Hey guys I'm Lawrie Brewster a Scottish filmmaker working in the horror genre, and to hopefully help out my filmmaking comrades here are some admittedly brief abridged observations for my Kickstarter campaign for 'The Unkindness of Ravens' which successfully met it's goal of $60k (raising a total of $66k)
Campaign Link -
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...f-ravens-feature-film-epic-horror/description
- Overall expectations
Overall we aimed to raise $60k, which would make our kickstarter the most ambitious for any UK Horror Film and the 2nd most for any European Kickstarter Horror Film. With that in mind we were obviously concerned that our goal was ambitious however, we believed overall that it was possible as a result of our pre-planning and case analysis of other kickstarters including experiences learned from our first Kickstarter (also a success) for the film Lord of Tears.
We anticipated a total of just above $60k (so cutting it close) with approximately 700 backers. Our campaign would end up with 640 backers roughly (representing 20% less than we anticipated for smaller backers) and a single larger backer than anticipated (5 instead of 4.)
- Pre planning
I drew up a 30k word case by case analysis with far too many graphs to design an accurate milestone chart (product by product) so that we could have a very clear and accurate understanding of whether we and our specific products were succeeding. Our campaigns have always been on the basis of providing pre-orders for good quality retail products with films in the midst of post-production.
The marketing of our campaign took a novel approach compared to others, focussing far more on products than the abstract sell of 'making the film' though we did communicate that ostensibly this is where their pre-orders would help us also.
We produced a video that originally (as this would later change) sold the 'team' and the 'products' along with a trailer that portrayed our film in a more 'fantasy / action packed' style than our later trailer which would replace it (with a more suspense vibe.)
We had originally intended to market the kickstarter through a combination of viral pranks and traditional grassroots / blog outreach but this too would change as circumstances evolved.
- What you received advice and were warned about before or during the campaign
I didn't really receive any advice per say. I approached Kickstarter with a desire to things out differently.
So instead I'll provide some advice,
1) Scrutinise the campaigns you with to study and learn from. If you cannot accurately decipher how campaigns are funded then it is impossible to learn what makes them successful.
That means being sceptical...
For example, any campaign where an enormous reward is pledged for is suspect, usually utilised by folks needing to let their campaign hit their goal for fear of losing smaller pledges. This is usually obvious if for example, a campaign raises a third or more of it's campaign total from a single pledge. Although Kickstarter hates it and it is against their rules, many will do this instead of allowing their campaigns to fail. They will usually consist of rewards that are also out of proportion with the rest. For example, 15k campaign total with a 10k exec producer reward etc. Be wary when you create your own case studies to look out for these. Big pledgers for films should usually make about 30 - 40% of campaigns.
2) Kickstarter is directly responsible for something like 20% of your sales. Bare that in mind if you hope by placing your campaign on the website that people will find you.
3) Friends / Family are essential for smaller campaigns ($10k or less) and be prepared to get personal and comfortable with the fact you'll be asking them for help to realise your project.
4) For projects beyond $20k you will need a brilliant edge to make the difference in marketing.
For example among Horror Films around the $40 - 60k range.)
Starry Eyes had a plethora of rewards provided by a best selling author (comprising half of it's pledges.)
Being had genre names like Lance Henricksen
Dark had a pile of stuff signed by famous genre director Joe Dante
We raised more than those projects and our edge consisted of loyal and appreciated fans of our former film Lord of Tears that we had retained email contacts with along with agreements made in advance and during the campaign with big pledgers consisting of additional production companies getting involved (as well as some amazing luck for which we're grateful for.)
If it hadn't been for that our campaign would have raised less than half, but we have always structured our Kickstarter and future Kickstarters on the basis that we distribute (our main products) ourselves and take our fans with us onto every new film, adding to their number as we go along.
5) DO NOT RELY on facebook advertising or google adwords. They are expensive and conversion rates are brutal. Yes there will be the odd exception where a a set of ads strike gold with a niche... niche being so specific and rare that one can say they will 99% not apply to you. This was not always the case, in our last campaign 2013 FB ads were a lot cheaper with a wider reach which actually helped our Lord of Tears campaign. However this time around the whole game is different, and I struggle to see anyone but large companies spending the amounts necessary to draw sales (and we're talking wiiiide coverage with small but accumulative margins.) Not the stuff of Kickstarter campaigns for indie movies.
- Surprises, good and bad
Our campaign as with may slowed in the middle. I felt at the time that our previous Kickstarter video and trailer was not correctly selling the film (rather the videos were selling themselves as slick looking but proving to be superficial.) So I cut a new trailer and new kickstarter video and this seemed to improve things.
We also scheduled the pre-orders of a new version of our first film, and an additional product associated with that film in the form of an action figure to help galvanise pledges in the 2nd and 3rd week. These were essential (and I always recommend introducing great products mid way) but they became even more vital due to the flop and subsequent abandonment of the first prank video.
We had some generous and unexpected pledges too (these comprised of about 10% of big pledges for $40k plus film campaigns.) Folks claiming that more than that arise from big pledgers normally require a little scrutiny! (Sorry to sound negative, but it's important because remember, you're needing to learn the facts behind the public facade of campaigns to draw accurate objectives and plans for your own.)
- What you were trying to (and not to) convey in the campaign?
Originally we wanted to sell our creative team and what we're trying to achieve (with our little boutique production company and distro.) Along with an action packed trailer filled with production value and effects.
But it underperformed in my opinion BUT... not in an obvious way. Anyone asked seemed to love the video (and even Kickstarter loved it making us Staff Pick and Film Project of the Day.) However, conversions improved a lot more after we produced a replacement Kickstarter video and trailer.
The new versions didn't focus so much on team, and dropped a vibe which I felt came across as a little smug and over confident along with a little too much hysteria on the awesomeness of our products
The new versions focussed on story and suspense, being a little theatrical in their creepy deliveries, followed by a more lo - fi style intimate pitch of the project, vision and products. The new trailer much more accurately represented the feel of our film, focussing on atmosphere and emotion instead of fast paced visuals and effects.
- What did people seem to "miss"?
One of our product rewards sold none, despite it proving popular on horror forums and reddits. It consisted of a customised t-shirt depicting yourself being burned at the stake by our films monsters. In retrospect it seems obvious but the point would be,
Don't expect to sell rewards that presuppose the audiences enthusiasm for a film before they've seen it. In other words it's hard to sell a Jason Hockey Mask unless the audience has actually seen Friday the 13th. So it makes sense that rewards unique towards certain intellectual properties in a film (such as iconic bad guys) won't be effective as products until after a general release assuming the film should prove popular also.
- Surprises, good and bad
Getting endorsements from Tom Holland (Child's Play, Fright Night) and Alec Gillis (Oscar winning effects artist.)
Staff Pick and Film Project of the Day!
- Would you try crowdfunding again?
Crowdfunding is brilliant, though I use it in conjunction with investments and tax schemes so that overall we can afford to produce and market a film. The crowdfunding component is vital however and without the fans we wouldn't be able to make our films. Crowdfunding allows us as artists and the audience as backers to create a unique relationship outside the sales agent middleman, and i think makes for a more honest and rewarding experience.
Ultimately if a crowd funder accurately reflects your product then it will genuinely inform you as to the popularity of said product and whether it's even worth pursuing.
(and building a fanbase)
