How To Pursue Your Creative Dreams Using Other People’s Money

We’re partnering with the HP Future Filmmakers competition to take a look at the winners and their stories, and topics that matter to aspiring filmmakers and movie fans.

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Gather round, all you boys and girls who dream of making an excellent living from filmmaking, because it’s time to talk about a very special brand of necessary hell: grant applications.

When you’re just starting out and your future filmmaking career feels about as likely as winning the lotto or always having clean underpants in your cupboard, access to cash is usually one of the biggest obstacles. That’s where spending other people’s money to fund your creativity comes in. Unlike spending your own money, which is painful and horrible, spending other people’s money is quite fun. Fun for days.

Melbourne filmmaker and film festival producer Jen Farrow, 27, completed a ridiculously huge number of grant applications during several years organising Melbourne’s 48 Hour Film Project and the Australian Teachers of Media awards — and lived to tell the tale.

So we asked Farrow for her best tips on successfully and as-painlessly-as-possible applying for grants and entering film competitions.

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Climb the Mt Everest of grant application paperwork and be a winner, even if you don’t win

Okay, so grant applications are almost universally a huge pain in the ass. They’re clunky, wordy, often bureaucratic (especially the government ones), everyone has different highly specific requirements and you may just go blind after staring at a computer screen non-stop for an entire week.

So why bother? Farrow says even if you don’t get the grant, judging panels are often made up of industry leaders who sometimes provide feedback that can strengthen your idea — which might just get you over the line next time around. Plus, you’re forced to hone your pitch and get clear on what you’re trying to achieve.

Farrow recommends saving time by building a base document of info that you can steal from, rather than writing everything from scratch each time. And don’t be afraid to phone up for extra information so you really understand what each agency is looking for.

“You have to be persistent, clear, and gear your application towards what they’re after — and a bit of luck helps as well,” Farrow says.

Keep your peepers peeled for grants and mentoring opportunities

Sadly, there isn’t one central place that collates all current grant opportunities for filmmakers (an app’s just begging to be made). But Farrow says you can keep your finger on the pulse by regularly checking Inside Film and the Federal Government’s Screen Australia, as well as your state or territory’s major funding body, like Film Victoria, the South Australian Film Corporation or Screen NSW, for example.

Beyond government bodies, some private organisations also offer cool opportunities for filmmakers, like Fremantle Media’s international story development initiative Blue Sky Drama, Open Channel’s Short and Sharp Pitching Competition in Victoria and small grants via AMP’s Tomorrow Fund.

Farrow says it was seizing an opportunity like that which got her short film You Used to Bring Me Flowers screened across the UK and the US last year, after it was selected for inclusion in the world’s first crowdsourced narrative feature film, 50 Kisses. “It’s just really good in terms of reputation and getting your content out there,” she says.

Brands are increasingly getting involved in competitions, too. Farrow says being named a finalist in HP’s Future Filmmakers competition gave her and her boyfriend, Amitoze Nandha, enough cash to make a short film, Mel and Rana, based on their own real-life interracial relationship. “We’d been working on the idea for about six months but after our script was accepted we made the entire film from start to finish in just under three weeks,” she says. “It was quite intense but it’s really cool that our film is now actually a real thing.”

Got a film already made? Here’s how to get maximum eyeballs on your work

“You’re not just making films for yourself, you’re making them for an audience — and that’s why it’s so important to enter film festivals,” Farrow says. “It definitely looks good in your portfolio to have a film that’s won awards or been selected as a finalist and sometimes you are lucky enough to win money or equipment.”

Farrow reckons it’s important to look beyond the big festival names like Sundance, Cannes and France’s Clermont-Ferrand international short film festival, because smaller festivals can deliver gold. For example, her short film You Used to Bring Me Flowers won “best zombie” at the American Zombie Shorts Film Festival in 2013.

“A lot of the mainstream festivals get thousands of entries so it’s lessening your chances. But if you’ve made something with a niche genre, chances are there is a film festival for that,” Farrow says.

The best film festival application hack (aka the internet is your friend)

Unlike grant application hell, applying for film festivals is relatively easy thanks to online submission services like Withoutabox and reelport. While creating a profile and uploading all your film’s details into a mini press kit is pretty annoying and time consuming, Farrow says afterwards you can apply for a bunch of different festivals with just a few clicks.

Chances are, you’re going to get knocked back more than a few times. But, says Farrow, that’s your chance to learn one of filmmaking’s most important skills: persistence.

“It is hard to be a filmmaker but if you have something to say then be persistent because that’s half the battle, just sticking to your guns,” she says.

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Vote in HP’s Future Filmmakers competition, to help your favourite filmmaker win a cash grant — and come up with taglines for the finalists’ films in the #HPTagIt competition, and you could score great prizes too, including a $5,000 Flight Centre voucher. Head here to get involved (and for T&Cs).

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Koren Helbig is an Australian freelance writer living in Spain. Koren blogs at She Makes Magic and tweets at @KorenHelbig.