AF Bail Out and More Documentary Stuff
December 6, 2008
As most of you know, I just got back from Washington, D.C. where I testified before Congress trying to convince them that they should be bailing out Angry Filmmaker, Inc. I mean, I feel like I’ve mismanaged my company just as well as any of those other big guys and they all seem to be getting money… Anyway, they all seemed skeptical so I guess I won’t be getting any checks from them any time soon. (As one Senator told me, “Don’t hold your %$@#*&^ breath!”) And yes, I did sell the AF Corporate jet, I’ll just tour by van from here on out.
So I guess my financial future is going to be in the hands of you, the consumer. Please check out my site and if you see anything there that you like, BUY IT!
I mean isn’t it better to give me money and actually get something in return, then to give it to some huge faceless behemoth. You know that I’m going to use the money I get on making more movies, not on expensive conferences and retreats like some giant Insurance companies that shall remain nameless. (AIG). And anyway, we hate insurance companies!
But I digress… What were we talking about last week? Oh yeah,
Documentaries and funding part 2.
There are people who hate asking their friends for money. They won't do it, even in the form of a donation. These people are not going to be making movies any time soon.
Let’s talk about Fundraising parties. I have thrown fund-raising parties. You get a few of your friends together to host an event at their homes and have them invite friends of theirs. You all eat appetizers, drink cheap wine, and then you make a little presentation about your movie and pass the hat. These can be really successful, or not. It all depends on how aggressive you want to be.
An excellent resource for planning fundraising parties is Morrie Warshawski's book, The Fundraising House Party. Morrie is a buddy of mine, and this is a shameless plug! It's also a good book, check it out at www.morriewarshawski.com.
We did a fundraiser once at a restaurant and all sorts of moneyed people were there. It was organized by a professional group and the woman who was sponsoring it wanted to keep everything “low-key.” Well, it was so “low-key” that we didn't make any money!
It would have been better to just give me the money they spent on the fundraiser! I did follow up with thank-yous and reminders, and all sorts of stuff and made maybe $2,000, total. The event cost around $5,000. I found out later it was not so much a fund-raising event as a social gathering for the people sponsoring it. Sort of a "coming out" party if you will.
If you're going to do these kinds of fund raisers, you have to be aggressive! You have a captive audience, now you need to bag them. The next time I do this, trust me, it'll be a lot different.
A couple friends of mine have been very successful with fundraising parties, it comes down to, how bad do you want to make the movie.
There are stories that Michael Moore had Bingo parties in Michigan as one way he raised money for Roger and Me. I don't know how true this is, it's probably just another rumor perpetrated by the liberal media.
Other stuff…
My work books now exist as PDFs and will be posted on my site this week for a mere $10 per book. We should have them up and running by mid week. Or so I have been promised…
Since we are getting close to the holidays I am going to be putting different specials up each week so check out my internet specials and hopefully you’ll find something you like. (www.angryfilmmaker.com, as if you didn’t know)
There are some new video posts up on my site, check out The AF Speaks and Odds & Ends.
Don’t forget to check out my tour sponsors, Film Baby (www.filmbaby.com), Pollard Design (www.pollarddesign.com), Zoom Studio (www.zoomstudio.com), The Indy Film Co-op (www.indyfilmco-op.org) and Cheezy Flicks (www.cheezyflicks.com). All great people, all great companies.
If you haven’t checked out their site and their services, you better.
The first two Workshop DVDs are selling well. You can find them at, www.angryfilmmaker.com, and at Film Baby.
Talk later.
Kelley
www.angryfilmmaker.com
www.facebook.com
www.myspace.com/theangryfilmmaker
www.youtube.com/theangryfilmmaker
www.filmbaby.com
As most of you know, I just got back from Washington, D.C. where I testified before Congress trying to convince them that they should be bailing out Angry Filmmaker, Inc. I mean, I feel like I’ve mismanaged my company just as well as any of those other big guys and they all seem to be getting money… Anyway, they all seemed skeptical so I guess I won’t be getting any checks from them any time soon. (As one Senator told me, “Don’t hold your %$@#*&^ breath!”) And yes, I did sell the AF Corporate jet, I’ll just tour by van from here on out.
So I guess my financial future is going to be in the hands of you, the consumer. Please check out my site and if you see anything there that you like, BUY IT!
I mean isn’t it better to give me money and actually get something in return, then to give it to some huge faceless behemoth. You know that I’m going to use the money I get on making more movies, not on expensive conferences and retreats like some giant Insurance companies that shall remain nameless. (AIG). And anyway, we hate insurance companies!
But I digress… What were we talking about last week? Oh yeah,
Documentaries and funding part 2.
There are people who hate asking their friends for money. They won't do it, even in the form of a donation. These people are not going to be making movies any time soon.
Let’s talk about Fundraising parties. I have thrown fund-raising parties. You get a few of your friends together to host an event at their homes and have them invite friends of theirs. You all eat appetizers, drink cheap wine, and then you make a little presentation about your movie and pass the hat. These can be really successful, or not. It all depends on how aggressive you want to be.
An excellent resource for planning fundraising parties is Morrie Warshawski's book, The Fundraising House Party. Morrie is a buddy of mine, and this is a shameless plug! It's also a good book, check it out at www.morriewarshawski.com.
We did a fundraiser once at a restaurant and all sorts of moneyed people were there. It was organized by a professional group and the woman who was sponsoring it wanted to keep everything “low-key.” Well, it was so “low-key” that we didn't make any money!
It would have been better to just give me the money they spent on the fundraiser! I did follow up with thank-yous and reminders, and all sorts of stuff and made maybe $2,000, total. The event cost around $5,000. I found out later it was not so much a fund-raising event as a social gathering for the people sponsoring it. Sort of a "coming out" party if you will.
If you're going to do these kinds of fund raisers, you have to be aggressive! You have a captive audience, now you need to bag them. The next time I do this, trust me, it'll be a lot different.
A couple friends of mine have been very successful with fundraising parties, it comes down to, how bad do you want to make the movie.
There are stories that Michael Moore had Bingo parties in Michigan as one way he raised money for Roger and Me. I don't know how true this is, it's probably just another rumor perpetrated by the liberal media.
Other stuff…
My work books now exist as PDFs and will be posted on my site this week for a mere $10 per book. We should have them up and running by mid week. Or so I have been promised…
Since we are getting close to the holidays I am going to be putting different specials up each week so check out my internet specials and hopefully you’ll find something you like. (www.angryfilmmaker.com, as if you didn’t know)
There are some new video posts up on my site, check out The AF Speaks and Odds & Ends.
Don’t forget to check out my tour sponsors, Film Baby (www.filmbaby.com), Pollard Design (www.pollarddesign.com), Zoom Studio (www.zoomstudio.com), The Indy Film Co-op (www.indyfilmco-op.org) and Cheezy Flicks (www.cheezyflicks.com). All great people, all great companies.
If you haven’t checked out their site and their services, you better.
The first two Workshop DVDs are selling well. You can find them at, www.angryfilmmaker.com, and at Film Baby.
Talk later.
Kelley
www.angryfilmmaker.com
www.facebook.com
www.myspace.com/theangryfilmmaker
www.youtube.com/theangryfilmmaker
www.filmbaby.com
Labels: AF, AIG, angry filmmaker, congress, DVDs, morrie warshawski
posted by The Angry Filmmaker at 2:00 PM
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