- Self-funding -
Benefits of self-funding
However, the benefits of self-funding do outweigh the challenges, which are present in any method of funding. This brings us to the conclusion of self-funding with it’s immense benefits that come with this method of funding. The two main benefits of self-funding are flexibility/being edgy and entitlement/power. The opportunities to be more edgy with your content are immense and you do not have to deal directly with bureaucracy prevalent in organisations, throw in big media corporations and bureaucracy is at its optimum. “At a personal level rather than professionally, it gives you the freedom to really create something that really comes from you, is reflective of you, you are not given those boundaries – most of the time when we work professionally we are working within a framework that is set for us whereas when you work in a self-funded capacity you set and create the framework yourself and that can be so rewarding above and beyond other types of projects,” expresses Sarah. Without a doubt it gives you the freedom to direct the way the content is created. “I’ve bee able to interview people with different types of talent that someone at a comparable level or position in the industry would never be interviewing so some of the more high profile interviews I’ve had, someone of my career level would never get to interview in the mainstream career organization so I can be a lot more ambitious and actually fufill those ambitions.” Seth Kramer dishes out some very important advice and benefits of beng a self-funded producer with regards to funding methods. With self-funding under your belt, the applying of more than one funding method allows for you to go beyond the linear process. Seth recommends filmmakers just starting out work on creative forms of financing. “You’ve got to look at going many different routes because if you go after one big grant and you don’t get that grant, you’re not going to make your movie,” he said. “Go out there and shoot the first scene that you can use as a reel to raise money. Go to corporations, self finance, use credit cards, ask your aunt Millie, whatever.”