TAKEAWAYS ON DECEMBER 22, 2025 FILM PANEL

Melissa Center is an actress and an award-winning filmmaker known for visceral women’s stories. She is also a crowdfunding expert who has helped fellow creatives raise over $1.8M for their independent films, plays and albums.

I am a theatrical press agent whose practice is getting deeper and deeper into film. I feel we are living in a golden age of indie films and documentaries, with new technologies making it possible for auteurs to realize their cinematic vision cheaper and faster than ever before. I am always eager to attend professional conferences on film so I can learn how to better serve my clients in this industry.

So when I heard Melissa had organized a panel in which a number of producing issues would be discussed--including how to raise funds in the current climate, which festivals to submit to (without breaking the bank), what programmers are actually looking for these days, and what to do after your festival run--I ran, not walked, to the computer to sign up. I was not disappointed.

The gathering was December 22 in Fabrik, a comfortable, livingroom-styled collaborative space in DUMBO that's designed for book clubs, art nights, tech panels and casual mixers. The "experts," beside Melissa, were:

• Jayson Simba, an actor, director, writer and producer. In 2002, he founded One Man Show Productions to help produce the work of independent filmmakers and writers. After helming 15 indie films, he founded Festival of Cinema NYC with the aim of giving emerging filmmakers a platform to showcase their works.

• Sanjay Singh, a filmmaker who earned a BFA in film/TV from NYU Tisch in 2012. He then produced and directed commercial and original works including short-form spots, music videos, documentaries, narrative shorts and unscripted series. He founded Nukhu as a film studio in 2010, then evolved it into nukhu.com, a community-driven streaming platform for marketing and distribution. He launched the first annual Nukhufest in 2016.

• Adam Elliott, a New York City-based filmmaker and actor. His short documentary and directorial debut, "David Again," made its New York premiere at the Tribeca Festival 2024 and international premiere at Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia (Special Jury Mention).  His credits also include the comedy web series "The Age of Insecurity" and "Little Italy, Los Angeles" (winners of Best Web Series at HollyShorts Film Festival and LA Comedy Fest 2018). He brought a first-hand, practical perspective to the discussion.

Takeaways I jotted down during the discussion include these (not in order of importance):

  1. The average crowdfunding contribution for the making of a film is $50. There is a 10% conversion rate from exposures to donors.
  2. Fundraising requires a team. For every $5000 you want to raise, you need one team member.
  3. How do you get people to care about the project you are selling? Make a teaser, announce your cast, write essays about what you are building.
  4. Use a fiscal sponsor.
  5. Contribute $10 to each crowdfunding appeal that comes to you. Then keep the ID's of the recipients. Then go back to them for their support of your project(s). This is building community.
  6. Have a good Film Freeway page.
  7. Before you submit to a festival, always be prepared with your EPK (electronic press kit) and 16" x 9" poster. Find the programmer and introduce yourself by email. (Do this for any festival EXCEPT South by Southwest.)
  8. Go to the festivals you submit to.
  9. When you submit them, your films should be technically consistent.
  10. Join NUVEE.club and post three times a week.
  11. When you apply to festivals, don't ask for a waiver code unless you're an alumnus of the fest.
  12. To turbocharge your networking, equip yourself with business cards containing a QR code from moo.com.
  13. When you are in a festival, you can't count on the festival's publicist to be your film's press agent. They are seeking coverage for the festival as a whole. Moral: always have your own press agent.

There were other important topics, including press questions, but my notes (and thoughts on them) are incomplete so I will save them for future writings.