Crowd funding/Alternative Film Funding Strategies

Started by Tortuga, February 23, 2012, 08:02:18 AM

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Tortuga

So, being a hardcore DIY lone-wolf no-budg

DIT: search didn't seem to work for me, so I'm unaware of any previous threads on this subject...

pete

what's your project/ what's your concept? Do you have a crowd or a network that you can build off of?
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

Sleepless

I don't have any wisdom to impart. Personally, a film production is not in my immediate future, although I still cling to the hope that I can make the dream a reality in, say five years time. This topic interests me though. I know a lot of you have made quality shorts and even features at different levels, can some of you share your stories about how you got funding?
He held on. The dolphin and all the rest of its pod turned and swam out to sea, and still he held on. This is it, he thought. Then he remembered that they were air-breathers too. It was going to be all right.

Jeremy Blackman

You make some pretty unique stuff, and I can see it having a lot of cult appeal. Maybe you can build a fanbase on Youtube first, or something like that.

JG

The one time I did something like this, all of the fundraising came from people who were in my life, or at least on the periphery of my life (eg. the ladies that go golfing with my mom). I wasn't really sure how to "promote" the project to get it to people who I didn't already know, but I made several promotional shorts that I hoped would make people feel okay about spending money on the project. People seemed to enjoy them, but I don't think it helped me reach anybody new.

I have lots of friends who have used these websites for raising money for their thesis films, and that just seems to be how it goes. I'm sure at a higher level, when you have a pre-existing fan base, its easier to get funding from people you don't know, but otherwise you just gotta grind it out however you can.

You could try sending to websites that might repost the link, and maybe getting buddies to repost it on facebook (hasn't yielded much in my experience, but then again, my group of friends don't make much money)

Tortuga

Quote from: Sleepless on February 24, 2012, 09:38:21 AM
I don't have any wisdom to impart. Personally, a film production is not in my immediate future, although I still cling to the hope that I can make the dream a reality in, say five years time. This topic interests me though. I know a lot of you have made quality shorts and even features at different levels, can some of you share your stories about how you got funding?

Up until now I've always tried to borrow camera and lighting material (or work with the contraints of my own shitty camera). Often actors are willing to work for free on a short film. I do all post-production and music/sounscape stuff myself. There are minor costs here and there of course. I'd say I've spent about $1000 of my own savings for most short films I've made so far.


About the crowd funding thing, I suppose that indeed, you need the right contacts in the social-networking world (it somehow has to "go viral", pardon the ugly contemporary expression). It seems weird to me to rely on your existing network (people you know, most times even in real life) for this sort of stuff, as you could have just directly asked them to fund the project.
But say one would go the blog/reddit/etc route, how do you go about it? What are examples of blogs or communities that are open and responsive to these things and aren't they already flooded with similar requests?

pete

you wouldn't straight up ask them. if you were approaching a community, you need to already have something that they want - a short film that they like for instance, and then you can say, well if you like those, check this out.
you also don't just straight up ask the existing network - you build that crowd. you get the network excited about what you're doing so they can contribute and pull in other people, where they all feel like they're doing something special.

I'm in the midst of a kickstarter campaign right now. last week it got a "staff's pick" feature, and suddenly all these strangers were giving her money; people who'd never seen her show or heard her music.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/755763590/cities-of-snow-recording-project-by-lea-grant

and, althought I like her and liked my work, I don't think her music featured in the video that I'd shot and recorded was exceptional, and I really believe that most of the people who contributed had more interest in her as a person and what she said and her personality, than the actual music she wanted to make. these are good little tests for one's basic advertising abilities; making very very simple campaign stories and seeing how they stick with the crowd out there.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

Sleepless

Could have sworn we had a separate thread dedicated to this overall concept but I guess not. I changed the title to make it more all-encompassing which will also make it more of a fitting partner for the Alterative approaches to entertainment distribution/consumption thread.

As it happens, this article is actually focused on crowdsourcing anyway...

Source

Make it More than a Movie: Incentivizing Audiences to Watch Independent Film

Earlier today, No Film School ran a transparency-friendly guest post by VHX about the bonus features included on the film Stripped. The filmmakers offer six distinct packages for purchase through the platform, each of which includes varying degrees of bonus content. The most expensive option at $49.99 — with 16 hours of additional content — accounted for 23% of their film sales and 48% of revenue. VHX determined that majority of these purchases came from pre-existing Kickstarter fans but also genuinely curious consumers who watched the doc on iTunes, etc., and liked it enough to head to their site for more. Since VHX compiled the above data, the filmmakers have begun offering yet another package for $65 with over 26 hours of footage. Essentially, they're attaching footage that was left on the cutting room floor to a $10 product and jacking up the price levels. But the audience is there for it.

Last summer, the simultaneous release of Short Term 12, Drinking Buddies and You're Next on August 23 led Ain't Them Bodies Saints director David Lowery to fashion the "Indie Film Challenge." Anyone who (virtually) provided Lowery with ticket stubs to all four movies, seen over the course of one weekend, was rewarded with a specialty prize package that included set props and mix tapes. The filmmakers behind Ping Pong Summer, Obvious Child, Lucky Them and Hellion are now expanding on that concept, offering rewards to anyone who sees all four films theatrically or digitally before July 31. If their version feels a bit more free-wheeling than Lowery's, it's still a thoughtful gesture in support of independent film.

The question now becomes, why aren't more people doing it? If the crowdfunding boom has proven anything, it's that people will support films not only because they want to see them made but because they'll be rewarded for it. I recently donated to a friend's film because I know it will be fantastic, but also because it meant a year-long subscription to Cinema Scope. Even if your film doesn't go the Kickstarter route, it's still worth applying this concept to your release, especially if your distribution is of the DIY variety. How better to incentive audiences into taking a risk on your little film than offering them something in return? Transmedia notwithstanding, you don't always have to interact with the viewer literally — cluing them in on specialty content may be good enough.

[EDIT: I guess changing the subject of my reply doesn't change the actual thread title. You'd think I'd have paid attention at some point within the past 10 years, wouldn't you? JB or someone, little help?]
He held on. The dolphin and all the rest of its pod turned and swam out to sea, and still he held on. This is it, he thought. Then he remembered that they were air-breathers too. It was going to be all right.

polkablues

Quote from: Sleepless on June 04, 2014, 02:05:10 PM
[EDIT: I guess changing the subject of my reply doesn't change the actual thread title. You'd think I'd have paid attention at some point within the past 10 years, wouldn't you? JB or someone, little help?][/i]

Got it. It only changes the overall thread title if the title is changed on the original post. So it has to be either an admin or the original poster who can make the change.
My house, my rules, my coffee

Sleepless

He held on. The dolphin and all the rest of its pod turned and swam out to sea, and still he held on. This is it, he thought. Then he remembered that they were air-breathers too. It was going to be all right.

wilder

Quote from: Sleepless on June 04, 2014, 02:05:10 PMLast summer, the simultaneous release of Short Term 12, Drinking Buddies and You're Next on August 23 led Ain't Them Bodies Saints director David Lowery to fashion the "Indie Film Challenge." Anyone who (virtually) provided Lowery with ticket stubs to all four movies, seen over the course of one weekend, was rewarded with a specialty prize package that included set props and mix tapes. The filmmakers behind Ping Pong Summer, Obvious Child, Lucky Them and Hellion are now expanding on that concept, offering rewards to anyone who sees all four films theatrically or digitally before July 31. If their version feels a bit more free-wheeling than Lowery's, it's still a thoughtful gesture in support of independent film.

That would be incredibly incentivizing and an idea I could get behind. I don't really care about movie memorabilia (though Lowery's coming up with this is fantastic, he deserves props for it) - but a discount package or something, where you could see each movie participating in this kind of promotion for $2 or $3 off normal ticket price if you saw 3 for 4 of them being released in a certain month would really get me up and out to the theater. I've pretty much put off Palo Alto until later for whatever reason, and Night Moves is currently playing but I haven't felt the fire to go see it. If this kind of package were available I much more likely would. The economics involved in this seem complicated, in terms of marketing expenditures and investment equality etc. (i.e. if Night Moves spent more on its marketing than Palo Alto, and you got a group discount for seeing both of them within a certain time frame is that really fair, with one movie essentially acting as simultaneous advertising for another? / Is it just a risk the companies have to take? / Would a very small percentage of a film's gross within the promotion time frame be allotted as profit to another based on the marketing investment disparity?). I hope this line of thinking is pursued, it could do a lot of good.

polkablues

Quote from: wilder on June 04, 2014, 08:06:06 PM
(though Lowery's coming up with this is fantastic, he deserves props for it)

Actually, he gave away props for it.
My house, my rules, my coffee