Funding

There is more development money available in the region than most first-time directors think, and less production money than they hope. The gap between those two facts explains most abandoned projects.

Three kinds of money

Development grants are small, competitive and comparatively easy to apply for. They buy you a treatment, a budget and sometimes a short trip. They almost never cover a shoot.

Co-production funds are larger and require a partner already attached in another country. This is the stage where most projects stall, because finding that partner is a networking problem, not a paperwork problem — which is why festival markets matter more than their programmes.

Post-production support is the least discussed and the easiest to get, because fewer people apply. If you have footage and no finishing money, this is the first place to look.

What applications actually require

• A director's statement that says what the film is, not what it is about.
• A budget that adds up, in a currency the fund recognises.
• Proof that you can legally shoot what you propose to shoot.
• A named producer. Applications from a director alone are usually declined without being read.

More on the first item in where the first money comes from.