One of the most under-valued, and for that matter, under developed tools in film financing, are business plans. For the most part this is because independent film makers don’t have a corporate or business background, and they simply rely on what they read or the advice of an uninformed few in putting these important business documents together.
It is exceptionally important to make sure that you have done your research before putting a business plan together for your film, because you want to present the most compelling argument for any investor to invest in you. To that end, you must start by having a film project that has a higher than average chance of being made, which means attracting talent that will produce the sales numbers that will show an investor he has a reasonable chance of not losing his money. This is really comes down to development but in the event that you have such a project, you can begin attracting the talent to support your end goal.
Use your exceptional script to attract the interest of a select few senior management, a reputable co-producer (if you aren’t one already), as well as: a director, a director of photography and a line producer with great track records—- once you have achieved this stepping stone, use them as a portfolio to attract your actors. Afterall, actors see the project as more attractive, and they are more likely to come on board a project that has a reputable team at the helm.
Assuming you have gotten this far, you can begin to create your business plan with at least some of the tools and personal skill that will make your investment opportunity, “somewhat compelling” compared to the plethora of others that aren’t.
Some of the key ingredients to a good business plan that investors will be looking for and I rarely see are; accurate sales projections from a reputable sales or distribution company, a full budget breakdown and a solid finance breakdown showing how the project is to be funded, and how the risk to capital will be mitigated.
The above elements are rarely ever included in business plans because they aren’t easy or cheap to get—- you usually have to pay for a schedule and budget to be created, which means paying a line producer a few thousand dollars for their time. A solid financing plan that stands up to scrutiny usually requires a depth of knowledge that few independent producers possess—- nevermind the fact that sales numbers cannot be realistically achieved without working relationships with those companies. A project that has talent attached or a reasonable chance of attaching usually has a better chance of obtaining financing, but without having a solid business plan to attract that talent, your project may not even be able to get underway.
However, on the assumption that you can achieve much of what is proposed above, ensure you have the following information in your business plan and you will have a better than average chance of attracting an investor’s sense of adventure. A disclaimer, an Executive summary (a high level view of your business plan - 1-2 pages), creative overview of the project, log-line, synopsis, management team bio’s, bio’s of the actors attached or proposed, a current industry overview, a sales and distribution plan for your film, comparison films with accurate numbers that are not just achieved by pulling them from site like imdb.com or boxofficemojo.com, a budget breakdown, sales estimates and information about the company providing them, proposed schedule of events, financing, pre-production, production, post-production, sales and distribution, section on risk mitigation and risk warnings.
This list is by no means exhaustive, and, if in doubt, the services of a professional should be sought in putting your business plan together. Remember, you usually only get one chance to impress an investor and you want to present to them the best opportunity you can. Give them no reason to say NO. Good luck
Mark Andrews
