Just curious if anyone here has had a successful kickstarter or indiegogo project?
If so - Explain what is the most important thing you had to do....
If so - Explain what is the most important thing you had to do....
KickStarter & IndieGoGo success stories
- Thread starter NickSoares
- Start date
I've had success using Kickstarter. One video I made collected over $5,000 and the other video I made collected over $30,000.
My advice...
1.) make a quality video that actually describes what you plan on doing and one that shows your face
2.) Use any connections you have whether it be family members.. friends.. and friends of friends.. etc.
My advice...
1.) make a quality video that actually describes what you plan on doing and one that shows your face
2.) Use any connections you have whether it be family members.. friends.. and friends of friends.. etc.
...tell people about it because only your friends/fans will donate.
+1
Except in the rare cases of Music/Bands.
The kickstarter video I did (was for a band) and raised over $30,000. I was astounded. Filmmaker campaigns... different creature... mainly family members and friends donate with the occasional casual pledger. I had a few people donate $500+ that had emailed me saying they were only interested in executive producer credits.
Either build a large online social network first yourself, or have key figures involved who have one already.
We raised almost $25k for a documentary I'm working on now. The three main subjects are local comedians, and while they aren't yet nationally known combined they have about 7000 twitter followers. They were also able to promote it on several popular podcasts, local radio, newspapers, etc, and got a few more well known comedians to share it with their twitter followers. Even with all that it wasn't easy - we didn't hit our goal until the last couple days of the campaign. In the end we had nearly 500 contributors though, and many of them were people that none of us involved knew personally - including someone who kicked in $1000 on the last day.
We also only went for the bare minimum budget - enough to cover the production part of the film, which involved a lot of travel - and none of us involved will get paid for our time on the film until we can start selling it. If we'd tried to go for a large enough amount to cover our time I don't think we would have been able to raise it.
We raised almost $25k for a documentary I'm working on now. The three main subjects are local comedians, and while they aren't yet nationally known combined they have about 7000 twitter followers. They were also able to promote it on several popular podcasts, local radio, newspapers, etc, and got a few more well known comedians to share it with their twitter followers. Even with all that it wasn't easy - we didn't hit our goal until the last couple days of the campaign. In the end we had nearly 500 contributors though, and many of them were people that none of us involved knew personally - including someone who kicked in $1000 on the last day.
We also only went for the bare minimum budget - enough to cover the production part of the film, which involved a lot of travel - and none of us involved will get paid for our time on the film until we can start selling it. If we'd tried to go for a large enough amount to cover our time I don't think we would have been able to raise it.
I'm going to do a shameless plug for an article I wrote on the subject. Please click here and read!
As a disclaimer: I've never run a campaign myself but I've closely observed a number and was 1st AD on a film that raise $20,000 with KS so I know it can be done. And I reckon I know how
As a disclaimer: I've never run a campaign myself but I've closely observed a number and was 1st AD on a film that raise $20,000 with KS so I know it can be done. And I reckon I know how
I'm going to do a shameless plug for a Secret Santa gift I made based upon that EXACT SAME article you wrote on the subject. Please click here to watch!
Um... I have nothing to disclaim. Well... maybe that I'm not a complete idiot. (Just a regular one, maybe)
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I have set up two Kickstarter projects - the first was for 10K and would have funded if the executive producer had been willing to accept a 4K deal from a friend who requested an associate producer credit and the majority of the money back after funding. That would have given us over 5K to work with for post. I still think it was a mistake to turn that down.
The second project is currently up and running, for a play I'm producing starring a comic friend of mine, Jann Karam - "Reclining Nude On La Cienega". We're trying to hit our minimum goal of $3,250 and then go beyond that. We have 10 days left and we're almost exactly halfway there - I think we'll achieve funding. It helps that she is recognizable and funny and has some credits, etc. under her belt.
I agree with the others - having a good video, whether funny, charming, mood-inducing, whatever - something that grabs the imagination and has some kind of production value that seems like everything involved with the project is professional and above-board. Good rewards and descriptions of same. Hitting up your social network every day, because things in the newsfeeds go by so quickly, if you have friends with lots of friends. A strong project and marketing, basically.
Put a lot of effort into your Kickstarter page, because it's what everyone will be looking at for signs of potential success. No one, not even friends and family, want to throw their money away that badly.
gelder
The second project is currently up and running, for a play I'm producing starring a comic friend of mine, Jann Karam - "Reclining Nude On La Cienega". We're trying to hit our minimum goal of $3,250 and then go beyond that. We have 10 days left and we're almost exactly halfway there - I think we'll achieve funding. It helps that she is recognizable and funny and has some credits, etc. under her belt.
I agree with the others - having a good video, whether funny, charming, mood-inducing, whatever - something that grabs the imagination and has some kind of production value that seems like everything involved with the project is professional and above-board. Good rewards and descriptions of same. Hitting up your social network every day, because things in the newsfeeds go by so quickly, if you have friends with lots of friends. A strong project and marketing, basically.
Put a lot of effort into your Kickstarter page, because it's what everyone will be looking at for signs of potential success. No one, not even friends and family, want to throw their money away that badly.
gelder