider a project without a producer 

So don’t trip at the first hurdle by spending 90% of your time looking into funding, when you should be spending it connecting with producers

Read more: 6 Steps to Rebuild Your Network

Eyes on the future

And the best part of this, is that as you start to do this consistently and build up your producer’s network, the next time you have an idea, you immediately know which producers will be interested. Then, all you have to do is send them a quick email 

Long-term, it’s a easy, sustainable strategy that doesn’t screw with you mentally, emotionally, or financially

The producers you focus on connecting with should already be making films that you’re interested in. Focus on the ones making female-led narrative dramas if that’s where you’re heart is

Don’t be collecting producers if they don’t speak to you on a creative level, that’s not beneficial for anyone 

Read more: What to do when film producers don’t accept unsolicited scripts

The No-Fail method for finding producers

So to recap: if you have an idea, script, and your pitch materials are all ready to go, start by researching producers who are making similar things and reach out

Read more: 3 Ways to Get Producers to Take You Seriously

Remember this is about a long-term connection, not a one-off project pitch, so don’t go in all guns blazing with your treatment and pitch deck and sizzle reel, that won’t help you build a relationship with them – it’s actually kind of off-putting

Instead, send them a quick email to say you enjoyed their film, that you are a writer/director etc who makes films… Would they be free for a coffee or a zoom call sometime? 

That is the really easy, and most effective way to get your project into production without spending months on applications or screwing up your credit score

Read more: The best advice I’ve ever been given about pitching, financing and selling your films

If you’re going to be sending out introductory emails to producers this week, drop your fav emoji in the comments