It’s a whole new world out there!
Even ten years ago you had to raise half a million to make a documentary for television. If you weren’t rich old auntie Maud’s favourite – or if you didn’t have an auntie Maud – you had to spend your life writing a stream of grant proposals and hope one hit the mark, and meanwhile the years rolled on. Or you had to find a devious way to get your work on the desk of a broadcaster and another cunning plan to make sure they watched it.
The digital age transformed all that, including the budget needed for film making. It has put the possibility of final editorial control directly into the hands of the film maker.
The caveats, stipulations and restrictions that used to accompany funding, especially from broadcasters, no longer apply.
Power – how much do you want?
The power to tell the story as it needs to be told is crucial, especially when the story conflicts with the one the public sees in the main stream media. Self-financing a film in such a context is the only way to keep the integrity of the story.
What about changing the world – interested?
You can directly affect the way the pubic understands homeopathy and in the process, you can directly affect global health. Seriously you can.
In the last few years there’s been a shift in the way we can get involved in projects dear to our hearts . We can get involved with issues that interest and concern us. We can directly make change happen.
I had lunch with Franny Armstrong back when she had just started raising the funding for her climate change film The Age of Stupid. In the process of making that film she blazed a trail, not just in a new way of fundraising, she also re-wrote the book on distribution. Her film is changing hearts and minds across planet earth and in the process changing the future.
It’s a simple concept – a large number of people doing small things can make big things happen.