Rating: 
Summary: Shaking the Money Tree
Review: "Shaking The Money Tree" is an informative well organized required reading for indie filmmakers. Morrie Warshawski mixes proven and innovative business plans with the knowledge and passion to unlock the treasury.
Rating: 
Summary: Review of SHAKING THE MONEY TREE
Review: A few years ago I was trying to make a couple of short films and was thus foraging around for money. There was a certain book that was recommended to me more than any other: SHAKING THE MONEY TREE. This book, unfortunately, was out of print. And the copies in the library had been stolen. Written by one of the foremost advisors to indie filmmakers seeking budgets, Morrie Warshawski, the first edition had become a sought-after tome of strategies and funding sources for those itching to follow in the footsteps of Spike Lee or Richard Linklater. Now comes the 2nd edition from publisher Michael Wiese Productions. SHAKING THE MONEY TREE may be lean on lists of sources, but it's rich with strategies on how to raise funds. Which is really what filmmakers need. After all, the lists are easy to come by since the astonishing rise of the Internet, a rise that occurred entirely in the 10 year span of time between the first and second editions of SHAKING THE MONEY TREE. Warshawski notes in the forward that whereas he had literally no mention of the internet in his first edition, he declares is an essential ingredient in the second. As I mentioned, Warshawski keeps the focus of his book not on exhaustive lists of foundations, but what most indie filmmakers really need: improving their skills at organizing your fundraising and-most important-the one-on-one ask for cash. Your average filmmaker won't mind sitting through a mind-numbingly pretentious new film because the famous director is present and the filmmaker might get to say two words to this famous person, but that same filmmaker will shun the opportunity to sit down with a wealthy friend or relative for twenty minutes and actually ASK for money. The strange mix of timidity and entitlement that drives a filmmaker into his or her creative endeavors is the same mix that makes him believe "They should just GIVE me the money." Warshawski's book dispels those absurd dreams and sets the filmmaker on the track of raising money through persistent hard work. Warshawski, a long time consultant on documentaries and narrative films, breaks down the various processes of fundraising by individuals, corporations, foundation, government grants, small businesses and non-profits. He gives different strategies for documentary filmmakers, for animators, for narrative filmmakers and for experimental film and video artists. He includes resources, such as a sample letter for fundraising written by a celebrity, a successful grant proposal and budget form for the National Endowment for the Humanities, and a list of other helpful books and websites that will lead a filmmaker to direct funding sources. But the strength of SHAKING THE MONEY TREE is the way Warshawski educates the reader about how to think about fundraising. After reading the book, the filmmaker can stop being nervous around the face-to-face ask and instead begin role-playing and working his inevitable pitch into the best pitch it can be.
Rating:
Summary: Review of SHAKING THE MONEY TREE
Review: A few years ago I was trying to make a couple of short films and was thus foraging around for money. There was a certain book that was recommended to me more than any other: SHAKING THE MONEY TREE. This book, unfortunately, was out of print. And the copies in the library had been stolen. Written by one of the foremost advisors to indie filmmakers seeking budgets, Morrie Warshawski, the first edition had become a sought-after tome of strategies and funding sources for those itching to follow in the footsteps of Spike Lee or Richard Linklater. Now comes the 2nd edition from publisher Michael Wiese Productions. SHAKING THE MONEY TREE may be lean on lists of sources, but it's rich with strategies on how to raise funds. Which is really what filmmakers need. After all, the lists are easy to come by since the astonishing rise of the Internet, a rise that occurred entirely in the 10 year span of time between the first and second editions of SHAKING THE MONEY TREE. Warshawski notes in the forward that whereas he had literally no mention of the internet in his first edition, he declares is an essential ingredient in the second. As I mentioned, Warshawski keeps the focus of his book not on exhaustive lists of foundations, but what most indie filmmakers really need: improving their skills at organizing your fundraising and-most important-the one-on-one ask for cash. Your average filmmaker won't mind sitting through a mind-numbingly pretentious new film because the famous director is present and the filmmaker might get to say two words to this famous person, but that same filmmaker will shun the opportunity to sit down with a wealthy friend or relative for twenty minutes and actually ASK for money. The strange mix of timidity and entitlement that drives a filmmaker into his or her creative endeavors is the same mix that makes him believe "They should just GIVE me the money." Warshawski's book dispels those absurd dreams and sets the filmmaker on the track of raising money through persistent hard work. Warshawski, a long time consultant on documentaries and narrative films, breaks down the various processes of fundraising by individuals, corporations, foundation, government grants, small businesses and non-profits. He gives different strategies for documentary filmmakers, for animators, for narrative filmmakers and for experimental film and video artists. He includes resources, such as a sample letter for fundraising written by a celebrity, a successful grant proposal and budget form for the National Endowment for the Humanities, and a list of other helpful books and websites that will lead a filmmaker to direct funding sources. But the strength of SHAKING THE MONEY TREE is the way Warshawski educates the reader about how to think about fundraising. After reading the book, the filmmaker can stop being nervous around the face-to-face ask and instead begin role-playing and working his inevitable pitch into the best pitch it can be.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Have...
Review: A must have for any indie filmmaker. It's an easy to understand way for raising the funds to realize their dream projects.
Rating:
Summary: Like a treasure map to hidden & not-so-hidden funding
Review: I read "Shaking the Money Tree" from front to back & immediately went about following many of the author's suggestions for finding funding for my proposed documentary film project on mermaid myths, art & lore around the world!
Rating:
Summary: Like a treasure map to hidden & not-so-hidden funding
Review: I read "Shaking the Money Tree" from front to back & immediately went about following many of the author's suggestions for finding funding for my proposed documentary film project on mermaid myths, art & lore around the world!
Rating:
Summary: A valuable book
Review: If you are going to raise funds, you need a well-thought out plan. Novices often waste time and resources learning by trial and error. In SHAKING THE MONEY TREE, Morrie Warshawski offers expert and no-nonsense advice that will be invaluable to filmmakers seeking grants and donations. Mark Litwak, author and entertainment attorney.
Rating:
Summary: A valuable book
Review: If you are going to raise funds, you need a well-thought out plan. Novices often waste time and resources learning by trial and error. In SHAKING THE MONEY TREE, Morrie Warshawski offers expert and no-nonsense advice that will be invaluable to filmmakers seeking grants and donations. Mark Litwak, author and entertainment attorney.
Rating:
Summary: How the financial side of the film business really works
Review: Now in an expanded and updated second edition, Shaking The Money Tree: How To Get Grants And Donations For Film And Television by Morrie Warshawski is a ground breaking instructional manual in the art of fundraising for the financing of noncommercial film and video projects. Presenting the basics of how to apply for and earn grants and/or donations from individuals, foundations, government agencies, corporations, and more, Shaking The Money Tree combines direct decorum with an invaluable insight for how the financial side of the film business really works, as well as being peppered with useful grant forms and superb grant writing examples. If you have a film or television project that you need to finance -- begin with a close and careful reading of Morrie Warshawski's Shaking The Money Tree!
Rating:
Summary: This is a great book......
Review: The guru of fundraising for indie films has crafted a primer even more essential today than it was when it first came out in 1994. The updated edition makes it clear that finding funding for noncommercial films is as much of an art as filmmaking itself-- and that every indie can be the master of both, when Shaking the Money Tree is their guide.
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