So who has used http://www.kickstarter.com/ ? I'm thinking of using them from the next Mad Angel Films flick and just want to know what type of experiences that people have had with them.
kickstarter.com (whose used them)
- Thread starter TheBuck
- Start date
We used them, and we didn't get that many people 'contributing.' Bear in mind, however, that we don't have a dedicated PR person to drum up interest...it's only a handful of people social networking. We did get a handful of contributors, but not enough to really get anything going.
To be completely honest, we got so few contributors, we shut the kickstarter profile down.
To be completely honest, we got so few contributors, we shut the kickstarter profile down.
How many contributors did you get who did not
know you at all?
I am so curious about this method that I am seriously
considering shooting a doc on it. Following a few local
filmmaker with a camera and maybe five or six more
via phone, email and maybe their footage.
Reminds me, i bought a couple of frames long ago in mymilliondollarmovie project and received an email from them recently stating that theyre beginning production in spring 2011.
Lets see how it goes and what level of success the movie achieves.
Lets see how it goes and what level of success the movie achieves.
It's a great system, if you're a good advertiser. Just throwing something up there won't work. You still need to be able to spread the word and what not, and just use the site as a "safe and secure" place for people to donate.
What experiences have you had with good
advertising? How many people did you get
to donate?
We had a little over a dozen contributors, and I'd say around 90% were people that knew us personally, or were fans of the production company...I'd guesstimate 5% or less were people that saw the FB posts, visited the KS page and dug the teaser.
Buck, from what I understand, you have to raise the amount you specify, otherwise you don't get any of it. So, what people do is set the amount low and whatever you get over that is yours to keep.
With Indie go-go, you get whatever you raise. I have used neither, this is just what I have read on each site.
You really have to raise some buzz, send an email to every person you know and be shameless as hell. (I guess we all have to be anyway).
Of course it helps to have a kick ass trailer and poster art to put up as well.
With Indie go-go, you get whatever you raise. I have used neither, this is just what I have read on each site.
You really have to raise some buzz, send an email to every person you know and be shameless as hell. (I guess we all have to be anyway).
Of course it helps to have a kick ass trailer and poster art to put up as well.
See, the thing is - if one has to do all that hard work oneself anyway, what is the benefit of having a third party site skim points off the top of whatever one raises?
All the sweat that's needed for success is provided by you.
Sites such as these make their money betting on your failure.
So you think it would be easier to send out a plethora of personal emails, social networking posts, notifications to websites and say "Hey, I'm making a movie. Send what you can to my paypal account."
I see your point Zen, but maybe building a website for your upcoming film and conducting things like they do?
Would you guys say that using a trailer from our latest movie is OK instead of making a teaser? One of the people in MAF (Mad Angel Films) just doesnt want to do a teaser for the film and thinks that showing something from our latest is OK. I say it's not really OK since people want to know what they hopefully going to put money into.
That's a good point. I didn't think of it like that. For me I would be more interested in the work that is being done now and not what has been done in the past. Indie movies vary from each project even if done by the same group.
Perhaps the script may, but you get a great idea of the production quality the team can put out. It takes about 5-10 seconds to judge whether the production company has skill or not when watching a previous trailer.
Sure production companies get better and better with every feature (at least they should)...but in general you can tell what you're getting in to. And also, you can see that the prodcution company has a few finished features under their belt.
As someone who does startups, I gotta say that kickstarter is great... for the 10% that it's great for.
For everyone else, it kinda sucks.
It depends a lot on virality. The diaspora guys had a viral idea: Facebook kinda sucks. Lots of people (maybe too many) got on board with their idea and they raised a ton of money.
You need to find an idea like that. Often, it comes down to exposing your project to the communities who will take to it well. If your movie is about punk rock, hit the online punk rock communities.
If you *just* have a compelling story and a good teaser, it's honestly probably not enough. You need something that will rally a base community to spread the word for you. (You can build one of your own, of course, but that takes years to do)
Make a quality movie that serves a niche, something that nobody else has made, and that niche will probably reward you with the kind of exposure you want. Unfortunately their dream movie probably isn't your dream movie-- but who are you making movies for, anyway?
For everyone else, it kinda sucks.
It depends a lot on virality. The diaspora guys had a viral idea: Facebook kinda sucks. Lots of people (maybe too many) got on board with their idea and they raised a ton of money.
You need to find an idea like that. Often, it comes down to exposing your project to the communities who will take to it well. If your movie is about punk rock, hit the online punk rock communities.
If you *just* have a compelling story and a good teaser, it's honestly probably not enough. You need something that will rally a base community to spread the word for you. (You can build one of your own, of course, but that takes years to do)
Make a quality movie that serves a niche, something that nobody else has made, and that niche will probably reward you with the kind of exposure you want. Unfortunately their dream movie probably isn't your dream movie-- but who are you making movies for, anyway?
I think that both Kickstarter and IndieGoGo are great ways to scrounge money off people you know, but it's not a very serious way of getting third party investors...
As for what Zensteve says, I would disagree. It's like using any sort of agency, sure they take a cut, but at least it's going through an official channel. When I say 'Donate' buttons on film websites it puts me off a lot, because there's no recognition of your contribution, there's no demonstration of what the money is going towards and there's no guarantee that you're contributing to the thing you think you are contributing to. So, as an investor, I'd much rather work with someone using Kickstarter of IndieGoGo.
As for what Zensteve says, I would disagree. It's like using any sort of agency, sure they take a cut, but at least it's going through an official channel. When I say 'Donate' buttons on film websites it puts me off a lot, because there's no recognition of your contribution, there's no demonstration of what the money is going towards and there's no guarantee that you're contributing to the thing you think you are contributing to. So, as an investor, I'd much rather work with someone using Kickstarter of IndieGoGo.
Come on, man. Even Kickstarter can't guarantee that you're giving money to legit people.
From their own FAQ:
Code:
How do I know if a project creator is who they say they are?
• Perhaps you know the project creator, or you heard about the project from a trusted source.
• Maybe they have a first-person video. That would be hard to fake. "Is it really U2?!" Well, it is if Bono's talking about the project.
• Still not sure? Ask the project creator a question via the "Send Message" button on their project page.
[B][COLOR="Red"]At the end of the day, use your internet street smarts[/COLOR][/B].That's about as caveat emptor as I can think of. (Bold red emphasis was mine, btw) There's nothing "official" about any of the money that gets passed around, aside from various fees for using the service.
These "fund-raising" websites are just another mechanism for financial institutions to shovel money around, and take their slice off the top of each transaction.
No, this is true.
But the point of Kickstarter is to get people to invest in secific projects. If you have some idea of where your money is going and some trust in the recipient then it's a much better way of making sure that you're giving money to get a movie made.
I'm not saying it's perfect, because in a perfect world people would simply write your a cheque if they like your project and want to support it. But I can definitely seen the attraction of legitimising your production with one these services: from the POV of both filmmaker and investor.
But the point of Kickstarter is to get people to invest in secific projects. If you have some idea of where your money is going and some trust in the recipient then it's a much better way of making sure that you're giving money to get a movie made.
I'm not saying it's perfect, because in a perfect world people would simply write your a cheque if they like your project and want to support it. But I can definitely seen the attraction of legitimising your production with one these services: from the POV of both filmmaker and investor.
