ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

3 years, 6 months ago - John Lubran

There's so much more to be factored into the question before any meaningful response can be suggested Robert.

What is the nature, style and subject of the film ? How much money so you need?

Is the project one of significant importance to many people, and if so is there a reasonable calculation of what those numbers are, and where in the world is your project able to strike a chord?

What is the scale of ambition?

Check out Kickstarter, Indigogo and especially their 'charitable' platforms such as Go Fund Me and others.

See how other campaigns are doing.

Whilst there's been successful campaigns achieving bigger budgets, most campaigns are low budget projects.

Personally I'm not keen on crowd funding platforms that require fixed timetables and don't allow campaigns to adapt to emerging circumstances and opportunities. Campaigns that provide for stretch goals and the possibility of greater ambition than initially aimed for are essential for me.

Documentaries are usually easier to fund than pure arts fiction movies, if the subject matter informs the realities of people's concerns and experiences.

Simply setting up a crowdfunding campaign on one of the facilitating platforms without creating parallel campaigns that link to it is unlikely to be effective, unless the project is already making a media impact.

An independent website that mirrors, and adds to the pages set up on the crowd funding platform is usually essential. Social media links can make the difference.

If the project can be linked to existing groups and campaigns they can be force multipliers.

A litmus test can be with regard to whether or not the crowd funding requires the giving of trinkets rewards or spurious credits. The best projects deliberately avoid relying on such because they tend to diminish the gravitas and integrity of purpose.

The Crowd Funding platforms are mostly good for providing escrow services, a safe place to deposit and manage people's money. One needs to work creatively to drive supporters to the platform. Certainly a campaign film supporting the project is likely to be essential.

Bottom line of course is, why would complete strangers want to give you their money?