Financing independent projects has always been the hardest part of the job. Finding equity investors, applying for grants, joining industry groups and networks and attending “speed dating” events are all tried and true strategies. But there is another area that I think goes a bit under recognized – labs, institutes and fellowships. There are many of these, each with a…
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Humanity on Set
Humanity on Set is the name of a film leadership program recently created by veteran film producer Gary Foster and leadership expert Eileen Coskey Fracchia to train producers and directors on how to run film sets effectively and with respect. Foster’s film and television screen credits include Sleepless in Seattle, Ghost Rider, Community and Tin Cup and he’s worked with…
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5 Things you need to know before Budgeting
I love creating budgets. I find it relaxing. Numbers don’t lie and it’s a great pre-visualization tool for any production. Budgets are one of the first steps in the development/prep stage for your project. When you do the first draft of any budget, you can’t know every answer or detail yet and many line items will be guesses. But there…
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Funds to assist filmmakers
It’s been a year since COVID-19 essentially shut down the film production world. The industry has opened up safely and slowly and more projects will go into production as vaccinations increase in each region around the world. This past year has been very, very challenging and support and assistance is still necessary for many performing arts professionals. Many funds sprung…
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Financing your project: In-Kind donations
This series focuses on ways to finance your projects. This one highlights how In-Kind donations can help to get your film made. What are In-Kind donations? A recent post in this series focused on Fiscal Sponsorship and how non-profit organizations are able to give tax-deduction letters to any donors that support your film monetarily through their org. Many of those…
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Use the “sharing economy” for your film
Producers are always mindful of how best to stretch the budget to accommodate the creative vision and practical requirements for any film production. The sharing economy is especially helpful in several areas of film budget to maximizing your money. Below is a breakdown of how to use it for some of the key budget line items: Vehicles, Locations/Spaces and Art…
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Craft services 101
Long before Google provided free micro-roasted coffee, or WeWork offered complimentary refreshing fruit water to their workers, the film industry created “craft services.” Every film set has a table (or sometimes a food truck) nearby that is filled with various drinks and snacks to “service the crafts” who are working hard on the film. Craft services keeps everyone hydrated and…
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Financing your project – Fiscal Sponsorship
This is the first in a series about how to fund your feature, video, web series or short. Funding an independent project is always a challenge. This time we will focus on fiscal sponsorship, how it works and how it might be the right fit for your project. What is fiscal sponsorship? A fiscal sponsorship is an arrangement in which…
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What the hell do they do? Producers
This is the first in a series of posts that will define and highlight different job positions in the film industry. We are starting this monthly series with the Producer job because a) it’s the focus of this whole website and b) it’s probably the job that the most people can’t really explain what the hell they do! The simple…
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Welcome to Producer to Producer
Welcome to the ProducerToProducer.com website – a place to focus on issues and topics that support independent film producing. This is a hub to share reliable and relevant information to foster excellent work and cultivate positive values for the independent film community. Subjects pertaining to practical production and creative collaboration are at the forefront of what will be discussed and…
