Common Sense Crowd Sourcing for Filmmakers…or…a KickStarter campaign that Actually Works! – Part 2

MAKE A GREAT PITCH VIDEO

If you’re a filmmaker your pitch video had better damn well knock my socks off. If it looks like crap, guess what, I’ll assume your film will as well. If the sound is bad, I can only assume the sound on your feature will suck. If it’s badly edited…well, you get the idea.

Show us why we should back your project. Show us some brilliance. Show us something that makes us laugh or breaks our heart. If you’re uncomfortable in front of the camera, give us a trailer, or be self-deprecating and make fun of your nervousness. Entertain us.

And show us your passion. Why does this film need to be made? Why are you the person to make it? In a good pitch video you’re selling yourself as much as you are selling the idea. They go hand-in-hand. Your personality, your passion, your talent, your film.

If this is your second go at crowdsourcing, after a failed first campaign, perhaps make fun of your horrible first pitch video. Laughs go a long way and the writing of your pitch video should represent the writing in your film.

Likewise the way its shot. All you need is a window, sunlight, and a DSLR to get a gorgeous image. I’ve done it countless times. If you can’t, you shouldn’t be making a film. Again, show us why you should be. Show us an image that takes our breath away.

If you decide to go with a trailer, don’t give us a collection of title cards. Tease us, again with brilliance. You’re asking us to support your film, so you need to prove to us why we should. There are hundreds of other films right now on KickStarter, why should yours get my hard earned support dollars?

And to my musician friends, I don’t want to watch your pitch video, hear you talk for four minutes, and then…nothing. You’re a musician, stop talking, start playing. I want to hear the music I’ll be backing. Sure tell me why you need to make this record, but then give me a taste.

Search out the most funded campaigns and examine their videos. See the passion and the talent on display. Then look at film campaigns that raised little or even no backing (yes, there are some out there with not one backer), see everything wrong. DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

This should all be a no brainer, but you’d be shocked at how many horrible pitch videos there are our there.

Common Sense Crowd Sourcing for Filmmakers…or…a KickStarter campaign that Actually Works! – Part 1

The world of independent filmmaking has changed. No longer can a Sundance hopeful raise a few hundred thousand dollars from family, friends, their dentist, shoot for eighteen days with a crew of twenty, and hope to actually pay everyone back and actually see a check on the back end. Those days are over. DVD sales are down. And the chance of your film receiving a theatrical release is about as good as you winning PowerBall. Add to that the fact that almost everyone with a DSLR suddenly thinks they are filmmakers. And it truly seems hopeless.

Unfortunately most of those DSLR-packing Spielberg-wannabes lack the skills involved to actually tell a story with that expensive Canon, let alone make it look good. And most of the films that do get made will never be seen beyond a small circle of family, friends, students of their video production class, and of course the cast and crew involved.

The new model of independent filmmaking calls for much lower budgets and much smaller crews. What used to cost $250 thousand should now be made for one tenth that budget. The crew of twenty, cut down to four or five, or less. A great film can still be made. But it’s a lot more work.

And the fundraising. Back when I began making films in the 80s, indie filmmakers would look for angel investors. Supporters of the arts who had the cash to spare, and were looking more to help create something special, instead of for that quick profit. Not our angels are online. They are mostly strangers who believe in our ability, our story, or perhaps they just like our smile. It doesn’t matter. And instead of writing checks with five or six zeros to the left of the decimal point, they’re pitching in $25 or $50 at a shot through the various crowd-sourcing sites, KickStarter, IndieGoGo, or one of the upstarts. They will provide you with the thousands needed to turn that story idea into reality. And aside from their chosen rewards, a DVD, digital download, signed poster, producer credit in the film, you won’t ever have to pay them pack. And what profits you now make from selling your film will actually go into your pocket.

What a concept. Making money off independent filmmaking. It can be done, if you have the talent, the perseverance, and the personality. And if you actually create a smart crowdsourcing campaign.

I’ve run twenty-five successful campaigns on KickStarter…so far. Over the next couple of weeks I’m going to post some helpful hints on how I do it. And I’ll begin today with tip #1.

GOOD KARMA:

I check for new film projects on KickStarter every couple of days. I want to not only know what the competition is, but see if there are any films I personally want to back. Right off the bat, the biggest turn off, and one that will now stop me in my tracks from backing a project, is that the creator of the campaign has backed no other KickStarter campaigns. Basically they want you to give them your money, but they are above having ever helped any other people in the same position. It’s a case of spoiled-teenager gimme-gimme-gimme. And they give nothing in return. HUGE turnoff. Makes you look like a jerk. So, before you set up your campaign, learn everything about the site, study other campaigns, and give some love to a few that strike a chord in your filmmaking heart. It’s good karma. And good karma is something every filmmaker can never get enough of.

To crowdfund or not crowdfund, that is the question…

Are you passionate? Are there subjects for which you feel the need to speak up about? Subjects which make you want to step up? Do something? Then read on…

One of the hardest aspects of making a film has always been raising the necessary funds to do so. But all of that changed a few years back when first IndieGoGo, and then KickStarter gave filmmakers a way to connect with their fans and other like-minded people. For filmmakers who know how to keep costs to a minimum (i.e. not spending a million dollars to make a film), KickStarter and IndieGoGo, known as CrownFunding or CrownSourcing sites, have opened up a world to us that we never even imaged existed.

I’m going to use “Color Me Obsessed,” my documentary on The Replacements, as an example. For CMO we ran nine successful KickStarter campaigns, from the first which allowed us to get the ball rolling, to the last which gave us funds for film festival submission fees, and everything in between from the need to travel for more interviews to a sound mix.

These sites allowed us, the filmmakers behind CMO, the ability to connect with other fans of the band. To offer them “rewards” in exchange for backing to help get the film made. These rewards ranged from a simple “Thank you” in the film’s end credits, to what is obviously the most popular reward, a copy of the finished film on DVD, to other more grand perks like your name appearing in the credits, on the poster, and on IMDB.com (a data-base of all film credits, take a peek at the list of producers on the CMO page) as an executive producer of the film. The rewards typically ranged from $1 (for a thank you) to $25 for a DVD, and upwards to $2,000 or more for that executive producer package, with a dozen or so other possibilities in between.

If you are passionate about a subject, as the CMO backers were about The Replacements, if gives you a chance to help a film get made. A film that might not otherwise ever be made. And it allows you to wear your passion on your sleeve. Let’s face it, even a “thank you” in the end credits is cool. Especially if it’s in a film about a subject you are passionate about. Plus, you are most likely to see the film before anyone else. People who backed at the DVD level for CMO received their DVDs during August 2011. The commercial DVD was not available in places like Amazon and Best Buy until November 2012. A full fifteen months later. So think about that, not only did these backers help get a film about their favorite band made, they got to see it first, and then were able to open up the eyes of others when the film received national distribution and coverage in media outlets the world over. A new generation of music fans discovered The Replacements, and it was all because of the passion of a few.

And yes, it also makes you a backer of the arts. But in this case, you get to choose the art projects which gets your hard-earned cash. You back one project at a time. You know exactly what you get in return. Consider it a form of preordering something you want about something you care about.

In the case of our newest film, “A Dog Named Gucci,” we are reaching out to animal lovers, people who want to see an end to animal abuse. People who want laws toughened, so that those who do abuse receive felony convictions and actually serve jail time instead of getting a simple slap on the wrist. So, if these are your passions, by backing “A Dog Named Gucci” you are backing a film aimed at raising awareness and opening the public’s eyes.

None of the crowd funding goes into the filmmaker’s pockets. We use these fund to travel to get the needed interviews, to purchase hard drives for editing, for sound mixing, for festival fees. Your backing goes directly into the film. It’s up on the screen, as is your passion. A passion we share. A passion which will reach the widest audience imaginable. Opening the eyes of a nation to the abuse that occurs on a daily basis in this country.

So if you share this passion, this love of animals, please consider backing “A Dog Named Gucci.” Preorder the DVD, or a poster. Or donate a dollar or two just for a “thank you” in the end credits. Everything helps. If you have a group of animal lovers in your town, or want some local politicans to see the finished film, choose the private screening reward. There’s something for everyone. All you need is the passion to help stop abuse. That’s why we’re making this film. Please help us get it made.

The making of COLOR ME OBSESSED – part 9

My main issue with IndieGoGo.com (aside from how it’s now copied everything great about KickStarter) honestly stems from seeing one of its founders speak at a conference a while back in NYC. He was speaking about selling dvds, and why would anyone want to go with a distributor where sure you might sell 10,000 copies, but only receive $1 per unit, when you could sell them yourself, perhaps sell only 1,000 copies, but receive $10 per unit? To him it was still a profit of $10K, but you only had to move 1,000 units to get there.

I argued from the audience that his notion was idiotic. As an artist you wanted to build an audience, and it was certainly better to have 10,000 people buy your dvd as opposed to one tenth that number. NO MATTER THE PROFIT. That no one making an indie film was getting rich, but that we were hopefully developing a fan base. And certainly 10,000 fans was better than 1,000 fans. A number of people in the audience got it. He didn’t.

If you got into this business to make money, please leave now. There are enough whores in the entertainment industry. But if you’re here because you believe you have a story to tell, a story you have to tell, you will find your audience (or your audience will find you), and perhaps a fan base and career will eventually grow out of your passion.

(I once had an argument with another writer who explained he was livid whenever he found one of his books in a used book store, to which I replied, I loved seeing my books in used book stores, that it was certainly better than the original owner tossing it, and it might turn someone new into a fan, someone who might not be able to buy books at full price. He didn’t understand. All he cared about was the royalty he would not be receiving.)

This is art, not product. And the moment you become more concerned with the profits you make on each unit sold versus reaching out and touching someone new, well then, yes, you have become another entertainment industry whore.

The making of COLOR ME OBSESSED – part 8

Now I had tried indiegogo.com before for another project. It’s a place where you put your project online, and seek backers. NOT investors. Backers. People who donate money to your film in return for a dvd, a poster, an associate producer credit, a day on set, a role as an extra, anything you can think of really. But unlike investors, they do not own any part of your finished film. They own no part of the profits. They will never be paid back. And likewise you do not have to register with state banking commissions, you do not need a securities lawyer. (Filmmakers, if you’re looking for investors, be careful and check with the laws of individual state. Fines are not fun.) If you can find people who believe in your project this is very much the way to go. But to be honest, I had no luck with indiegogo, and I think most people who tried them at the start were in the same boat. Checking their site now, they seem to have completely changed format, basically copying the much more successful KickStarter.com.

When I first put up COLOR ME OBSESSED on KickStarter back in October 2009, it was mostly an exclusive club. You needed either an invite from one of the people who had projects on the site, or from one of the site’s founders. So I sent said founders an email, explaining who I was, and what I was making, and within a few days received an invite to make CMO a KickStarter project.

You can see the original CMO KickStarter page here, including the listing of what I was offering backers at what price. As you can see it proved tremendously successful. And I knew that when time came to find Mats fans outside of the tri-state area in which I resided, I be able to pack up my crew and go.

As an aside, I can’t say enough great things about KickStater. Everything about it is professional, well thought out, and easy to use. They truly have some amazing projects, and have helped many artists like myself achieve goals which might have otherwise been out of reach. KickStarter rocks!