We Just Found One of Filmmaking’s Best-Kept Secrets — And Before the Year Ends, The Herd Needs to Hear It

December is a special kind of chaos. Holiday travel, inboxes overflowing, relatives asking if you’re “still doing the movie thing,” and everyone pretending they’re totally ready for 2025 while quietly melting into a puddle of gingerbread and exhaustion.

Amid all that seasonal madness, we — Snarky Elephant — stumbled onto something big. Something useful that made us look around and say:

“Wait. Why did no one tell us this sooner?”

And because we’re us — a growing, slightly chaotic, deeply lovable community that we lovingly (and perhaps prematurely) call the herd — we’re bringing this straight to you.

Consider this our elephant-sized gift for the end of the year.

So, Herd… Meet Section 181.

A Tax Incentive So Powerful We Initially Thought It Was a Typo.

Here’s the simplest, most non-IRS way to say this:

If someone invests in a qualified film, they can deduct 100% of that investment from their taxable income in the same year the film spends it.

Read that again. We’ll wait.

Yes, a full deduction. 

Yes, in the same tax year. 

Yes, they still get equity in the film. 

Yes, this is real.

Once we wrapped our heads around it, the next thought was:

“Okay… the herd needs to know about this immediately.”

Because this isn’t just a filmmaker thing.

This is a people-who-believe-in-what-we’re-building thing.

A friends-of-the-elephant-family thing.

A use-this-before-December-31st-if-you-want-it-to-matter thing.

And yes — timing matters. This is one of those tools that becomes extra powerful at the end of the year when people are making financial decisions and accountants start using phrases like “offset” and “deductible event”.

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Why This Is a Big Deal for Filmmakers

Independent filmmaking is basically a masterclass in doing the impossible with half the budget, three favors, and an alarming amount of hope.

Section 181 helps shift that dynamic. It gives filmmakers. including the ones right here in our herd, a new way to approach financing:

• Investors get a real, legal, immediate financial benefit

• The project becomes more attractive and less risky

• You suddenly sound way less like a starving artist and way more like a savvy producer

  
  

It turns out that people don’t just avoid film investments because they think art is risky and avoid them because they’ve never been given a good reason to say yes.

Section 181 is a very, very good reason.

Why This Is Also a Big Deal for Anyone Who Believes in Us

Our herd is made of all kinds of creatures:

• Filmmakers

• Entrepreneurs

• Artists

• Executives

• People-who-love-movies-and-also-enjoy-paying-less-in-taxes

• And the occasional friend who’s just here for the vibe

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For some of you, this is simply interesting information. For others? This might be the tool that makes supporting independent film — and specifically Snarky Elephant projects — suddenly make a lot more sense.

Section 181 gives potential supporters the ability to:

• Back art they care about

• Support independent storytellers

• Take a meaningful tax deduction this calendar year

• Still hold equity in the film

  
  

Why We’re Sharing This Now (Because this really does matter right now)

Section 181 benefits investors in the year the project spends the money.

Meaning: End-of-year investments can have end-of-year tax impact.

• If someone is looking for a smart, values-aligned place to put money before December 31st…

• If they believe in independent art…

• If they want to be part of what we’re building…

• If they want their accountant to high-five them (or whatever accountants do when they’re pleased)…

  
  

This is the moment.

What This Means for Snarky Elephant Moving Forward

We’re not hoarding this information like some secret industry treasure (though if we were dragons instead of elephants, we might consider it.)

We plan to use Section 181 to:

• Build smarter financial ecosystems around our films

• Empower filmmakers with real tools, not smoke and mirrors

• Invite supporters into a transparent, sustainable model

• Strengthen independence in independent film

• Make 2025 our most ambitious creative year yet

  
  

And sharing this with you is part of that commitment.

We don’t just want to make films. We want to grow a community, a herd, that understands how films get made and where their power comes from.

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If This Sparks Something in You… Let’s Talk.

If this information lights up a curiosity…If something in your body goes “wait a second, that actually sounds interesting”… If you, or someone in your orbit, might want to explore a Section 181 investment with Snarky Elephant…

We’re here. This door is open. Not with pressure. Just with the shared excitement of discovering a tool that could genuinely help get more independent films into the world.

Because if there’s one thing we believe, and we think you might agree:

When the herd moves together, we make impossible things happen.

Reach out to us here. Or, if you this inspires you to just give, here’s a link to give for our latest giving campaign, focused on bringing our herd together for our 1st team offsite.