A filmmaker wanted to make a $400,000 movie with 40 speaking roles and 12 locations. By reframing the pitch to focus on investor returns instead of creative vision, he landed $1.15 million from a billionaire two days later, enabling theatrical distribution and a tax-structured deal.
I said, please don't do this movie at $400,000. There's 40 speaking roles and 12 locations. Like, this is not a low-budget movie. So over lunch, we mapped out on my iPad, like, here's how to speak investor, because you're pitching them a creative project and they're giving you $150,000 that they're okay losing. If you go back and you pitch it this way and you speak their language, I bet you can get $1 million from this guy because he's a billionaire, right? Like $1,150,000. What's the same number? So he takes all the lessons from that conversation, goes back 2 days later, pitches the guy an investment opportunity where if we spend a little more, we can get bigger names, get distribution, put it in theaters, etc., etc. He goes, oh, that's exactly what I wanted to do. So he calls this tax guy, and 2 days later we had a million in the account and a green light to make the movie.
