The Documentary Life5 Syys 2019

The Fundraising Houseparty For the Documentary Filmmaker

What if there was a pretty straightforward way for the independent documentary filmmaker to raise a quick infusion of funding for their documentary film… simply by holding a party? Well, there is. It’s called the fundraising houseparty. And there is a science to it. And we’ve got film fundraising guru, Morrie Warshawski, back on the show to give you the step-by-step process to that science. You’ll be holding parties and raising monies for your film in no time!

And then we’ll learn how to make even more money, when our host, delves into this recent Cambodia trip to garner finishing funds for his own doc project, Elvis of Cambodia. Following on from last week’s episode, where Chris and Steph discussed their plans in Cambodia for finishing their film, Chris travels down to the capital city of Phnom Penh and starts banging on doors. And asking for money. Doc Filmmaking Fundraising 101 ensues.

Topics Discussed

why individual donors tend to make up the largest percentage of funds for doc films
the importance of the fundraising houseparty invite and tips for producing it
the types of people that you should invite to your fundraising houseparty
step-by-step process for the day of the fundraising houseparty
the doc filmmakers responsibilities for the fundraising houseparty

Additional Resources

THE BOOK

Think you might be ready to hold that fundraising houseparty and make some serious money for your doc film? There are two ways in which you can purchase Morrie’s book. You can buy from Amazon.

Or an even cooler way is to purchase directly from Morrie himself. Tell Morrie you heard about the book from The Documentary Life and he’ll give you an additional $5 off the price of the book!

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