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 | | Shaking The Money Tree, 2nd Edition: How to Get Grants and Donations for Film and Video by Morrie Warshawski ISBN-10: 9780941188791 ISBN-10: 0-941188-79-5 ISBN-13: 9780941188791 ISBN-13: 978-0-941188-79-1 Paperback 2003-06-01 Michael Wiese Productions Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description Now consultant Morrie Warshawski has created a new, completely revised and updated version that gives filmakers the full story on how to get grants and donations from individuals, foundations, government agencies, and corporations in the 21st century. | ||
Reviews | ||
This is an excellent book... I would highly recommend this book, and I would also highly recommend the Government Funding and You book and video series. Click the link below for more information. Government Funding and You: Registering For Grants On-line 2007 book and video series. | ||
what you need to know this book really sets you up with the information you need to know about funding. it's nice that there is an example of a grant in the book to help you understand exactly what you need. | ||
Required reading for ALL film producers. If I ever meet Morrie Warshawski, I will probably embarrass us both by giving him a huge hug. In 97 easy-to-read pages (plus another 60+ helpful pages with sample grant proposals, budget forms and a bibliography), he succinctly lays out a viable process for successfully seeking grants for film and television projects. What struck me about "Shaking the Money Tree" was how it is actually a basic primer for all fundraising projects, not just film. Warshawski starts with the basics: developing mission and vision statements (Chapter 1 - "Laying the Foundation: Your Career"). While these steps should be obvious to any nonprofit organization, this is new territory for many independent filmmakers. Warshawski asserts "funding problems are almost always routed in a basic set of unresolved career issues." Not only does he contend that mission and vision statements are necessary, but that filmmakers must identify a set of values by which they choose projects and people with which to work. All of this, claims Warshawski, adds focus to filmmakers' efforts, and keeps them from wasting time on projects for which they have no vision or passion. Valuable lessons for any nonprofit organization. For the rest of Chapter 1, Warshawski takes the reader through a series of career development steps: articulating major short and long-term goals; identifying people and organizations with which to interact in order to succeed; evaluating progress against the career goals; acquiring promotional tools to spotlight the filmmaker and his/her projects; and networking to avoid isolation. In Chapter 2 ("Where's the Money?"), Warshawski provides an overview of the various categories of funding potentially available to a filmmaker (individuals, foundations, corporations, government agencies, other nonprofits). He correctly points out that there is an abundance of funding sources (not to be confused with an abundance of funds), but the challenge is determining which sources are appropriate for the particular project. He recommends creating a fundraising plan, identifying the most suitable prospects and determining the most effective way to formulate and make the request. (Again, a sound methodology for any nonprofit.) Warshawski identifies the upside and downside to each category, reviews how to find them and, generally, how to approach them (more information on research and proposals is provided in subsequent chapters). Chapter 3 ("Patchwork Quilt - Putting Your Project Together") was one of my favorites. Warshawski points out that a major impediment to successfully finding funds is beginning fundraising before the project is fully developed and thus not being able to completely answer all of a potential funder's questions. He highlights the difference between "this is a story that must be told" and "this is a story that must be heard." As is the case with all fundraising, one must start with the need. Warshawski runs through the elements of a solid plan, and explains the questions that must be answered. He also points out that fundraising will take longer than a filmmaker might expect: one to two years to complete the funding is not unusual. The remaining chapters - 4 ("Getting Personal - Individual Donors"), 5 ("The Paper Trail - Foundations and Government Agencies") and 6 ("All the Rest") explain the types of funders, their motivations and how to research them. He offers some excellent tips that the novice fundraiser/filmmaker might miss, such as Chapter 5's recommendation that, when researching foundations, don't just research "film/video/media/TV," but look for funders of the issue area(s) that the film is tackling. Most foundations are not really funding the film, but are funding the visibility to the subject matter that the film is providing. The last two pages of Chapter 6 provide "Morrie's Maxims" - sound advice for fundraising for any type of project. I did have some quibbles with the book. The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is not a government agency. The address for the Foundation Center in Washington is out of date (the book was published in 2003, and the Center moved to 1627 K Street, NW in 2001). Foundation giving levels are directly affected by economic trends: foundation endowments slump when the stock market declines and the effect is often felt for several years after the stock market starts to recover (Warshawski makes it sound as though foundations are relatively immune to economic shifts, other than facing increased requests for support). And finally, it would have been helpful to mention that the National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts will provide, upon request, samples of successfully funded film proposals under the Freedom of Information Act. But these are minor blips in an otherwise superb book. There are two positive outcomes for a filmmaker who reads Warshawski's book and puts his words into practice: a funded project, and a successful second career as a fundraiser. "Shaking the Money Tree" should be required reading at all film schools. But even beyond that, it offers extremely helpful information for anyone who needs to raise money for a project. | ||
How the financial side of the film business really works Now in an expanded and updated second edition, Shaking The Money Tree: How To Get Grants And Donations For Film And Television by Morrie Warshawski is a ground breaking instructional manual in the art of fundraising for the financing of noncommercial film and video projects. Presenting the basics of how to apply for and earn grants and/or donations from individuals, foundations, government agencies, corporations, and more, Shaking The Money Tree combines direct decorum with an invaluable insight for how the financial side of the film business really works, as well as being peppered with useful grant forms and superb grant writing examples. If you have a film or television project that you need to finance -- begin with a close and careful reading of Morrie Warshawski's Shaking The Money Tree! | ||
Must Read! This is a great book...after searching high and low and all over the internet, I found a concise, informative and helpful resource to walk me through the complex world of fundraising for media. I'm applying Morrie's suggestions to my movie's business plan. Everyone interested in film/video should read this book. | ||