If there’s one thing every film production under the sun has in common, it’s the need for resources. Whether those come in the form of money, people-power, in-kind donations, or all-three, we all need them to get our films made, and we all hate to ask for them. But ask we must, and that’s why I’m especially excited for today’s episode, which will surely ease the burden, as my guests share a definitive list of do’s and do not's for pitching your next project.
Those guests are Molly O’Brien, who has been producing for over 20 years and is now Chief Business Development Officer of Fork Films; Daniel Chalfen, who is a multiple Emmy-nominated and DuPont-winning film and TV producer and a co-founder of Naked Edge Films; and Jose Rodriguez, who is the Director of Documentary Programs at the Tribeca Film Institute, where he is responsible for all of its documentary funding.
The four of us spoke at this year’s Camden International Film Festival, where they were all sitting on the stage, hearing and critiquing pitches live at the Points North pitch, a centerpiece of the festival where six work-in-progress projects are selected to pitch front of industry heavyweights and an audience of more than 400 people. Between them, Molly, Daniel, and Jose estimate that they have heard over 10,000 pitches, and so we all have a lot to learn from them in this episode about how to raise money and get support for our films.
Listen to the episode by streaming or downloading from the embedded player above, or find it on iTunes here.
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This episode was edited by Jon Fusco.
