Writing winning grant proposals is a great way to way to fund your film. This is an interview with Rebecca Dreyfus, winner of the Roy W. Dean NY Film Grant 2003 for STOLEN: The Search for The Lost Vermeer. Rebecca has proven to be one of filmmaker's top grant writers. Here she speaks about funding “Stolen”

When you decided to make STOLEN: The Search for The Lost Vermeer, did you make an outline for funding possibilities?

I did. In the beginning I really focused on grants. I started applying for grants and I found that each grant had slightly different specifications. Once you have a good solid proposal, you could adjust it without much effort. Originally, I thought writing the treatment would be a bit laborious but in the end I enjoyed it and realized this is part of the process; to be able to articulate on paper and create your ideas so people can imagine the film and want to see it finished.

How many grants did you enter?

I entered five grants and I won 4 out of 5. I won the Jerome Foundation; NYSCA [New York State Council on the Arts]; NYFA [The New York Foundation for the Arts], and the Roy W. Dean grant, which you may know something about. You can simply go on google and find these grants without too much difficulty.

Your research must have been excellent to direct you to the best grants.

I think I knew where I was eligible. There are many additional grants out there for documentary filmmakers but not all were a good match with my film. For example, the NEA, National Endowment for the Arts, and NEH, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Ford Foundation. However, these grants have a mandate that you have scholars involved. My film is not at all academic. It didn’t think these grants were appropriate for my film so I didn’t apply.

How long did the entire process take?

Over three years, which is about average for feature documentaries.

Where did you get the money for the promo tape?

I didn’t need much money. Someone loaned me their Avid for two weeks because they liked the project. This promo tape was perfect to show people for support and donations. I found a variety of people who wanted to be involved with the film because they saw the promo. Once we had some grant money we were able to buy an editing system. Today it is so inexpensive, systems like Final Cut Pro and Avid Xpress, that it made sense just to buy it. I have my own philosophy about how films get made. I believe it is not always up to the filmmaker which films get made. No matter how much passion you have. There are some films that no matter how hard you try, even with your heart in the right place, it doesn’t get off the ground and this is frustrating. Then there are situations where you don’t push so hard and immediately you get positive response and it takes off; it almost takes on a life of its own. I think it is important to go with this and realize it is not always based on your talent, or your project. There are bigger forces out there. I don’t mean this in a New Age way, but making a film is so complicated and involves so many people, and you have to convince people this film should be made. In my experience, there are many variables at play in terms of which films actually get made. Do you understand this?