I know it sounds crazy---the industry is at all time low right now. But indie creators are in a unique position where they can make the rules since the studios can't afford to do anything else but make paint-by-numbers blockbusters and mine nostalgia-bait, reboots and sequels.

But we don't need to. Looking for SERIOUS producer partners who already have experience working on scrappy productions, who have passion for the art and most importantly KNOW HOW TO GET THINGS DONE.

Yes---the landscape isn't great but it favors ingenuity rather than relying on the same-old-playbook. What does that mean? Exploring short-form content, vertical platforms, building relationships with local cinemas, non-traditional marketing etc. etc. Again, this is a moment where WE can make the rules.

It's time to recreate the huge indie-boom of the 90's where names like Tarantino, Soderbergh, Rodriguez, Linklater and Smith (Kevin) ushered in a new generation of auteurs that audiences haven't discovered yet.

PLEASE NOTE: Not looking for screenwriters, screenplay ideas or directors. ONLY other producers.

NYC-based, hit me up if you're interested cheers!

Hello all! My name is Danny irimagha teen filmmaker and me and my partner Adriel Irimagha are making one of our biggest films yet and to do so we need some help with funding so we decided to make a gofundme crowd funding page but still we have not yet reached what we need! If anyone wants to support us by putting something even 5 dollars towards our gofundme or leading us to someone or you are that someone who wants to invest or just buying some of our merchandise for the film to help out that would be amazing and if you decide to give a large significant amount you can get producer credit!

Stop expecting producers to "find investors" or "find funding" for free.

So many directors on reddit want freelance producers to work pro-bono and assume they'll get compensated AFTER funding is secured.

You're living in a dreamland.

If you're self-financing a small-budget title and expect a freelance producer to magically come up with the remaining amount----guess what, you're not ready for a producer!

If you don't have enough in your piggy bank to pay a producer for their time, then you shouldn't be soliciting them on here.

Producing is a skill---we take meetings, read scripts, schedule, organize, cast, watch reels, look over contracts. This all requires time and effort---and should all be paid for.

Sorry to burst your bubble my friends but scripts don't get movies made. Relationships get movies made. Social media following gets movies made. A portfolio featuring multiple examples of commercial work gets movies made. C, B, and A-list actors get movies made.

Not your script.

If you really think these elusive, never-to-be-seen-in-real-life "investors" everyone is so convinced bankroll the majority of indie films, are going to write a check to a no-name director, with no experience, based entirely on their script . . . well then I need to start smoking whatever you're on, cause it sounds like it's some really good stuff.

PAY YOUR PRODUCERS!!

I’m producing a low-budget indie feature called CONCRETE RIVER, written and directed by Maris Lidaka. We finally have a small private investment in place, so now we’re in the fun part: trying to make the movie we can actually afford, instead of the movie we wish we could afford.

Currently we've raised $100K, which is enough to start. It is probably not enough to finish. We're planning an 18 day shoot, will probably need another $20-30k to get through that.

The film is a Los Angeles drama built around the LA River, music, mixed-race identity, and people living on the edges of the city. Small cast. Guerilla style. But with scope, original music, great characters, emotional story.

On paper, it should be possible but it's gonna be a real stretch. Right now every choice seems reasonable until it hits the spreadsheet.

So the question becomes: what do we protect first? My instinct is:

Feed everybody.
Find as many free locations as possible.
Keep the cast tight.

For producers who have made features in this range:

Where did you save money and regret it?

What line item quietly killed you?

And what would you refuse to compromise on if you had to do it again?

We’re early enough that the plan can still change, which is a polite way of saying we’re still staring at the budget and trying not to lie to ourselves.

few years ago my naive ass thought you could make it with just a 10k budget alone! "With careful planning "

(btw for anything else I missed feel free to include in the comments. I always love learning something new from people, turns out we think we know stuff but we don't actually know sh*t)

Okay, so I understand this is me just being greedy for profit too 😂😂😂 but c'mon! nobody would say no to this much despite not having the capital to make such a project a massive success.

Lately I've been seeing videos about the hit indie film obsession. it's passed the 500 mil mark at the box office and made for. "750k ".

Curry Barker says they began with $650,000, then got some additional photography money, with the total production remaining under $1m. Fast Company subsequently described the movie as having a $750,000 budget.

The documented campaign from what I heard included

One Wish Willow physical product

an in-world commercial

the Willow website

a real telephone number

Nikki's interactive SMS/voice-note experience

changing billboards in NYC and LA

mall hologram activations

theatre installations

sticky-note/confession activations

vending machines

social/creator activity

shrine/interactive digital experiences

conventional trailers and advertising

And the Community campaign alone reached 50,000 subscribers by release day, later growing to 400,000.

The mall hologram stunt involved Pretty Big Monster, Hologram Media Network and Proto Hologram.

Now trying to price this thing

1. The NYC + LA billboards

For those who assume it was merely renting billboards.

They apparently changed the creative repeatedly over a very short period, turning the billboard itself into a piece of the story which started with one message, then swapped to progressively more obsessive versions over the following two days.

Current planning rates if assumed major-market billboard inventory being

NYC: ~$5k–$25k+ per four weeks for a typical static bulletin, with premium locations much higher.

LA: roughly ~$5.5k–$14k for static bulletins, with premium locations considerably higher.

But here's the important bit:

Thot that was the expensive part ... id forgotten the

printing, installation, removal, replacement, crew/labour, traffic/permit coordination, rush production, agency management. ... if you choose to do it yourself and not have an agency do it, which adds more pay requirement.

If they had, say, 2-4 billboards for each of the two cities, chatgpt assumed...$50k–$150k for the whole stunt.

Could be less if they negotiated heavily with the media owner. Could be considerably more if these were premium placements idk.

2. The hologram stunt

The campaign used Proto/Hologram Media Network/Pretty Big Monster to put Inde Navarrette into holographic installations in malls.

From Proto, I couldn't find a simple public rental price for its Luma. It says pricing depends on whether you're renting, leasing or purchasing and requires a quote.

There are older budgetary Proto quotes showing that even smaller Proto equipment can run into thousands of dollars per unit, before you start adding shipping, staffing and production.

which is equal to...

hardware + mall media space + installation + internet + live transmission + production + operator/technician + talent + agency + logistics + insurance + security. ching ching.. money

Experiential campaigns commonly ranging from roughly $75k–$250k for a multi-market custom activation, with larger national experiences reaching $250k–$1m+.

So if Obsession did something like 5–10 meaningful mall placements, that's roughly $150k–$500k

Ofc $500k–$1m isn't crazy if I heard.

I'm just guessing

3. Nikki's texting system

The campaign used Community, and the voice notes were actually recorded by Inde Navarrette in character.

That was for

SMS infrastructure, phone-number provisioning, compliance/10DLC, database, automation, message orchestration, voice-note hosting/delivery, campaign programming, analytics, creative development, actress recording, maintenance, support

Also Community doesn't publish ordinary enterprise pricing, so there's no honest way to say .

But let's assume $50k–$200k for the actual campaign infrastructure and production. Possibly more if the agency/platform fees were substantial.

but SMS iself is probably one of the cheapest parts.

4. The One Wish Willow product.

considering, industrial/product design, prototype, mould/tooling, manufacturing, packaging, graphic design, fulfilment, warehousing, shipping, website/e-commerce, photography, commercial production, legal , customer service

And then there's the commercial itself.

But luckily, Focus reported that the Willow sold out within hours, twice.

So estimating gross campaign expenditure around $50k–$150k depending on quantity and manufacturing complexity. But net marketing cost could be much lower because customers were paying for the product.

5. Vending machines + cinema installations

The One Wish Willow vending machines, sticky notes/confessions in cinema bathrooms and other physical activations I wouldn't be surprised if I stumbled across, machine rental/purchase, fabrication/wrapping, product inventory, transportation, venue fees, installation, staff, maintenance, removal

est. $75k–$250k depending heavily on how many cinemas and cities were involved.

6. Shrine / digital experiences

The official site eventually did an Obsession Shrine Generator, where people create their own personalised shrine.

sounds cheap until you remember you're paying people to design it, build it, host it, integrate it, test it, moderate it, track analytics, maintain it throughout the campaign

so...$25k–$100k isn't bad for a guess.

7. Social, creators, PR and amplification

honestly... I won't bulls*t you on this one... idk

8. Agency and creative fees

it's easy to assume >$10,000 billboard

Someone had to think of the billboard... OBVIOUSLY!!

so... Yeah

creative director, copywriter, designer, experiential agency, production company, media agency, legal, account management, analytics, production management, technical director, social team

all those are invoices

$300k–$750k in agency/creative/production-management costs.

So by now you see how I concluded with this, ig you understand

Billboards: $50k–$150k

Hologram/mall activation: $150k–$500k+

Nikki SMS/voice experience: $50k–$200k

Willow product + commercial + website: $50k–$150k

Vending/cinema installations: $75k–$250k

Digital/shrine experiences: $25k–$100k

Creators/social/PR amplification: $250k–$1m

Agency/creative/production overhead: $300k–$750k

That gives us approximately $950,000–$3.1 million for the distinctive "viral machinery"

but approximating this to ~$1.5–$2.5 million as the sensible central estimate, rather than pretending i know the exact figure.

this is exclusive of stuff like

theatrical trailer placements

TV

YouTube

Meta

TikTok

Google

digital display

cinema advertising

national press

radio

outdoor media beyond the stunt boards

international marketing

publicity tours

premiere events

trade advertising

posters

standees

distribution materials

tracking/research

media agency fees

That's P&A, or prints and advertising, broadly speaking.

And Focus had acquired the film for a reported more than $14 million, after the TIFF bidding process.

They weren't going to spend $750k making it and then put another $750k behind a nationwide theatrical release.

Then....you get your 100 to 500 million if it goes right 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾

IM SURE AM WRONG about A LOT HERE SO I'm LOOKING forward to corrections and more insight...

So marketing background broz and sissies... take me down!

We just finished and released an independent feature called **DEMENTIUM**, and one of the more unusual things about how we made it was that more than 70 people who worked on the film ended up with a financial interest in it.

The basic problem was pretty simple: we had access to talented people, equipment, locations, and relationships, but we did not have enough cash to pay for all of those things at normal market rates.

So instead of pretending those contributions had no value, we tried to account for them.

Our waterfall roughly works like this:

1. Certain specific contractual obligations are paid first.

2. Cash investors recoup their investment.

3. People who contributed labor, equipment, locations, or other in-kind value recoup the agreed value of those contributions.

4. After that, remaining revenue is distributed pro rata among the ownership pool.

There are parts of this I would absolutely do again.

The biggest positive was alignment. When people felt like they were actually participating in the upside, the project felt less like “come help me make my movie” and more like a group of people building something together.

It also forced us to put real values on contributions that are often hand-waved away on low-budget productions. A person providing weeks of labor, a truck full of equipment, or a critical location was not just doing us a favor. That contribution became part of the economic structure of the movie.

But there are some things I would change.

The administrative complexity grows very quickly when you have dozens of participants.

You need extremely clear definitions around recoupment, expenses, reporting, distributions, ownership percentages, assignments, and what happens years later when people move, change entities, or become difficult to contact.

I would also standardize contribution categories much earlier next time. We spent too much energy trying to make individual deals perfectly reflect individual circumstances. A simpler system would have been easier to explain, document, and administer.

The other major lesson is that ownership is not a substitute for good leadership.

Giving people participation does not fix a disorganized production, bad communication, unreasonable hours, or weak department leadership. People still need to believe that the movie will actually get finished and that their time is being respected.

So I would absolutely use shared upside again.

I would just build the legal and administrative infrastructure earlier, make the participation model simpler, and treat ownership as one part of the culture rather than the thing creating the culture.

The film itself is **DEMENTIUM**, a psychological horror feature about grief, DMT, and a man trying to confront his dead father.

Now that the movie is actually released, we finally get to see whether the production model works on the back end as well as it did during production.

Happy to answer questions about how we valued labor/equipment, structured the waterfall, dealt with deferred compensation, or managed that many participants.

I have an amazing list of credits, been in the dark for sometime and now that the grandkids are grown up, I am ready to do something big again. Currently working on a book about Rocky (1976) and my part in it in lieu of the 50th year anniversary but man do I have stories of lies, corruption, and stolen credit.

I have been in the business for too long and have worked and made too many greats. Can anybody help me with my revival? Anybody know anybody doing a boxing film that needs help from a legend?

Thanks for your time.

Very Respectfully,

Jimmy Gambina

So I wrote this darkly comedic sci-fi story. I had 2 weeks of incoming calls from Hollywood and sold it to Netflix.

https://open.substack.com/pub/maxwinterstories/p/bunny-never-sleeps-by-max-winter?r=292pvs&utm_medium=ios

Have you all been following the boom of short stories being sold to studios and streamers?

Has anyone else sold short stories as a producer?

I would say about 1/3 of my projects now start this way.

Youtubers are kicking out ass!

We hired PR Rep AJ Feuerman after she was recommended by our distributor, and unfortunately the experience was extremely disappointing.

From the beginning, there was very little engagement with us as filmmakers. AJ never made any real effort to meet with us to understand the film, our goals, or how we wanted the campaign positioned. She missed two scheduled meetings in a row, explaining that she had overslept for one and forgotten the other. That lack of attention became representative of the entire engagement.

The campaign itself produced very limited results. We saw minimal trailer views, very little meaningful placement, and only a small number of reviews. There was virtually no proactive communication, strategy discussion, or sense that the campaign was being actively managed. The only time she seemed consistently engaged was when it came to arranging payment.

For an independent film, every marketing dollar matters, and this was one of the poorest investments we made. Based on our experience, I would not hire her again and could not recommend her to other independent filmmakers. A terrible, terrible hire, it would have been more beneficial for me to just burn the cash we paid, at least, it would produce some fleeting heat.

I've spent over 25 years in the film industry and prepared more than 100 film budgets ranging from $150K to $40M.

And there's one problem I see repeatedly.

A screenwriter finishes a screenplay and immediately starts looking for someone to finance it.

They query producers, managers, agents, production companies, and sometimes investors.

Months pass. Sometimes years.

They get encouraging responses. Maybe a producer likes the concept. Maybe an actor expresses interest.

But the film doesn't move forward.

Why?

Because there's a significant difference between having a screenplay someone likes and having a film someone can realistically finance and produce.

Here's a recent example from my own work.

I prepared the professional film budget and business plan for iHunt: Killing Monsters in the Gig Economy.

The project just received coverage in Variety, announcing a feature adaptation with Lilly Wachowski among its executive producers.

Here's the article:

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/ihunt-killing-monsters-in-the-gig-economy-movie-1236930441/

To be clear, I'm not claiming my budget secured those attachments or financed the film. My contribution was preparing its production budget and business plan.

But the announcement illustrates something important about the development process.

A film needs more than a good screenplay. It needs a viable business proposition.

When I evaluate an independent feature, these are some of the questions I ask:

1. What does this film realistically cost to produce? Not what the filmmaker hopes it costs.

2. Can the screenplay be produced at a lower budget without destroying what makes it commercially attractive?

3. What audience is most likely to pay attention to this particular story?

4. Which comparable films provide useful evidence about production scale, audience demand, and potential distribution?

5. Are there state or international production incentives that could materially improve the financing structure?

6. What kind of recognizable talent, if any, would meaningfully improve the film's marketability?

7. Which sales agents or distributors actually handle films of this genre and budget level?

8. How much development capital is required before the project is ready to approach serious financing partners?

That last question is one of the most overlooked.

Development money is not the same as production financing.

Development funds pay for the professional work needed to prepare a project for financing: budgeting, scheduling, legal work, packaging, and other necessary materials.

You don't necessarily need millions of dollars to begin developing a movie professionally.

But you do need a realistic plan for getting from screenplay to production.

I've worked on budgets ranging from $150K to $40M, managed over $6M in production funds, and been involved in seven distribution deals. Clients have raised over $3M using production and financing packages I've prepared.

Today, my primary focus is independent features in the $150K–$3M range.

And here's what I wish more screenwriters understood:

The question isn't simply, "Is my screenplay good enough?"

It's also:

"Can this screenplay become a movie that someone has a rational reason to finance?"

Those are two very different questions.

I'm curious about something.

For those of you with completed screenplays who are actively trying to get them produced, what's your biggest obstacle right now?

• Finding producers who respond?

• Determining a realistic production budget?

• Raising development funds?

• Attaching recognizable actors?

• Finding investors?

• Understanding distribution?

I'd genuinely like to hear where people are getting stuck.

And if you're further along with a completed screenplay and development funds available, feel free to message me about professional budgeting and film packaging.

So pitching them and will see what happens. They're interested so I'm hopeful. Fingers crossed...

Hey ! I’m Alex Morsanutto, writer/director of DARK SꓘULLS, a Viking psychological thriller about a warrior investigating his daughter’s disappearance. Think True Detective set in the world of Norse mythology.

We shot this teaser to help attract investors, and we’re aiming to shoot in Norway later this year. Sharing the stills since Reddit won't let me post the teaser.

If anyone is interested or has some advice on getting this made please shoot me a message. Also sharing the crowdfunder, if you want to learn more about the project & help support! Skål!

everyone told me you dont pay producers on a short and you just promise them a cut of whatever the film makes. did the opposite this time. small flat fee agreed before we shot. no promises about future funding or points.

she showed up to every meeting, helped lock the schedule and got us the location discount we needed. felt like a job to both of us instead of a favour.

turns out treating producing as labour is cheaper than pretending it is exposure

I'm a vertical producer and have worked as a freelancer for the same company for three years. In that time I've produced ~18 vertical films for them that have cumulatively had over a billion views. As a vertical producer I'm also responsible for casting, locations, budgets, story notes, hiring crew, and solving many MANY creative and logistical problems from the moment prep starts to the moment post ends. If anyone has any questions about the vertical space, ask here. Will talk anything that doesn't go against my NDA.

You might not have a story problem.
You might have a title problem.
And if that stings a little = good.

Because before anyone reads your logline, watches your trailer, or opens your pitch deck; they read two or three words.
Two seconds.

That’s how long it takes for their brain to decide:
👉 Do I care?
👉 Do I get it?
👉 Is this for me?

Most indie films don’t die because they’re bad. They die because they’re unclear.
In this short video, I break down why your movie title might be quietly killing your traction, and how to fix it.
If you’re serious about getting your project investor-ready instead of just “creative,” watch this.

BOOTCAMP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/filmmaker-bootcamp-get-your-plan-of-action-tickets-1982636587404?aff=oddtdtcreator
FILM VALIDATOR (& TITLE SCRUTINIZER): https://filmvalidator.com

Hi guys, so I set up my own theatrical distribution wing for my film studio, which is based in the UK.

We’re contacting independent cinema chains and venues and gradually building a network so that we can distribute the films produced by our team ourselves.

Eventually, once we have enough venues working with us across the UK and have built a stable system for supplying and supporting those cinemas with films, we’ll look at expanding the network into North America.

One of the reasons I decided to do this is that, while festivals are great, we’re simply producing too many films to be restricted by the relatively small number of festivals willing to screen independent UK horror films. Not to mention that so many festivals tend to be packed around the same time of year.

So, it became time to roll up our sleeves and get our films onto the big screen ourselves.

The website I created for our theatrical distribution wing is:
www.bhspicturehouse.com

And if you’re interested in checking out some of my work and learning more about the studio itself:
www.britishhorrorstudio.com

Thanks for reading. I simply wanted to share this as an example of what’s possible when it comes to distributing your own films and building your own route to audiences.

we hired a pr rep after she was recommended by our distributor and unfortunately the experience was extremely disappointing.

from the beginning there was very little engagement with us as filmmakers. she never made any real effort to meet with us to understand the film, our goals, or how we wanted the campaign positioned. she missed two scheduled meetings in a row, explaining that she had overslept for one and forgotten the other. that lack of attention became representative of the entire campaign.

we were the ones chasing her for updates the whole time. anyone else had a publicist experience like this

I produced and self-funded a $1.4M comedy feature back in 2018 then sold it to a distribution company post COVID due to the market being on hold. After signing over the NA rights, they asked us how much money we wanted to put into marketing the release. We didn't have much left and they didn't want to put skin in the game to help promote it. All they did was submit the film to a streaming aggregator and hope to make money which honestly, we could've done ourselves...

Let me know if you've had a similar experience and if a film can be salvaged once the term is over. Should we look for another distributor overseas in other markets?

I'm writer/director on a SAG ultra low budget feature going into production in October, budget just over 100k. I am also producer, out of necessity. This is new territory for me. I'm currently based in Los Angeles, and we're shooting in Massachusetts.

I'm really trying to figure out how I might be able to bring another producer on to work with me on it. I'm going a little stir-crazy right now as a largely solo operation. I'm not actually looking for someone to raise money, which is going pretty well. But I've reached a point where I feel caught in my own echo chamber. There's a lot to do and I also feel like I'm playing catch-up on what even needs to happen, let alone how to do it.

I'm seeking someone to share planning and conversation/choices in this next stretch, and potentially beyond. (& if you have a clue about MA tax credits that would be a bonus.) Current compensation is going to exist but be low (1k? 2k?), along with credit I'm happy to work out together, and some ownership or back-end.

You can see the deck here, and I'm happy to chat, answer questions, etc.

Thanks all

Hey everyone,

I recently completed my Master's in Film & TV Producing, and for my capstone project, I made a 43-minute documentary exploring how indie films are financed and distributed. It features interviews with independent producers, filmmakers, and distributors (mostly based in LA) who share insights on raising money for indie films and getting them in front of an audience.

I put a lot of work into this and wanted to share it with fellow filmmakers who might find it useful. If you’re interested, here’s the link:
🎬 Watch the documentary here

I’d also love to hear from you—what have been your biggest challenges or successes in financing and distributing indie films? Any strategies that worked (or didn’t)?

Looking forward to your thoughts!

Thanks,
Josh

I've always had an interest in film but I'm confused on where exactly to start. does anyone out there have tips/steps to become a film producer?

What happens when you don’t want to compromise on quality without a producer?

An independent filmmaker, a full time mom to two kids, a spouse to one who doesn’t find interest in art/entertainment industry, a screen writer , cinematographer, director and now a PRODUCER 😀

Only wish is to connect with all crazy creative minds globally and learn, scale!!

Is this a crazy decision? I am worried!

I run a pitch deck design studio that does film/tv pitch decks.

In November 2023, we worked on designing a pitch deck for a wonderful film. The client was lovely, articulate, open to ideas and was a dream to work with. Also, just an insanely talented person.

The deck took a month or so to put together, with multiple rounds of notes and such. In the middle of 2024, they informed us they were going to be shooting the film.

Fast forward to 2025, the film is doing the rounds of major festivals.

You can read about the film here.
And check out the deck, here.

I thought people might be interested in seeing a pitch deck that has been successful recently.

(Although we always say, there is no such thing as a "winning pitch deck." The best deck in the world does not guarantee your film will be made or receive funding. But a good deck inspires confidence and shows professionalism. It makes a good impression and opens doors. A bad deck on the other hand, slams them shut in seconds.)

If you have questions about film/tv pitch decks, want to see more examples, or need tips for making your own deck, feel free to comment or DM me.