nofilmschool » financing

Why Make a Short? Why Run a Kickstarter Campaign So Early? The MANCHILD Q&A

Ryan Koo — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:29:13 +0000

In the comments section of my more-contentious-than-I-expected post about making a short that ties into my forthcoming feature MANCHILD, there were a lot of questions about my project, as well as the overall wisdom of making a short in order to fundraise for a feature. Reading through the comments, I realized I could’ve delved deeper into the timeline of what’s happened since my Kickstarter campaign. So, to answer some of the questions posed in the comments — as well as to generally shoot the shit about filmmaking — I sat down (virtually) with NFS editor Joe Marine for an wide-ranging video chat. (more…)

1. Write the Feature. 2. Make a Short. 3. Get the Feature Made. (Coming Soon: a MANCHILD Short)

Ryan Koo — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 20:29:05 +0000

UPDATE: In response to some of the (heated! opinionated!) questions and comments on this post, we did a long video Q&A as well.

I wrote recently about finishing the screenplay for my feature MANCHILD (for now… ), but it’s been a while since I talked about what else is going on in the trenches of first-time feature filmmaking. The title of the post gives it away: we’re making a short. Why are we doing this? And why do I think this strategy makes a lot of sense for other first-time feature directors? Because there are millions of people with a screenplay, all trying to figure out how to get from here (words on a page) to there (actual finished movie). If your goal seems impossibly far off, that’s when it’s time to bite off a smaller chunk and show what you’re capable of. (more…)

Film and TV Tax Incentives Renewed in Fiscal Cliff Deal, Section 181 Extended Through 2013

Joe Marine — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:25:32 +0000

If you’re involved in the film or TV industry in any way, there’s a good chance you or someone you know has benefitted from Section 181 of the U.S. IRS Tax Code since it was established in 2004. Basically, it gives any investor the ability to deduct 100% of the money they invest in that same year for production costs up to $15 million dollars — and possibly as much as $20 million dollars. The good news is that as part of the last minute “Fiscal Cliff” deal, Section 181 has been renewed for 2013, which means that investors have a federal incentive to put money into a project, in addition to the various state tax incentives. (more…)

Dailymotion to Help Finance Original Films With its $50K MotionMaker Fund

Dave Kendricken — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 03:44:46 +0000

Dailymotion is a video sharing service that aims to provide quality services to both its standard users (viewers) and ‘MotionMakers’ — its original content creators. In compliance with this goal, Dailymotion has some rather exciting news if you are one of these MotionMakers. The site has recently announced the Dailymotion MotionMaker Fund — its aim to split $50,000 in funding between 5 to 10 hand-picked recipients — to enter, you must merely send in a submission form, a treatment for the project you’d like to get funded, and a bit more info displaying your creative work. Read on for more details. (more…)

Your Film May Be More Appealing to Investors if You Start* by the End of the Year

Ryan Koo — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:37:43 +0000

Did you know that for the last seven years, film investors could tax-deduct the entirety of their film investment (up to $20 million), in the same year they made the investment, regardless of whether the film made a profit or loss? This has been possible thanks to IRS Code Section 181, which, according to indieWIRE, is the only federal tax credit available for independent film investors. Section 181 is set to expire at the end of 2011, however, and is not likely to be renewed. So if you’re looking for investment in a film project of yours, and you want to entice investors with this significant deduction, you’ve got a little over two months to get started — and by “get started,” I mean getting your paperwork in order and filming at least one day (thus the reason for the asterisk). (more…)