HOW TO FINANCE AN INDEPENDENT FILM

Cannes - I just attended a seminar on how independent film Producers can involve professional Financiers to fund their projects.

Moral of the story: first of all you need a strong and complete script that persuades them, but at this point they bump you because you don't have a known Director.

Once you have the Director they refuse you because your budget can't be accurate if you don't have a deal with the Actors and the shooting dates.

When you have all of this they refuse you because they are interested in joining projects that need just the last 20% of the budget.

And when you find also the other 80% you need to talk to them they refuse you the financing because it is your first film.

But if I were them I'd refuse the financing also to an expert Producer, because if he's been able to overcome all this mess and still needs 20% of the budget he's telling a lot of lies.

...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL

Cannes - Maybe most of you know how hard is to picture an idea for a film project you have been working on for months to some big time producer who turns it down in a few seconds.

I am attending an event with English financiers that explain how they chose the projects to get involved into, what the projects need to have and how to present them.

In the second part of the seminar some big producers get on the stage to present the projects they are working on and are demolished in an embarrassing way.

Among them there is also the CEO of one of the biggest production companies in Italy, who is destroyed by them like an amateur and gets down the stage lowering his head.

I'm a bit ashamed to say it feels SO GOOD...