I ran crowdfunding for two films so far.
A period horror film set during the Alaskan Gold Rush. | Check out 'Kushtaka - Short Horror Film' on Indiegogo.
www.indiegogo.com
An atmospheric short film using practical FX. | Check out 'Infinitus Scifi Short Film' on Indiegogo.
www.indiegogo.com
Most of the money came from friends and family. The 1st one had 1 angel investor.
Both films cost me around $10k to make. (I'm including all expenses from inception/props/crew/food/marketing/festivals/gear rentals).
It was definetly a mistake using that much money, and also a mistake expecting money from strangers to fund my first few films.
If you look at the crowdfunding campaigns, I put a TON of work into the second one, but made less money. I think its because the first one; I was in the local area newspaper, and the film was based on a local legend. For the 2nd SciFi, it was a saturated genre, and its really hard to pull off a good indie scifi.
So that proves that it's not always production values/marketing fluff that sells tickets or gets backers.
Those campaigns that are super successful usually have a ton of followers and fans already ready to go, then they do marketing AFTER THE FACT. A lot of times they already have a private investor ready to submit a large amount of money because they already pitched the idea before getting started.
Also, festivals are not valuable AT ALL... unless you are planning on attending, and only for the chance to meet future crew and cast by handing out business cards. They are "pat on the back" events. Not being mean or jaded, I don't mind submitting films to festivals, but keep your expectations REALLY LOW.
(Also, here is a trick.... Submit to two festivals on Film Freeway. Soon you will be rolling in endless SPAM from other festivals offering discounts to submit).