This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Welcome to another episode of Side Hustle School. Yesterday, we were talking about affiliate marketing, content affiliate marketing for building websites as a small creator. Today, we're gonna talk about how to get a documentary funded. Specifically, we're gonna explore the best ways to fund a documentary, including grants, crowdfunding and sponsorships. We often hear from people with different ideas.
They want to start or grow a side hustle. They're looking to figure out what's the best way to make it profitable, or in this case, to get it funded in the first place. Sometimes, how to manage this side hustle with the rest of their lives, how to eventually quit your job, go all in, whatever it is. My name's Chris Guillebeau. I do my best to be helpful.
I've been working for myself since I was 18 years old pretty much, which is a long time, several decades now at this point. I know that's a whole other topic. We won't get into my age, but the point is I have some experience here, and we also have a global community of really cool, interesting folks out there doing interesting things. So let's see what we can do today for this listener. How can we get a documentary funded?
And how might you, even if you have no interest in documentaries, how might you take the next step on your creative and feasible and profitable idea? All right, that's the goal. Let's talk about it. Quick little shout out to our sponsor, and then the detailed question and my answer. [Music]
Hi everyone, thanks for taking my question.
I'm an aspiring filmmaker working on my first documentary, and funding's been a major challenge. What are the best ways to get a documentary funded? Are there any specific grants, crowdfunding strategies, other methods that can help me secure the budget I need? I've been listening to the show for a while now, and it's been a great source of inspiration. I'd appreciate any guidance you can offer on this topic.
Thanks for all your help. [Music]
All right, thanks for the question. Let's see what we can do. Gonna give you several strategies that you can explore to secure the funding that you're looking for. So first of all, let's talk about grants.
There are some really fantastic documentary-specific grants out there. Sundance Documentary Fund, the IDA Documentary Awards, ITBS Funding, just to name a few. If you do some searching, I definitely spend 30 minutes, an hour or two, searching around, doing some research, maybe set up a spreadsheet, and go and put in like, here's all the different requirements. Here's the deadline. Here's what I could receive if I get this grant.
And then maybe a little bit each day, right? Once you've got your list and you can kind of prioritize, but work towards applying for something every week or every month or whatever it is, depending on how much of a burden the application process is. So definitely grants can be really good, and that also gives you some status and prestige when it works out. Another avenue, of course, is crowdfunding. Platforms like Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, GoFundMe, they can be really good for the right kind of documentary or other artistic projects.
The key to a successful crowdfunding campaign is to make it engaging. It is getting some pre-commitments, promoting your campaign heavily through social media, and email newsletters to reach as many people as possible, and then offering attractive rewards for backers to make people want to be part of it. Lastly, at least for now, sponsorships and partnerships for the right documentary, doesn't work for everything, of course, but for some things, companies and brands that align with the theme of your documentary could potentially sponsor the film. Nonprofit partnerships are another option. You can partner with organizations related to your documentary's topic.
They might have funding available, or they might have some experience in fundraising itself. Whether you do any of these things, something else, all three of them, don't forget your personal network, because sometimes the support you need is closer than you think. You definitely want to reach out to friends and family. I mean, if you've got a project, like you've worked on this for a long time, be proud of it. Don't be afraid to go to people and show it off and ask for their help.
People like to help. And if there's something specific they can do, that helps even more, right? Because it's like, hey, is there someone you know that would love to hear about this or might be interested in this? Help me be part of that. Would love to get your help in that.
People like connecting other folks as well. Good luck, excited to hear about it. Let us know how it goes to the documentary. I'd love to promote it when it's out, or at least take a look at it. Listeners, I always like to hear about your projects.
Feel free to let me know what you're up to. I do try to amplify projects whenever possible. sidehustleschool.com/questions. Resources there, notes page for every episode. Much more is coming up, always completely free.
Gonna sign off for now. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
