Fanny Grande and her husband Nelson started out as actors about 20 years ago. But they found that, as Latinx performers, opportunities were limited. Fanny then became a filmmaker, but she still faced many barriers.
Nelson and Fanny Grande
Now, she and Nelson run Avenida, a company in Los Angeles that helps Latino filmmakers raise money through crowdfunding. In March, they also opened up a studio offering soup-to-nuts services for filmmakers. And in the near future, they plan to launch their own streaming service. “Our goal is to be the first major Hollywood studio owned by Latinos,” says Nelson.
How to Fund a Feature?
About 10 years ago, fed up with the limited options open to her as an actor, Fanny decided to create her own films about, she says, “American families who just happened to be Hispanic.” But even though they were accepted into a variety of film festivals, she had trouble getting further distribution. “The feedback would be, why isn’t it set in east LA? Or we need to get JLo for the lead,” says Fanny. She was also told she needed to create a feature film. But how could she finance that?
On a friend’s suggestion she ran a crowdfunding campaign, raising $50,000 from many $10 to $20 donations. Then after completing her film, she couldn’t sell it to distributors. But when Fanny told her social media followers about the problem, they rallied and lobbied for their local theaters to show it. After 12 such screenings, Fanny was able to sell the film.
Thanks to that success, she started getting requests from other filmmakers to tell them how she did it. So she began giving out advice, coaching filmmakers about how to self-produce and crowdfund projects. Nelson, then her boyfriend, saw the potential in all that work and suggested she start charging. In short order, they both quit their jobs and, in 2016, formed a company. They helped their first official client raise $100,000 in five days. “Communities of color don’t generally get the kind of resources they need. So we became really effective at crowdfunding,” says Nelson.
The average contribution to a rewards based crowdfunding platform for artistic and media projects is $30-$40, according to Nelson. Avenida’s average is $117, with a 95% success rate. According to Nelson, they’ve helped companies raise “millions and millions of dollars.”
A New Platform
About a year ago, the Grandes realized many clients who had run successful crowdfunding campaigns couldn’t afford to rent such essentials as hair and makeup facilities or studio sets. With that in mind, in August 2021, they moved into a 14,000 square foot building and outfitted it to become a place where clients can shoot their films and get a variety of services. That includes everything from location scouting and hair and makeup to movie sets, such as a restaurant, chapel and apartment. They opened it up in March.
Movie sets
Also in March, they launched a crowdfunding platform that also provides advice. “The primary reason crowdfunding campaigns fail is because of a lack of information and guidance,” says Nelson. So they built technology that can recognize where users are in the process and offer appropriate advice. For example, at the beginning of a crowdfunding effort, there’s a video about creating a successful pitch video. Later, if users haven’t raised enough money, they’ll get information about what to do.
By early next year, the Grandes also plan to launch a streaming service, what Nelson calls, “The Latino BET.” Content will come from clients; the company will also produce films in-house.
The company has raised a total of $500,000 from LatVC, a venture capital firm which invests in Latino-run ventures. Fanny also just finished participation in Latino Business Action Network, a Stanford Business School accelerator program for Latino entrepreneurs. “My degree was in film,” she says. “I really learned how to grow the business.”
