Tail End Films: overheads & runway

Grant funding for Tail End Films - the company behind Making God - into 2027 as we plan our next films on AI risk.

Project Details

Tail End Films (TEF): the team behind feature documentary Making God (out early 2027) is raising grant funding for runway into 2027.
Who is involved: Connor Axiotes (CEO/Executive Producer/Presenter) & Miranda Fergusson (Production Assistant).
Making God's $1.6 million budget is ring-fenced entirely for the film: as Making God's owning company, TEF stops receiving cash for minimal overheads (for 2 staff members and one office rent) in December 2026. As such, grant funds apply from January 2027.
What we'll do: as such, I am applying for this grant to hire more staff after Making God delivery to begin thinking about the development of potential other projects - this grant will help transition TEF into a fully fledged multi-project production company focussed exclusively on films about risks from AI, from job loss to x-risk. I cover below exactly what this'll cover.
Output: TEF's operational costs into 2027, and next-project treatments ready once Making God delivers. The potential success of Making God will mean TEF is likely to be wanted for next projects by streamers (if we get a sale) and it is very wise to have an idea about what a next project might look like as we ride the success of our first film.

My theory of change - which is why I co-founded TEF and made Making God - is to reduce x-risk from AI by communicating to the public in an entertaining, cinematic, educative & fun style that isn't preachy or pessimistic. Billions of people watch films on streaming services and pick up knowledge as they do.
I believe that public opinion sits upstream of both AI policy and lab behaviour, and most of the public will never read a paper or a policy brief (or any of the technical podcasts we know and love!). Nevertheless I think politicians are very mindful of what their voters think and want, and as such TEF has an important role to play in helping to inform the public about the risks (but also the myriad benefits) AI can pose and bring about. We think there is a huge market right now to tell viewers this in an entertaining style!
Film and television remain the widest-reach media for putting an issue in front of non-technical audiences, and AI risk content has minimal presence there - and if it does, it rarely explains to people how they can help. I spent my earlier career as Senior Communications Officer to a UK Cabinet Minister; the practical lesson of that work is that issues move when they reach the public in formats they already consume.

Team Member

Applied

Minimum

$20,000

Ideal

$286,000

How the money will be spent

Making God's budget covers TEF's salaries and office through December 2026. Grant funds apply from January 2027.

Monthly cost base (USD):

What this gives us:

$20,000 (minimum) - runs the company skeleton (all lines except founder pay: $10,200/mo) for two months into 2027 (Founder time unpaid).
$50,000 (this round's cap) - skeleton for roughly five months, into May 2027.
$236,400 - the full two-person core including founder salary, twelve months.
$286,000 (ideal) - all of the above, plus TEF's first development hire: a researcher for six months from mid-2027, after Making God delivers (~$6,100/mo plus employer costs, ~$42,600), and a modest industry-events and travel line (~$7,000).

Between tiers, funding extends the runway linearly: $10,200 per month without founder pay, $19,700 with.*

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