ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

10 years, 1 month ago - Matthew Prince

Check out this campaign for Range 15 - An action comedy on Indiegogo https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/range-15-movie . They've raised over their target ($325,000) and will reach $600,000! Also check out Kung Fury - a fantastic '80s spoof short film funded through Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kungfury/kung-fury/description and Band Aid - https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/band-aid-a-musical-comedy-web-series#/story .

The pitching videos are all unique and capture the right spirit and tone for their campaigns. Also it helps if you explain display the technical experience to make it. Show footage of music videos, shorts, TV, Film and Commercials you have created - this always inspires people! Funders will have confidence in you and the project if you can direct, screenwrite, edit, etc.

Keep your budget low, unless you can guarantee stars or acheive SFX.

Don't forget, actors can inspire people, especially well known, it will boost your campaign instantly if actors and actresses star in your pitch video.

Please study these campaigns and download Indiegogo's Film Handbook PDF.

Last advice, people don't really donate to shorts, they donate to feature films and web-series.

10 years, 1 month ago - Christopher Jolley

Hi Dan,

Again a sound point, and you needn't worry, in retrospect I went at the crowd funding completely half cocked, needless to say I won't do that again. I'm letting the crowd and audience build for the film and then I'm going to restart the campaign later on. Now I am concentrating on building interest in the film itself (via social media). So here's hoping!

Cheers!

10 years, 1 month ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Top tip - when you're trying to raise money, show you know how it will be spent. Even a wrong budget is more appealing than no budget because it shows at least you've thought about it!

You don't necessarily need to give the full breakdown, but travel, hires, transport, catering, insurance etc all add up and a backer wants to see you've thought about all costs and that their investment isn't going to be wasted because you forgot that taxis would be needed for a night shoot and wiped out £200 that was going to be for sound... And make sure you include all of post, too, even if you're not looking for post money in the campaign, let people know where their money sits and how much extra needs to be raised to realise the promoted value.

Don't, by the way, underestimate platform costs or 'reward' costs. Signed A4 photo - print costs plus board-backed envelope plus suitable stamp is probably a couple of quid already. DVD burns, boxes, cover artwork, postage, etc. Allow for replacements/lost in post too. Once you factor all those costs you may be working with a lot less than you ostensibly raise! Just be aware!

10 years, 1 month ago - Marlom Tander

Your team is two people, and you want to raise 3K. The question that many potential investors might ask is "that's 1500 each. That's "not going on holiday this year" level money. That's "work in bar and save hard a few months" money. Basically, it's too little.

And that's before we then notice that you're not actually raising money to make a movie. You're raising money to try and get to the place where you can raise money to make a movie.

I'm tempted to try and crowd fund a trip to Cannes so I can do a deal to make a movie :-)

My view - either ask for the money you need to make the movie, or invest your own 3K to make a trailer to wow the crowds and raise the money. "Look what we did with 3k of our own money. Imagine how great it will be with XK".

cheers

10 years, 1 month ago - Christopher Jolley

Hi Malcolm,

Thanks for the advice, and it's sound advice. I should've went for asking for it, rather than part of it. I will probably let the campaign run it's course, and invest my own money to make the footage and then go from there. Still you live and learn!

Cheers

10 years, 1 month ago - Dan Selakovich

I agree with Marlom, but wouldn't have been as nice.

The problem most people make with crowdfunding is that they think "if I build it, people will come." It just doesn't work that way. You're basically asking people to donate to a crowd funding campaign to fund a crowd funding campaign. Doing it once is hard enough. If you want a crowd funding campaign to be successful, you have to have a crowd FIRST. You have to do blogs, videos, and all sorts of shit to build the audience. Then a year later, after you've gotten people interested in you, you start your crowd funding.

10 years, 1 month ago - Hank Starrs

Hi Chris,
Having recently completed a couple of successful crowd funding campaigns I'd say that the biggest mistake folks make is regarding the rewards. They have to be value for money! If people can download a finished short from iTunes for a few quid, they are not going to donate £50 for a short trailer and a few bits of paper. Although you may rely on goodwill for initial donations, indiegogo is not a charity, it's a pre-sale marketplace. You have to make the rewards really rewarding! A good selection of perks helps as well, you only have a few. Currently on Kickstarter there are over 1000 film/TV projects so competition is fierce.

One of the keys in hitting your target is knowing where the first 30% of donations is going to come from. If you don't reach that number in a few days, usually you will fail, partly because your film will appear to be failing to the crowd funding public and they will ignore it. If you think that immediate family and friends will pitch in with 1K then aim for 3K. If you think it's going to be more like £100 then you'll probably make around £300. Have a look at your rewards and think to yourself, "if I didn't know the film makers would i pay £10 for a short film script signed by unknown writers?"

It's good to have a hook as well and to know the social networks that you are going to tap into. Bloggers, folks who tweet about short film projects, communities of horror fans, whatever. Your trailer and artwork could be a lot more colourful (literally, add some actual colour) and arresting. Maybe invest in some really cool materials before you start. I don't agree with Paddy BTW, no one cares about the details of a budget apart from a brief overview. You want to catch peoples imagination.

As others have pointed out, raising money for a trailer so that you can try to raise money for a feature is a hard sell. Maybe you could make a proper short, based on part of the premise of the feature, at least that way folks will get a finished film. Take a look at other successful campaigns and copy them! Good luck with it.