Film Finance Intensive MasterClass

A three-hour workshop for filmmakers: sharpen your investor approach, apply the 1,000 Investor System™, and build your next steps.

You have a film to finance. How do you identify the right investors, earn their attention, and move the conversation forward?

Join Gena Vazquez of Legacy Entertainment Partners and Ron Truppa, founder and executive director the Catalina Film Festival & Institute, for a focused, three-hour film finance workshop during the American Film Market week. Designed for filmmakers attending AFM, this small-group session combines practical instruction with discussion of participants’ projects and fundraising challenges.

Attendance is limited to 12 people, allowing time to understand where you are in raising capital and help you strengthen your approach.

Whether you are preparing your first investor conversations, combatting investors rejections or working through stalled interest, bring your current project, your questions, and a willingness to participate.

What we’ll cover

• The 1,000 Investor System™: A structured approach to prospect research, referrals, outreach, and follow-up used by master fundraisers.
• Investor fit: How to distinguish individual private investors, venture capital firms, private equity firms, and family offices.
• Engaging the right people: How to qualify an investor’s mandate, reach an appropriate decision-maker, and prepare for an initial conversation.
• Credible communication: How to explain your opportunity, ask useful questions, and request a clear next step.
• Advancing investor interest: What evidence and materials can help move a conversation forward.
• Closing the Money: How to get your investor to Yes.
• Your next 30 days: Turning the workshop into a focused capital-raising action plan.

We’ll examine when a single film, slate, or operating company may fit different investor groups so you can direct your efforts more effectively.

The three-hour program

• 30 minutes: Participant introductions and capital-raising snapshots.
• 15 minutes: Identifying the room’s fundraising priorities.
• 50 minutes: Investor targeting, the 1,000 Investor System™, and outreach practice.
• 10 minutes: Break.
• 30 minutes: Selected participant project clinics and shared lessons.
• 25 minutes: Advancing investor conversations.
• 20 minutes: Individual action plans and final questions.

Who should attend

Producers, directors, and filmmakers actively preparing for or pursuing private capital for a film or slate. The workshop is designed for participants with an existing project and a working understanding of film development.

What to bring

Bring a brief project overview, your estimated budget, your current fundraising status, and your biggest investor-engagement challenge. A laptop or notebook is recommended. You may keep sensitive project information private.

What you’ll leave with

A clearer investor profile, an expert outreach approach, a better understanding of your fundraising gaps, and a practical plan for your next steps.

Your facilitators

Gena Vazquez is the founder of Legacy Entertainment Partners and has worked in Venture Capital and Private Equity for more than 20 years. Her film finance workshops help filmmakers prepare for investor conversations and develop a more structured approach to raising private capital.

Ron Truppa is an independent producer and the founder and executive director of the Catalina Film Festival & Institute. He's been in the entertainment business for 25+ years.