Conversations & Connections: Funding Your Film

CONVERSATIONS & CONNECTIONS FALL VIRTUAL PANEL:  FUNDING YOUR FILM

$20 General Public

Free for WIFSFBA Members

One of the most challenging elements of filmmaking is finding the money to actually make your film.  Grant writing, crowdfunding, seeking investors, and seeking donors doesn’t feel very creative and can feel overwhelming. In this panel discussion, we will hear from three creatives who have experience both making films and finding funds. Join us for a free-flowing conversation that includes your questions, as we explore the fundraising aspects of making a movie.

Lane Michael Stanley (https://lanemichaelstanley.com/)

Lane Michael Stanley (he/they) is a transgender writer and director making community-embedded work around queerness, healing, grief, recovery, restorative justice, and housing insecurity. Their award-winning short and feature films have played at festivals including Austin, Outfest, Sidewalk, and American Dance Festival. Lane has experience finding grants, identifying consistent funding sources that filmmakers should be aware of, and understanding how filmmakers can expand their ideas of what their film is doing to search for grants that aren’t just for film.

Tracy Held (https://tracyheld.com/)

Tracy Held (she/they) is a multi-racial Chinese/Eastern European American writer who tells stories about people who want to save the world but struggle with the human interaction part. She co-founded Erosion, a film production company dedicated to conservation comedy film and TV and serves as Vice-Chair of the Writers Guild of America West Asian American Writers Committee. In addition to writing for the stage and screen, Tracy has an extensive background in fundraising and marketing and offers consulting to develop effective fundraising strategies. Her specialties include grant writing, crowdfunding, and direct solicitation.

Sara Elizabeth Timmins (https://www.lifeoutloudfilms.com/)

Sara Elizabeth Timmins is a savvy businessperson and producer whose gift for relationship and community building sets her movies apart. In 2008, she established Life Out Loud Films to balance business and art to create quality, inspiring, impactful films and champion women. Her tenacity and drive first made an impression with the success of LAKE EFFECTS (Jane Seymour), on the Hallmark Channel and she continues to produce a number of other films.  Sara Elizabeth believes she has a responsibility through film to spark conversations, that inspire action, that ignite change and remains dedicated to encouraging the work of talented writers and championing female leaders behind the camera while providing strong female roles on camera.