Diversify funding routes to pay for social impact films, says Sarajevo panel

Filmmakers should diversify their funding sources to finance impact films, according to a panel of UK and US impact executives at Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink Industry Days.

“The side of the industry that focuses on social impact is extremely entrepreneurial in how we approach things,” said Sarah Mosses, CEO at UK impact producer Together Films. “When we work with filmmakers, they say ‘I can’t find any budget for my film and my campaign.’ Who have you pitched? They say ‘The BFI, or Arte’ – it’s all the traditional film people.

“That is less than 0.01% of the money in the world; there are so many other diversified areas of funding you can reach out to. The traditional impact landscape is in the foundation space, so private foundations, philanthropists, individual donors. There’s a whole different collection of money that is available when you step outside the very specific film funding routes, and that can be complemented with the existing financing you’re getting in.”

Alongside Mosses on the panel were Brian Newman, CEO at US consultancy Sub-genre Media; Danielle Turkov-Wilson, founder and CEO of the UK’s Think-film Impact Production; and Patricia Finneran, executive director of US impact producer Story Matters.

Finneran advised using a “grassroots-up” structure when approaching potential funders for impact films, to give them a life “beyond the transactional distribution of a broadcaster or a streaming partner.”

“When you’re funding your film, it’s transactional – you’re like ‘give me money for my film’, it’s a scarcity model,” said the US exec. “For impact, it’s not a scarcity model, it’s a collaborative model – we agree on something, I’m going to somebody that’s already working on this issue, we see the world in the same way and my film is a tool for you as a partner.”

The full panel is available to watch above. The talk was presented in partnership with Documentary Campus.

The CineLink Talks programme continues today with a masterclass with Jesse Eisenberg, plus panels on short films, and policy around inclusion.

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