Jumper Cable Films - crowd funding with a twist!

[AntonDoiron]

things I liked:

-graphics on the website
-story synopsis was fun and original sounding.
-the locations look facinating
-love the tribe of women part!
-looks professional

things I didn't like
-too much flash use where it wasn't needed slows down the browsing experience and seems overly complex

-the only problem with the idea of crowdsourced funding is that you need a bunch of people to pay for something that they haven't seen yet, have not seen a trailer of, and may not get made at all.

-some of the dialog in the script seemed goofy (stilted, unrealistic) but i know you will sort that out when you start rehearsing. that's what I try to do.


otherwise I look forward to seeing how this progresses.

 

[JumperCableFilms]

...working class artist footing the monies for my own project and would need to be wholly convinced that a percentage of my own work's budget would be better spent on another's project. I've looked at sites like Kickstarter and, IMO, the more worthy projects are the social experiments (ie the re-converted gumball machines which dispense *seedballs*).

Funny - I totally dug "seedballs," as well.

And we're also working class kids from working class families, which means we have a do-it-yourself mentality, and no angels to lift us up or save our necks. Your point hits one particular nail on the head, which is (and I absolutely mean no offense to anybody here), I think there's a lot of support among like-minded artists within the community... and a lot of lip service paid to supporting others... BUT, there's a competitive factor, as well. We're all doing our best and laboring to make things happen. Hard to pitch in resources, however small, to someone else's vision when we have our own to worry about.

And the fact about crowd-funding projects in general - many people will never support anything, and there are some people that like an idea and support it no matter what they get out of it.

But bird, yeah, we might have gotten ourselves into a bit of a jam in the sense that we are approaching this as writers and producers. Even though we have some directors informally lined up, we're keeping options open and haven't produced anything as a "team" yet in order to tout a specific line-up of cast and crew players. Good to see a visual representation of the "team". Next step is to put together viral adds and at least get quality out there in our name.

Buddy Greenfield - not off track at all. We very much like that kind of idea, and have actually been kicked it around since the beginning. For our particular purposes, we don't want to put our creative vision in the community's hands. But, we're going to be having very similar promotional votes that allow some less consequential aspects be voted on. The title might be one - one of the early drafts of Onward, Amazing People! was Post Apocalyptic Babes in Trouble. personally, I'm quite charmed by it, but I don't think it accurately captures the tone - seems too Roger Corman meets Russ Meyers. But I wouldn't mind throwing out things like that for "public voting" because it's a very compelling concept.

Ryonix - nice photo! That and Alaska inspire me to make some Grizzly Man jokes, but I'll refrain. Thanks for the great feedback on the site! We were quite limited by the flash template we were using (part of the problem starting out with zero resources and trying to build), but it's good to be reminded that it's not ideal. We kinda wish the site was more interactive. Crowd funding is tough, yeah, but we hope folks keep poking and prodding it until it works!

Thanks so much for the thoughts and arguments, everyone! I don't expect to argue my way into your wallets, but I'm very grateful for everyone letting us know their thought processes and kneejerk reactions. We've started this machine, we're heavily invested, and we're always looking for problems so we can come up with solutions.

Thumbs up!

-Ryan

 

[TheOpusFuller]

I don’t mean to go off track here (Sorry), but are there fund raising/script arrangements that pit groups or parties or preferences against each other for dominance? I mean like the film to be funded might be called “Man rules the Earth” BUT it might be called “Woman rules the Earth” OR it might be called “Night of the living Republicans” , but could be called “Night of living Democrats” (whatever) depending on which group contributes the most funds by a given date.

With the right script and the right “battle”, it seems this could work and possibly generate a lot of buzz.

-Thanks-

Eh.... I don't know how I feel about this scenario.

It seems by doing this you are no longer writing for yourself... Instead you are writing for other people. Personally I feel that the story should be personal. Should mean something to the writer.

When you start straying away from writing for yourself I think the story loses something...

 

[directorik]

I understand that this in not an investment. And, as I have said,
If you can raise the total budget in this way you have my
admiration. I’m sure your more affluent friends are willing to
donate more. That is exactly my point. Friends and people known to
you aren’t the issue. Aren’t the issue in crowd funding. I know
that a healthy percentage of the budgets of these projects come
from friends and people known to the filmmakers.

I’m speaking ONLY about complete strangers.

I feel the difference between what you are doing and NPR charging
$300 for a DC is huge. NPR is a registered nonprofit so the
donation is tax deductible. NPR is something that people listen to
often so supporting it is easy. And the CD offered is usually
already finished and from a known artist. Not a fair comparison.
Except when it comes to friends and people already known to you. I
can see them donating their hard earned money to you to show they
faith and belief in YOU.

You do have a good attitude and I’m pulling for your success.

BTW: I think the perks are fine. Many people do like to see
production videos and insider reports. Have you thought of what
you’re going to do if you get, say, 30% of the budget from $500
donors? That’s gonna be a LONG producer list. 240 producers!

 

[Papertwinproductions]

Just to echo @Ric, as I've been pitched a lot of these "Crowd Funding" schemes.

What are you going to do if you don't meet your budget, where the hell is my money going to?

********* run an identical process, yet they have a time limit on how long you can run your piggy bank. So i see a production company looking for $60,000 dollars, they've raised $32,000 and there's three days left to raise the remaining $28,000. Is this going to result in equipment or crew cuts? Lesser qualified actors? It just raises a whole lot of questions, in which i don't see a whole lot of answers.

Also, the website i suggested let's you SEE the funders, people putting $5, $10, so that gives me hope, not to mention a better idea on whether the material you're possibly going to give your hard earned cash to is appealing to somebody outside of the production team.

I'm really routing for this scheme, I'd kill to run it successfully.

 

[JumperCableFilms]

Friends and people known to you aren’t the issue in crowd funding. I’m speaking ONLY about complete strangers.

Have you thought of what you’re going to do if you get, say, 30% of the budget from $500 donors? That’s gonna be a LONG producer list. 240 producers!

Point taken. The $500 option is for people that can easily afford it and like what we're doing, but they're a very small percentage of our main target. The $7.50 option is the crux of our philosophy, and we know the cold, hard truth - some people are supportive in spirit and like to see interesting concepts play out, while some people would just NEVER donate under any circumstances. We're eager to learn what it takes to broaden our appeal, but we're not going to waste too much time spinning our wheels and romancing the latter. (I actually don't expect many filmmakers to donate, for reasons I've touched upon in a previous post - but I'm glad the topic itself has provoked a good discussion here. And for our purposes, being pinned to the wall and criticized constructively has been a tremendous help).

If we're fortunate enough to call too many $500 donors "a problem", we'll up the price for that perk and eventually cap it. No more than 15 on the end credits. Top 3 donors get opening credits.

Damn, I really hope we encounter that issue!

PAPERTWIN - Fair enough. Sadly, the link you included was iced out with asterisks, so I don't know what it was - I'm curious. Not to get sore or anything, but the only issue I really took was with the word "scheme". A script that's evolved over the course of several years, 6 months of brain-breaking to put together our production and fundraising plan, thinking of all the ins and outs... This is our baby, the first crowd-funding project we've put together and pitched (and it'll be the only one if it doesn't work). Other irons in other fires, but I've long been convinced that this particular script is perfect for this production model, and vice versa. Feels like the perfect marriage.

We're updating the site with those details you felt were lacking - contingency plan, deadline, budget, etc.

Thanks so much for all the great feedback, everyone! Clearly, it's doing us a service, but I'm also glad people are hooked by the topic itself. And I hope that, succeed or fail, anyone out there with a similar project is also able to glean ways to improve their approach.

Warmly,
Ryan

 

[Papertwinproductions]

Apologies, the "scheme" remark was to basis of "Crowd-funding", not your material.

I'm sincerely routing for you guys, you're right about the criteria and division that's been discussed, it's the guys donating $5, $10, that you're aiming for, and they're out there trust me. Those throwing the big bucks into the pot are mostly collabs, that's what i understand from what it is I've come across so far.

God speed gentlemen!

 

[directorik]

If we're fortunate enough to call too many $500 donors "a problem", we'll up the price for that perk and eventually cap it. No more than 15 on the end credits. Top 3 donors get opening credits.

Then you should put this on your website. Full disclosure. That is
what I found lacking on your web site.

I’m looking at this from a personal perspective. I’m interested in
donating $500 but I don’t know you so I’m cautious. I check your
website once a month. Three months in I see you are getting
donations so I decide to donate. I’m number 57 who chooses the
“Producer” option and I send you $500. If you then inform me that
only the top three will get the credit at the beginning of the
film I’m a little upset that I didn’t know that before I donated.
If you then tell me only the first 15 will get that producer
credit on the film at all you have - technically - misrepresented
your project and I could be angry enough to sue. I certainly would
demand my donation back. Sure, if you tell me that upfront you
won’t get my $500. Or you will get a fully informed donator.

Money changing hands between people you don’t know can get very
tricky - full disclosure.

The reason I am focusing on the $500 donors is because of the
amount of money you need to make your movie. If the $7.50 is crux
of your philosophy and you think you are going to get 50% or more
of your budget from those donors you are looking at 27,000 people.
So if you get only 20 $500 donors you are looking at attracting
around 50,000 people in the other categories. I’m sure you have
run the numbers.

Just look at indietalk.com. 17,000 members. About 30 are frequent
posters - .017%. Now I do understand that your forum will be
different - it will be more focused; focused on one project.
Attracting close to 50,000 people will be quite a challenge.

we know the cold, hard truth - some people are supportive in spirit and like to see interesting concepts play out, while some people would just NEVER donate under any circumstances.

There is a third: someone like me. Someone who would donate
because the execution of the project is presented well. If you
present this as the business it is, you might open you base of
donations. I wonder if more of your fellow filmmakers would donate
if your business aspect was better.

 

[JumperCableFilms]

If you then inform me that only the top three will get the credit at the beginning of the film I’m a little upset that I didn’t know that before I donated.

The 3 opening credits versus end credits info was up on the site, but just added the end credit cap. Thanks for calling it to our attention.

We do reserve the right to make changes, of course, but never will we misrepresent or suddenly yank the rug out from someone after they've donated. Changes to our approach won't effect donors retroactively. It's not even about us being honest or fair-minded (though we like to think we are), it's about not pissing off or disappointing our audience, whom it is in our best interest to keep happy and excited about the project.

A "take the money and run" approach would guarantee failure. And would kill my career.

Just thinking out loud, the all-out "this is an investment/business" approach you've been advocating is very compelling and promising. There are certainly lessons to be drawn from it for our project. Guess I'd be more confident with that approach for a second feature film if Onward! is successful. By then we'd have a brand, will have proven the model a success. Much more reason to invest if a return looks promising.

Papertwin - no worries, man! Hope I didn't sound to defensive... Thanks for the response!

 

[JumperCableFilms]

Thanks again for all the feedback, everyone.

Just updated the site - new home page to make the mission super clear, back up plan in the FAQ.

Funny - now folks are telling us that we should just go for broke and shoot with whatever we can raise by Dec 31st. But I agree with Directorik - difference between donating to a $5,000 film and a 1-300,000 film is huge. And were not out to make a glorified student film, so...

We've also just added a few folks to our team, graphic designers and promoters, and are putting together some promo videos/commercials that distill our concept visually. Looking forward to sharing them with you here.

Wish us luck!

Cheers,
Ryan




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Also, just adding a promo offer through our Facebook page until July 4th. If you "LIKE" our post and buy a ticket, you get TWO FREE TICKETS of equal value for friends.

 

[JumperCableFilms]

Hey folks,

Just launched our new photo blog, "Sh*t You Don't See in America!", in order to share some of the oddball eye-catchers and eye-sores around Eastern Europe. It's one of the many gossamers of the wide net we intend to cast to get people excited about our feature film project.

Praise? Criticism? Come one, come all!

- Ryan