Tag: crowdfunding

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Truly Free Film

KickStarter: The Good, Bad, & Ugly

I forget again who sent me this link, but I found CoffeeAndCelluloid’s post on their KickStarter experience illuminating.

Although I have yet to engage in a crowdfunding attempt yet, I have been contemplating. And I have been providing some advice, thoughts, and general consulting to those that have. I think the points Joey Daoud raises about needing to raise a fan base first, having some investment pre-committed, and needing to have supporters, promoters, and blogs lined up in advance are all right on.  He’s helping all of us learn how to make this better together.

Joey also posted many good links to bring more perspective on the whole crowdfunding experience:

  1. Kickstarter and Flattr
  2. How to Figure the True Cost of a Kickstarter Project
  3. Behavior Patterns of Kickstarter Funders
  4. Feature Film Editing and Kickstarter [Podcast]
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These Are Those Things

A Favorite Film Website: Neither The Veil Nor The Four Walls

For a film not yet shot, Neither The Veil Nor The Four Walls, is a beautiful website, and one that we can be expected to be an inspiration for many other websites. It’s got a great crowdfunding mechanism, clean simple design, easy navigation, and all the critical information you want.

Somebody sent me a nice note Marian Evans sent me a nice note about it, but I forget who, but truly, thanks!

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Truly Free Film

Financing in a Post-Capital Plane: Reflections on Putty Hill’s Kickstarter Campaign

Today’s guest post is from Stephen Holmgren, Putty Hill’s producer.

Last winter, Putty Hill director Matt Porterfield and I met with a small group of friends at Matt’s house for a home-cooked Baltimore dinner. We were there to discuss fundraising ideas for Matt’s pending feature, Metal Gods, which we were determined to shoot over the summer. Matt had been polishing the script for years, and we were having success meeting great teen actors from local auditions. All we needed was some money to shoot and edit the movie.

We were open to working with production companies and investors on a variety of levels– wanting more than anything just to have something completed by our self-imposed September deadline. We had various budget levels, including a best case, worst case, and disaster scenario. We knew that, despite positive industry responses, the reality was that if this movie was going to happen it would most likely have to come from local financial support. We brainstormed a long list of ideas, knowing we needed to reach outside of friends and family, to people who supported the arts. At this point, Kickstarter was in its infancy and
not on our radar.

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Truly Free Film

Miao Wang On The Secrets of Her Kickstarter Success

We have a guest post today from Miao Wang, director of Beijing Taxi, set to premiere shortly in SXSW.

A number of people have asked me for my secrets in regards to Beijing Taxi’s successful recent Kickstarter campaign. Frankly, the campaign’s success far exceeded my expectations. As is often the case, I simply had no alternative. I had gotten the last of my rejection letters from the post production grants I applied for. I had just received my invitation to have BEIJING TAXI’s world premiere at SXSW. It gave me a much-needed boost of energy and a deadline to push for! I knew having SXSW’s world premiere would be a crucial element in the fundraising effort, yet it was a couple of weeks before I could publicly announce it. The pressure is on! It was either get into mounting debt for the post production expenses, or do my best to raise as much as I can! It seemed like a win-win situation. I had heard about Kickstarter a few month ago, but didn’t manage to find an invitation to post a project until the last minute. Luckily my friends at Argot Pictures came to the rescue and helped me secured an invitation. I was due to start color correction and sound mix in two weeks!

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