Selling Your Film to a Financier
Well, I attended this panel on Sunday at 10am at the NWFF. It was the only one I was able to take in of the four NW Production Market classes that SIFF was offering. I chose it primarily because it was the panel that potentially had the most information to offer me in terms of where I stand with projects.
Alas, as usual, they covered ground that I've covered before so most of the panel was nothing new. But hopefully the crowd of 45 or so got something more out of it. It's all good info but after a long discussion about putting together the package for a financier, etc. the bottom line was: if you don't know anyone with money now, you won't find anyone with money.
This was perhaps the greatest realization. It makes sense, and I've written about it here before just not in such direct terms. The panelists didn't sugarcoat finding money. But they emphasized the incentives available both via Federal and State programs, that should help you if you ever find yourself in a room with a potential investor.
Let's face it, of the films that have been made in Seattle over the last 5 years or so, from "Police Beat" onward (basically using PB as the beginning of a "renaissance" of sorts... a REEEEEAAAAALLL stretch, but follow me...), all or very nearly all of them had a major player who was on board from the get go. The producers (usually also the writer and/or director) had an established presence that enabled them to tap into major financing. We're talking $1MM or less here, so not major money, but still.
Even "Outsourced", which is the newest film from Shadowcatcher Entertainment, was funded through their own pockets first (a significant amount I'm told) which helped lure other investors. This isn't a new model... it's been done hundreds of times before. Only not many indies have access to the funds Shadowcatcher might due to their past successes and the make-up of their production team.
So what is the baseline price to get your script in front of people with money? Well, you need to prove that your script is going to be worth their time first of all. So pay the $300 and put the script through a script consultant/reader's test. Geof Miller was mentioned as a local script reader who has the clout that will mean something to many locals. Do NOT pass GO if the script reader says your script sucks. Don't take it to heart, but also realize they probably know something you don't and make an effort to amend that. After you've received your script back and made any necessary changes contact a casting director and/or lawyer.
For an easy chain of command in Seattle, you can get your script read by Geof for around $300. With his approval, Lance Rosen and Steve Salamunovich will both look at your script. Steve may charge an additional fee to evaluate your script and do a preliminary search for potential actors for your project. Lance will charge a deposit and then, depending on the paperwork you need, will charge by the hour after that. Most lawyers are about $250/hr.
Lance mentioned at the panel that a movie secured $10,000 in start-up capital and that it was "way too low." I guess it all depends on what you need to secure before you can begin pre-production. Do you need to travel to secure actors or talk to potential locations? Will you need to fly anybody to where you are? Will you need extensive PPMs and securities paperwork? Will you have rent to pay, employees to establish, LLC paperwork to file? For any production over $500,000 I'd say the answer will most often be ABSOLUTELY YES! But it all depends on that script of yours. 
Anyway, boiling it down, as usual, it's WHO you know. There happens to be some cool incentives to at least all but guarantee your investors will make SOME of their money back (depending on their tax bracket, of course, but between 35-55% usually) and coupled with some other incentives they can make upwards of 75% of their money back before the movie is even sold! This is major so keep that in mind.
What the panel failed to talk about was what you do when you have no connections. When you don't have several Microsoft buddies. With narrative films, it's especially hard to locate people who may be interested in your subject matter. Genre films have it somewhat easier but not by much.
With units in films starting at $25000 and up, there aren't many family members who can help get you started, and unless you cre to put your house on the line or are independently wealthy, it's as hard as ever to find accredited investors.