Finding Money for Start-Up Creative Projects & Business

You have a killer creative idea – maybe even more than a cocktail napkin business plan. But you don’t have the money to start your project. Worse – you don’t know where to look, how to ask, where to best spend your fundraising time and energy for the greatest potential results. Every day you hear about someone hitting a crowdfunding jackpot, but most people you actually know tried and failed. And you vaguely recall there might be some laws that apply to your need for start-up financing, even if you’re not ready to ring the bell on Wall Street. Attorney/Screenwriter/Producer Steve Edmiston will share over two decades of lessons learned on finding money for your low budget creative projects and start-ups.

Takeaways:

Students will receive a working, tips and tricks on how to seek and obtain funding for start-up businesses, with a particular focus on businesses driven by an underlying creative idea and spark – filmmaking, music, games, and more. Topics covered include:

• Crowdsourcing - the good, the bad, the ugly
• Finding (and keeping) your friends, family, and angels
• Lessons from the venture capital world
• Leveraging fiscal sponsorships
• The grant-getting game
• Working with government and NGO subsidies
• Capitalizing on good old-fashioned capitalism