Edward Jay Epstein, author of such much-reads as The Big Picture: Money and Power in Hollywood and the upcoming The Hollywood Economist: The Hidden Financial Reality Behind the Movies, has written a great post which offers one of the most lucid explanations I’ve come across regarding how independent films are financed: Why Indie Movies Are An Endangered Species (the post isn’t nearly as gloomy as the title suggests).
Epstein writes for a primarily US-based audience, but the information he provides is just as useful for Canadian producers and their advisers. The Ontario Media Development Corporation offers Canadian independent film producers the opportunity to download for free the Canadian Production Finance Handbook (written by Kathy Avrich Johnson), which is an absolute treasure trove of information, including multiple precedent agreements.