So time to retreat and think again.
The basics are very simple but if you are going to raise money for a project you need to develop the business case first. I know for some this would fly in the face of the “creative effort”, but unless you are using your own money, you have to have a film finance plan.
The plan should address all issue concerning the production and marketing of the film but the most important thing that must be addressed and addressed in some detail is who you are going to sell the film and how you are going to repay the investors.
Obviously the “saleablity” of the project revolves around two things, the talent to be used and the basic pitch of the film’s story.
You don’t necessarily need a “bankable” star, but you do need a good idea and a decent script. On the project I was trying to promote I commissioned five drafts of the script and it would probably been revised yet again if the project had gone ahead.
But if you want to have people lining up to invest in your second and subsequent projects you need to return the investment in your first project + some.