Richard Linklater's Indie Film Strategy

Richard Linklater has been one of the most important voices in independent film for decades. He's one of those filmmakers who, no matter what, finds a way to get the projects he's passionate about funded and made.

Linklater is a 5x Oscar-nominee, but he still feels the struggles when it comes to funding his movies outside the studio system.

At IndieWire‘s Future of Filmmaking Summit at Cannes, the director told the audience that they had to “be a cheap hustler” and “have some charm” in order to find the money necessary to make things.

He continued, “If no one wants to support you, that just means you are not ready yet."

These words of encouragement should go hand in hand with the idea of writing and making things that are at a level you know you can raise.

Linklater finished with, “Maybe you don’t have the confidence or something’s not exuding from you that needs to be for people to believe in you, and that’s usually you believing in yourself. You can’t fake that. You have to earn that through your own experience, your own confidence, your own hard work and dedication.”

Asking people for money to make your passion project is never fun. But you have to get over it. Some of this is how you present your argument to people. Be charming, show them that you really believe in the project.

Make a pitch deck or a proof of concept or have another way to show them you mean business. The more professional you can be, the further you'll go.

Let me know your best strategies in the comments.