Fund Your Peers!

Funding takes an important role as you guys are planning for your thesis production. Social networking has made micro-funding easier than ever! I encourage all young filmmakers to take advantage of these platforms. The best method for funding is to create relationships with fellow film bloggers and critics. Engage in comments and networking on film sites. Once you are a consistent presences, you can utilize these sites to help advertise your campaign.

Two DFM students have projects up for funding! Please donate to Mi'Kele Long's Frenemies and Glenn McBride's Traffic Cops. Click on the links below to check out their projects and donate a dollar or two.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/frenemies
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/traffic-cops

Alumni News : Kickstart "Eye Five" !!!!!

Alumni Jesse Dillon (Where Socks Go) is working tirelessly to fund his next project. His previous film headlined the most attended screening we have had in Alpha Channel history! Please help him create his next project by donating to his kickstarter account. Every dollar counts! Hurry - the project is over in four days!!!  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2141312049/eye-five 

Future of Art Finance: Amanda Palmer

If you know Amanda Palmer, you KNOW Amanda Palmer. She is a musician who claimed notoriety for having an extreme personal connection to her audience. For example, the band will couch surf at fan's homes instead of staying at hotels. Her name became more common place when the kickstarter for her latest album achieved over 200% of her slated goal. Her opinion on social-media financing is emotional. In this TED talk, her speech revolves around connecting with the audience in a way that goes above and beyond a signed photo and posing for a cellphone picture. She has decided to make a living on giving away her music for free then asking the audience for donations in return. Watch below to hear her whole speech. Ask yourself, is this the economic future for the artists? Do you think artists will be able to live this way?

Crowd Funding

       I'm sure anyone reading this blog is a filmmaker and I'm sure I am not the only one with a wide array of story ideas piling up within my thoughts. The problem for us is not that we lack ideas, but that we lack the funding. I don't know too many people I can call when I need to rent a steadicam or 4k Cinema Camera for a weekend. There is an exciting alternative solution to finding a producer (who can use their money as leverage to alter the story you intend to make.) Crowd Funding is becoming the best way for amateur filmmakers to produce their films.

Crowd Funding is the collective effort of individuals who network and pool their money in support of a singular cause. Kickstarter is crowd funding for

more specific projects: films, games, art, and much more. If you have a good idea and can pitch it to the masses, you have a good opportunity to make some money with Kickstarter.

Kickstarter has shown success recently through the Academy Awards. Inocente won the 2013 Oscar for Best Documentary Short and it is the first Kickstarter backed film to win an award. Recently, the Veronica Mars TV Show raised its goal, 2 million dollars, in just 11 hours, in order to produce a film for the cancelled show.

Zack Braff has enter the Kickstarter world and is trying to fund his next film, Wish I Was Here. He has resorted to crowd funding in order to keep creative control of his film. He hopes to raise 2 million dollars in 30 days. Check it out: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1869987317/wish-i-was-here-1?ref=search

Kickstarter Success: Game Changer for Big Studios?

Yesterday morning, Rob Thomas started a KickStarter campaign for a feature film version of "Veronica Mars", the cult, detective-noir TV show he created. After a few hours, fans raised an astounding $2 million dollars.

For many of us who launch similar campaigns on KickStarter or IndieGoGo for our own projects, we may view this as a positive thing as far as what can be achieved with these fund-raising campaigns. However, an article on First Showing makes note of what this can mean for big-time studios. Considering Veronica Mars is not your typical small, independent project (Mars is under Warner Brothers), there is concern that big-time studios might see this as an opportunity to let fans finance projects rather than shell out the money themselves. Although it might be too early to tell whether this will become a trend, studios will definitely be paying close attention.

What do you think about this? Do you think projects backed up by big studios and/or famous people should be allowed to use the same platform as smaller independent projects like Kickstarter? Or do you think this is a win-win situation for all?

Get your films funded!

Ok, so you've started a Kickstarter or Indie GoGo page, now what? The goal of those sites is to get as much traffic as you can to promote your film. So all of your family and friends have donated a dollar. How do you get more people to love your movie?
Visit film blogs, of course. Below are two sites that are interested in promoting your project!

http://www.firstshowing.net/category/kickstarter/
First Showing has a column dedicated to promoting worthy Kickstarter projects to their viewers.
http://criterioncast.com/category/column/kick-start-this-film/
Criterion Cast also has a section called, Kick Start this Film. They just redesigned their site, ready for new projects!

Criterion wants to help you Kickstart your Film!

Kickstarter has started a film funding revolution. Criterion wants to use their reputation to give those pledge drives a little boost! Today's post on the Criterion Cast is asking for the public's suggestions to post great films on their site in order to help them secure funding. Is your film good enough to suggest to Criterion? Read their post and consider your options
Kick Start Your Film with Criterion!

Film Funding Link

A quick word: There is a new link in the "Film Funding" section titled 10 Crowd Funding Tips from Kickstarter. This is a great blog post that has good tips for DIY filmmakers.