I was fortunate enough to be an integral part of the 90s Independent Film Movement (producing David O. Russell’s Spanking the Monkey, Scarlett

Johansson’s breakout role in Manny and Lo, and IFC’s seminal independent film series Split Screen, etc.) and I really believe a new very exciting opportunity for independent film is on the horizon, and not many people are talking about it.

There are many ways to raise money for films, for example - foreign sales, grants, studio system, friends/family, crowd-funding, branded/advertiser support, or perhaps a mysterious man leaves a briefcase filled with unmarked bills in front of your house (I’d advise you not to use that last one) as well as many other options.

But there’s a new kid in town…

Thanks to the new JOBS ACT and the SEC, “Equity Crowd-Investing” is now a reality. Equity Crowd-Investing is basically if Crowd-Funding were not based on donations, but instead based on real investments and returns. You put in money, you get an equity stake in the film.

How I first learned about this was though a truly illumining Stage32 webinar called “How to Finance Your Project with Equity Investors Using the Internet” featuring some really great experts on the subject - Anne Marie Gillen, who was the former COO of Morgan Freeman's Revelations Entertainment, the CEO of Media Shares Gene Masey and Lou Bevilacqua, the founding member of Digital Offering LCL, a FINRA registered investment bank, which showed the ins and outs from a business and legal standpoint of this new type of fundraising.

What’s so wonderful about this is that is democratizes film investing. It no longer has to be about the big studios, but it can now be about the people who have a love and passion for movies, who want to bring films to life, and also potentially make a profit.

I believe (as I did during the 90s Independent Film Movement) that if we invest in interesting movie ideas and filmmakers now, we can make some really wonderfully unique and profitable films that the studios are not currently making. This is why I’m thrilled to have launched an Equity Crowd-Investing campaign on WeFunder for my new film GUY DOWN THE ROAD. We want to give “Equity Crowd-Investing” a good name, and a great track record, so it can become a viable option for film financing for everyone. When we succeed here, it will open the gates to all filmmakers.