Experts and their funding ideas.

Kevin Geiger started out as a computer animator for the movie Species. Kevin also was a digital artist for Disney’s Fantasia 2000, and the movie Reign of Fire. Kevin was the CG supervisor for Chicken Little. Kevin Geiger was a CG supervisor for The Walt Disney Company. After leaving Disney he co-founded and is now the CEO of Magic Dumpling, an animation development company. Kevin Geiger has been known for his seminars around the world discussing topics from development to distribution. His workshops are geared for producers, directors, investors, and more.

Chuck Blakeman has a different approach to business. Chuck Blakeman believes that a business plan to start up one’s company is not necessary. Most of the time, you ditch that plan anyway because life gets in the way. Chuck Blakeman does more than 100 public speaking and workshops internationally per year. He has been featured or referenced by CNNMoney.com, NYTimes.com, as well as many other business websites. Chuck Blakeman has also built seven successful businesses in the last 25 years. His book Making Money is Killing Your Business is listed as the “#1 Business Book of the Year” by NFIB according to Small Business Influencer Awards.

Some of the components that investors are looking for are not only your creative plans, but also your business plans as well. The most critical component for an investor is to show them how they are going to get a return on their investment. A step-by-step plan with details on how you are going to make a profit.

According to Kevin Geiger’s indie film business plans he suggests the development funding process. That includes having a production plan, preparing an activity projection of that production plan, having projections of cash flow, making sure you have development and advisory teams in place, have an investment strategy, make a investor presentation, and get investor funding.  This allows investors to know that even during the development process, they are going to get their money back.  This process is crucial to prove to your investors. It shows not only are they getting their money back, but also how they are going to get it.

According to Chuck Blakeman it isn’t about the “how” in the long-term process. It’s about the “how” in the short-term process. It’s about how to get to the next step, and then the next step, and so on. If you continue on the path of how do I get from step a to step b each time, you will get a lot further. Instead of asking how do I get from the start to the finish, you may never find yourself at the end.