Production Proposal - Where to start

[Wendy Parker]

Good Morning, Friends. I have a quick question that I'm hoping you all can point me in the right direction. My son has been working on putting together all of his ideas for a short on WWII. He has been storyboarding and planning in his own mind now for almost two years. He plans on shooting single camera with his own digital and editing it himself on his newly acquired Apple. While he has collected many props, there is much more he would like to have so that his film will appear as authentic as a 14 year old can make it. He is to the point where he would like to ask family and/or friends to "produce" this film in order to get funds to finalize his production needs. We have had the discussion that he can not simply ask people for money, but that he must have some kind of proposal to show those who would be willing to fund him exactly what his ideas are, time frame, location and the purpose of his film. So my questions is; what and where are the resources I can point him toward to kind of outline how to do a proposal of this type so that he can present something professional and self-explanatory to the family and friends that he would like to ask for funding.

He has been in acting now for four years but since he is venturing to the other side of the camera your opinions would be great. He will be taking a video production class starting early next month. I'm sure that will help as well. Thank you all so much.

[Possum Valley Entertainment]

a good place to start...hmmm.... Well, since this project is about something historical, and he's a student, speak to a grant writer. We work with one at a local college. (thats usually a good place to find one). I think with a good proposal, he may be able to work something out in that way simply because it could be educational. Also, contact me through our email ([e-mail]). If you will tell me where your located and what kind of time frame you have in mind...we may be able to help out some. We like to make friends...especially ones we can teach how to film and put to work someday. :)

Justin Minor
PVE

[Wendy Parker]

Justin,
Thank you so much for your response. Please keep an eye out for an email giving you details. We'd love to talk some more about your suggestions.

[Gregory Raw]

Hello Wendy,

It sounds pretty involved for a first effort. Your son might consider doing some other shorts just to get some practice with his camera and the art of editing. He will learn something new with each project and it can be applied to his WW2 project. Start off with just a single scene for the first one and build from there. In regards to the WW2 project, he could start off with narrating a Ken Burn's type slide show using stills from WW2. Any picture taken by the US Government is in public domain and can be used witout any restrictions.

Good luck,
Greg