Film Financing – Producer – Investor Search | Aria Pictures Weblog

Date: September 29, 2014
Author: Gerald Martin Davenport
Reading Time: 7 minutes

Film Financing – Producer – Investor Search continues.

Our Film Financing – Producer – Investor search has not stopped; it never ended; it is an ongoing journey and goal to find financing for our projects: stories, films, and programs; to find a producer — an investor — to help us bring our stories onto the bigger screen, stage, and receive returns from our hard work.

This past year, 2014, we took a little time to work on a few projects which meant the search was not the only thing we were concentrating on but was still with us where ever we went — it is still a priority, but first and foremost is the act of creation — it is air to us, if we stop creating, we stop living.

Chardonnay Financing

After Petite Chardonnay was completed it was submitted to many festivals in hopes of generating interest and a bigger buzz about Film Financing the full-length version which would be photographed in Northern California; giving local actors and crew an opportunity for paid work, along with spreading it around for locations, restaurants, hotels, and so much more — all we are asking for is $1,000,000.00, which is nothing compared to the budgets for studio films that are in 50+ million range.

We could do it for $800,000.00, and we have a $600,000.00 proposal as well, but most of the 200 – 400k that is cut from the million-dollar proposal was for equipment rental — so we don’t use 2 – 3 Reds with all the goodies, just some of them. Yes, most of the budget was for the cast (possibly get a few named actors) & crew (getting some experienced people), lighting (very important), and feeding them — a happy crew is a well-fed crew no matter what you pay them.

Well, the festival circuit fizzled, actually it did not even get started, and not for lack of a great product, just the luck of the draw. We submitted to Sundance in 2013 and they had 17,000 submissions for 170 spots, so if you did not have a buzz already, a well-known person attached to it, or, well let us be honest here: Sundance is NOT an indie film festival, it never was, never has been; it is where the studios test their artsy product; it is where a well-known actor shows off their first or second try at directing or producing; basically we had no chance out of the gate and people told me that, but I wanted to see it first hand — cost me $100 to do that, and it was no different for when we submitted to 15 other festivals in the same status level, above our reputation grade. It did play at the Davis Film Festival, thanks to Judith Plank’s acceptance of the film.

So the lack of festival showings is not reflected in how good the product was, just not in the circle of known filmmakers. Granted, the film is not great; it is not a Star Wars or Master & Commander, but it is not bad either. There were some great performances, the cinematography was beautiful, and the music was awesome!

Feeding the Portfolio

Oberon’s Gold with Dallas Guier & Robert Stuckey – Aria Pictures & Breckport Media Solutions

Running out of avenues to send, share, and showcase Petite Chardonnay to find potential investors due to lack of experienced producer people in Northern California: the film industry is only supporting the majors, and again not widely known, it was not time to sit on our hands and wait; NO. We had to stay busy with what we loved to do: tell stories visually.

The National Exchange with Jessica Pittaway – Aria Pictures & Breckport Media Solutions

With the inception of a new Nevada County TV screenplay contest to make a 10-minute film; we were scheduled to work on one of the winning selections; however, the writer/producer dropped out without any explanation — we were in the dark. But one of the other writers, Bruce Bradley, did not have a crew or any idea what to do, so Aria Pictures and Breckport Media Solutions came to his rescue — twice — and completed Oberon’s Gold and The National Exchange.

Both films are Western’s based and written about Northern California, but Oberon’s Gold is more of a fairytale whereas The National Exchange is more realistic in nature.

Both projects needed some story work, and the rewrites took a few weeks between Gerald and Bruce, and in the case of The National Exchange, Robert Stuckey was involved with the rewrite; some new characters were created and one from THE GOLdEN TREE makes an appearance in The National Exchange.

Both films were done by the team of Breckport Media Solutions: Brendan Brooks, Jim Heck, and Gerald Martin Davenport, as well as, Scott Slotterbeck, an integral part of the Aria Pictures team, which included some new members: Mathew Young and Justus Brooks who filled out the 5 person production team for The National Exchange.

The cast of Oberon’s Gold had more experienced actors like Kel Owens and Mark Hoffman than The National Exchange, which was labeled as a B-Side to Oberon’s Gold; but with Gerald’s ability to make everyone feel comfortable and relaxed, the performances for The National Exchange make it an A-Side contender.

A and B side is a reference to the 45 records that were released with a popular song, and a filler song for the back-side, the B-side that rarely was played.

Two great projects to feed the portfolio and proving that we are active and serious about what we love to do.

Projects Awaiting Financing

We have over 200 screenplays of varying genre’s, lengths, and budgets that are waiting to be financed, as well as, many episodic projects:

Making Movies with a Purpose

People have asked what we mean by “Making Movies with a Purpose.”

“Everything is done with a purpose.” Yes, yes they are.

Our purpose is to Entertain, Educate, Inspire, and Emotionally Move the audience to a higher level. Our focus is not about making the most money by cheating, lying, or giving the audience crap — there are too many people doing that already, we have a conscience, morals, and respect for the audience.

“Will we be rich and famous?” Be nice but do not care. “Will we make money and have a following?” Yes, yes we will. If there is a following for fart jokes, then there is a following for classier material. “If you make it, they will watch.”

So if you are interested in bringing film, tv, and story-telling to a higher level and make money doing it, we need your help; our Film Financing – Producer – Investor Search continues.

Remember: Lights on for safety. even during the day