Luc Besson goes the internet way

[Ernest Worthing]

Hey i just saw this and wanted to spread the news around here.

Many of you may remember My Million Dollar Movie. It's one of the better known sites where an indie filmmaker is asking for funds from the general public.

Now Luc Besson has done the same thing but taken it a step further. Members get to vote between a few versions of the script and something to do with cast members as well.

http://www.we-are-producteurs.com/

Anyway, what do you guys think about think about this? I like it because if a few things like this work and people actually make money, it will make internet investment in movies more credible.

 

[directorik]

Just like everything else in this business, if there are
"names" involved I can see this working. Getting to
"vote" on versions of a script being made by a major
studio and a major director/producer will get a lot of
people interested. I'm not yet convinced that this is
a way for a movie independently made by an unknown
director with a cast of unknown actors with an unknown
completion date and no distributor to get interest or
financing.

But I hope I'm wrong.

One trend that will change my mind is when I start
seeing posts by people who are putting their own
money into such a project rather then posts by
filmmakers asking for money. When it becomes exciting
to other filmmakers and the general public to spent
their money on not yet started independent films, then
I think this will become more credible.

 

[Ernest Worthing]

Yeah, ur right about that. Let me tell you that i actually put in a few dollars on the mymilliondollarmovie.com thing a few months ago. They've almost reached their target so production should be beginning soon.

And im planning on putting a 100 euros or so into this Besson thing when it opens up for investing.

 

[M1chae1]

Luc Besson is incredibly talented...and as Rik said, if a name is going this route, it bodes well for the little guy.

 

[directorik]

Yeah, ur right about that. Let me tell you that i actually put in a few dollars on the mymilliondollarmovie.com thing a few months ago. They've almost reached their target so production should be beginning soon.

Three years in the making. These guys are really sticking with it.
Very admirable.

Jumping on the “green” band wagon didn’t hurt either. Offering a
portion of the profits to charities and promising to keep the
production “green” is great marketing and opens up the donator
base. And it held off the OSC lawyers.

Getting names involved really helped. He worked hard to get a lot
of press and as name talent signed on the donations went up. Kevin
Smith pledging $60 in Feb. 2009 was a major jumping off point for
this project. In January 2009 he had sold 24,656 frames (I’ve been
watching and keeping track of this project since Jan 2007) after
Smith bought three frames that number nearly tripled to 72,344 in
six months. “Be a producer along with Kevin Smith” is good
marketing.

It was at that point, Dec 2009, that the OSC became aware of this
and, essentially, shut him down. He was forced to change the
method and wording.

And im planning on putting a 100 euros or so into this Besson thing when it opens up for investing.

On my wish list, every filmmaker like you (and me) would pledge
100 euros a year to their fellow, no name, no budget filmmakers.
Imagine the quantum leap in no budget production if all filmmakers
like us, supported filmmakers like us. Financially.

Imagine if each of us put aside 100 euros a year - donated 6 euros
a month to a random filmmaker who is doing a "mymilliondollarmovie"
type project and then bought 2 movies a year with the 28 euros left
over. If even one million independent filmmakers did that each year
(that's fewer people than paid to see "The Killers" on Friday June 4)
that would pump 100,000,000 euros into the indie community.

We want people to pay for our product and help us finance through
crowd funding, but what we don't have is a "name" attached. And it
seems even we indie filmmakers are jump started when a name is
involved.

 

[Ernest Worthing]

On my wish list, every filmmaker like you (and me) would pledge
100 euros a year to their fellow, no name, no budget filmmakers.
Imagine the quantum leap in no budget production if all filmmakers
like us, supported filmmakers like us. Financially.

Imagine if each of us put aside 100 euros a year - donated 6 euros
a month to a random filmmaker who is doing a "mymilliondollarmovie"
type project and then bought 2 movies a year with the 28 euros left
over. If even one million independent filmmakers did that each year
(that's fewer people than paid to see "The Killers" on Friday June 4)
that would pump 100,000,000 euros into the indie community.

We want people to pay for our product and help us finance through
crowd funding, but what we don't have is a "name" attached. And it
seems even we indie filmmakers are jump started when a name is
involved.

Yeah to be honest, seeing Kevin Smith's name and support there was atleast a quarter of the reason i invested in it.

I'd love for everyone to do what you're saying and i think i read a post by you saying something along these lines about a year back. But yes, the problem is i can not think of a way to spur this kind action among the indie filmmaking community. All im doing is investing and hoping more and more people do it.

Btw are there any other projects out there that you have invested in or think are worthy of any investment?