Ask friends, family and colleagues for referrals to people who are known to have money and may be open to unique investment opportunities.
Send a proposal to "super-angels." These are investors with large amounts of money specifically for financing independent films and studio development deals. Ideally, super-angels will be able to invest over $500,000 in film ventures. Super-angels are not hard to find, but they are difficult to secure an appointment with so be sure to prepare a well thought out proposal which includes a financial plan and scenario analysis.
Contact your bank and ask for the filming group within the corporate investment bank. Banks, especially large money centers, may have a specific department that specializes in film industry financing.
Consider a pre-sale. A pre-sale means the rights to your film are sold before production. You can negotiate this directly with the studio or contact an attorney that specializes in the film industry to be your agent. Ask friends or family for references and use the reputation of the cast as the basis of the sale.
Consider a negative pick up deal. A pick up deal means that a studio will buy the rights from the producer at a specific price, time, and sum in the future. A "bridge" loan can be requested from the bank to make up for the funding gap until the funding from the studio sets in. Use the agreement made by the studio to help secure the bridge loan.
Use a studio development production deal. Unfortunately, this means that the studio will take at least 51 percent of ownership in the film. Hire an attorney specializing in development production deals to ensure protection.