| Articulate Your Vision for Funders |
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Page 1 of 2 John Galway has looked at hundreds of scripts over the past decade, both at Telefilm Canada and, since September 2005, as President of English-Language Program at Astral Media’s Harold Greenberg Fund. “I don’t think people spend enough time thinking about what they can do to their script to make it stand out among the 75 to 100 scripts we consider,” he says. So what can filmmakers do to improve their chances of getting funded? Sean Garrity the Director of Lucid “Put in a document articulating the producer’s vision for the film. What are your plans with subsequent drafts? Why were you, the producer, you, the writer, attracted to this particular story? Maybe your grandfather fought in World War I and you’ve always heard his stories. Maybe it’s a love story that had special meaning for you. There’s always a reason people were attracted to a project and knowing about it can give us the confidence that, going forward, the team will have the passion and energy to carry the project through.” Commitment to script developmentThe Greenberg Fund is Canada’s largest private funding agency, investing $46-million since its inception in 1986. Although smaller than Telefilm, Galway emphasizes that its true importance is its commitment to script development at the front end of a project and its role providing small but strategically timed equity financing toward the end.There are four deadlines a year in the script development stream. All of the 75 to 100 scripts submitted for each deadline are considered by outside readers, with Galway himself reading as many as he can, although his focus is more on the projects that have moved through a stage or two of development and those that are getting close to equity production. Four equal pools Matt Murphy as Guy Terrifico in Michael Mabbott's The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico, courtesy of Odeon FilmsIn the development phase, the Fund supports treatment to first draft (up to $18,000), first draft to second (up to $12,000), second to final (up to $10,000) and then a “senior phase” which typically involves pre-production (casting, location trips, etc.) as well as some final polishing (up to $25,000). Unlike some organizations, the financing is doled out in four equal pools so applicants don’t need to worry about the Fund running out of money toward the end of a fiscal year. (There is also a story optioning program to assist filmmakers to option Canadian literary works.) For the equity stream, the Fund offers up to $200,000 (or 10% of the budget) once Telefilm and other funders are in place. As Galway puts it: “Our money can make the difference at that moment, near the end, when the producers really need a few extra days of shooting, or help with music choices, or perhaps paying the producers instead of continuing to defer everything.” A story-driven fundThe Fund is involved in a wide range of films, from larger budget productions like Rhombus Media’s Silk (directed by Francois Girard) or Serendipity Point Films’ adaptation of Anne Michaels’ novel Fugitive Pieces (directed by Jeremy Podeswa), to smaller, quirkier projects like Sean Garrity’s Lucid and Michael Mabbot’s The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico.TIPS
According to Galway, the team behind the project is an important consideration. “I think newer producers coming in with a reasonably sized budget have a better chance of success, but we look at the whole team. A strong writer and strong story editor might apply with a less experienced producer, or vice-versa.” And, Galway adds, it’s often helpful to have an executive producer, a kind of “mentor-producer,” attached to their project to add experience and credibility. Continued... |
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