Watch the meeting here:

What kind of investors are you looking for first? What are the basics?

Friends/Family is always the first round to raise (even when you’re not doing crowdfunding)
Most important thing you can do is RESEARCH
- No two investors are alike
- If you know how to speak to their interests/concerns/values, you’ll know how to position your film as an investment that feels motivating to them
- A real estate developer who wants a production credit is different than a tech founder who has just posted an exit and has extra money they’d like to spend.
Sometimes an investor has come into so much money for whatever reason that film is the last thing they don’t have a hand in, and you can make that magical experience happen for them.
Know what kind of investor you’re looking for: an Angel Investor vs. a Strategic Investor

What are some general recommended best practices?

URGENCY KILLS EVERY DEAL
You’re not just offering a ROI (sometimes you’re not offering that actually), you’re offering cultural capital. Cultural capital is part of what you get out of investing in this film.
Do not give potential investors the endless laundry list of how you’ll make money back. Be prepared with the answers if they ask, but tell them the story and position it as something motivating for them specifically (this is why research is important).
“Rich people aren’t always looking for more money.”

Brass Tacks Questions:

Which revenue streams are available in 2026 to use in the pro forma of an investor deck?
What are the basic revenue shares with a place like Tubi or even YouTube?
What is Netflix or Apple etc. paying for acquisitions these days— or are they even buying?
Are there foreign market deals happening at AFM or other film markets anymore?

ANSWERS FROM SEAN:

The clean answer is that AVOD and subscription buyers are 2 very different games. AVOD can pay, but it usually pays slowly and only after real watch time. Premium streamers still buy, but far fewer titles, and mostly the ones that already look “safe” to them. As for AFM, I went once 10 years ago and I have not been back since because it has never been an outlier to the market.