In the olden days, securing funding for your film would have meant buttering up wealthy benefactors to persuade them to write you a cheque.
These days, crowd-funding websites are replacing the cap in hand approach as ways to get the cash to produce your own film.
They work by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people. And now the Middle East has its own dedicated platform - Aflamnah.
This morning at the Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi Film Festival hosted a seminar to explain how the website works and how both filmmakers and those who want to fund films can get involved.
The website's founders Lotfi Bencheikh and Vida Rizq revealed their tips as to how to make a project attractive to investors. Also on the panel was Nawaf Al Janahi, the Emirati-Egyptian director of Sea Shadow, who is a keen supporter of Aflammah.
"You need to make your [pitch] as exciting and inspiring as possible," explains Rizq. "Rather than ask for money, you invite people to be part of your project."
For more information about crowd-funding visit www.aflamnah.com