I’ve always dreamed of being a movie producer. That’s not true, exactly. Always would imply that as a chubby-cheeked infant I was clutching my rattle and thinking about who to cast in the sequel to Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, The River Bottom Nightmare Band Strikes Back. But as I’ve gotten older I realized there were a number of things about my favorite movies I’d do differently. I didn’t care much for Keanu Reeves in the Matrix - I wish the producers’ first choice, Will Smith, had taken the role. I wish Gladiator had lived. I didn’t care too much for the Ewoks - or Jar Jar Binks.

One of the things I’ve been looking for on Prosper and haven’t found yet is someone looking to finance a movie. I know people are out there hoping to do this, though. We’ve all read stories about movies funded on a shoestring - The Blair Witch cost $22,000 to make and earned $248 million, for example. The template for success exists.

When I started lending at Prosper I expected to see loan requests from people consolidating bank debts (and that’s certainly a valid reason to borrow). What I didn’t realize - and this is a fault of my creative thinking perhaps - was that borrowers would also be looking for lenders to invest in businesses or capital projects or even start-ups. I realized that creative projects and (maybe someday) even a film couldn’t be all that far behind.

Even those creative projects like these might be more exciting than routine financial transactions, lenders still need to bring the same critical eye to these requests as they would to anything else. It doesn’t mean that you should be any less critical of the business plans presented by borrowers, but it does mean that someone seeking capital for an unusually creative venture doesn’t automatically have to go hat in hand to a bank.

I’m sure you could argue that I could just invest in a publicly traded entertainment company like Viacom and I’d be investing in movies, too. That’s true - but there’s a certain level of interest that’s sparked thinking you’ll invest in a specific movie. It raises some interesting questions about research. I’m sure that someone who is selling their plasma to make a film can’t be judged solely on their statistics - but how do you find out whether the actors are the types who will appear on Inside the Actor’s Studio, or the types who will be acting in Anaconda IV: Still Slitherin’?

I still have hope that at some point in the future, as a Prosper lender, I’ll be able to turn smugly to the person sitting next to me at the Multiplex and say “I’m an uncredited producer of this film - I financed this guy when nobody believed in him - nobody!” The person sitting next to me will probably move to a different row, because that’s what New Yorkers do when crazy people talk to them in movie theaters, but I’ll know the truth, and I can gloat while I enjoy a Mr. Pibb and some Goobers.

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Steve S. is the author of Brip Blap, a blog about personal finance, health, career management, productivity and self-improvement. He lives and works as a contract governance and audit consultant in the New York City area, and has lived in Germany and Russia. He is an active lender at Prosper.