Toronto-based Writersandfilmmakers.com has a different approach to short and feature film funding.

I call it a mashup of merit and crowd sourcing.

They’re running two competitions, one for shorts and one for features. Up to 1,000 writers or filmmakers sign up to judge each other’s work. The top filmmaker then gets to select one of the ten top scripts, pays the writer and makes her film.

I asked Jonathan Krimer, via email, why he started this venture:

“As a writer, I recognized that the number one barrier to making a film was funding. Sitting down and writing isn’t too expensive. But making a film is. No matter how much gear you or your friends have, you still need funding. I thought if people could come together and assess each other’s work we would be able to decide which projects to move forward on as a community. Let’s create a community where the participants want the best of the other group. Its a Win-Win-WIN. The last win is the funding.”

The funding comes from the entry fees. When each competition reaches 900-1,000 entrants, fees of $50 for the short film competition and $100 for the feature film competition become payable. The winning short film-maker gets $10,000 to pay the writer of the script they select, $15,000 for principal photography and $10,000 for completion. The winning feature film-maker gets $20,000 to pay the writer of the script they select, $30,000 for principal photography and $20,000 for completion. Writersandfilmmakers.com keeps the remaining fees to cover their overhead.

When each competition begins, each entrant must complete assignments. Filmmakers read and judge scripts. Writers watch and rate films. Writersandfilmmakers.com crunches the numbers to determine the winning filmmaker and the top ten scrips.

Which competition will happen first, short or feature? Any idea when?

“I am predicting the short film competition will occur first because the funding is absolutely insane! 10K for a short script and 25K for a short film?! THAT’S AMAZING! In addition, we have a two to one ratio of short film entries versus feature film entries. As for when, that’s a difficult one to predict. Our current rate of entries is seeing incredible spikes here and there. One day we have 20 entries, the next day we have one. What’s interesting about this competition is the more the word spreads, and the more the community helps spread the word, the faster we can start assessing each others work and funding a film.”

My take: I applaud this venture because it relies purely on writers and filmmakers, and not on funding bodies. Using the crowd to create a meritocracy is laudable. I like that it totally sidesteps issues of commercialization and focusses wholly on scripts and indie filmmaking. The writer prizes are very rich! Given the low entry fees (which are not payable until the competitions reach critical mass) I say go ahead and enter! I only wish there was a way to create communities of writers and directors through this who could collaborate on future projects, perhaps by location, as this is garnering entrants from cities around the world.