Advanced Crowdfunding For Filmmakers Master Class

PLEASE NOTE: Although this exclusive Stage 32 class is no longer live and the teacher is not available on email, we highly encourage you to do any assignments to get the most out of the educational experience.

A Note From Stage 32 Founder & CEO, Richard Botto:

This exclusive Stage 32 Master Class comes from one of my favorite people on the planet, Stephen Follows. Stephen is not only a filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and educator, but also a master statistician. In fact, I first became aware of Stephen when I discovered (and found myself lost for hours in) his incredible blog where he chronicles the results of his extensive research into data and statistics related to the film industry. So taken was I by Stephen's work that I sought him out prior to my trip to London for the Raindance Film Festival and requested a meeting. Not only did Stephen accept, but he kept our meeting in spite of a horrible cold, ultimately spending 2 more hours than planned. That's the kind of guy Stephen is. But his mind, as you are about to discover, is another story entirely.

I'm thrilled and honored to announce that not only will Stephen be contributing a number of columns for the Stage 32 Blog, but he will be teaching the first ever Stage 32 Master Class. Stephen's Master Class will be on crowdfunding, and I promise you it will be the most inclusive, insightful and factual (backed by more stats than you could imagine) class ever taught on the subject. Stephen has analyzed over 50,000 film crowdfunding campaigns -- yes, you read that right -- and is bringing his findings to the Stage 32 community EXCLUSIVELY. Never before has this extensive of research and discovery been taught on crowdfunding for filmmakers.

It's an honor to welcome and introduce to you, the incredible Stage 32 community, my friend, Stephen Follows.

About the Stage 32 Next Level Master Class - Advanced Crowdfunding For Filmmakers:

Launching a crowdfunding campaign is easy – ensuring you actually reach your goal is not. Especially if you need to raise a large amount or you’re competing in a crowded marketplace. Rather than leaving it up to chance, or learning on-the-job, let film data expert Stephen Follows take you through the inside scoop on what works and what doesn’t.

Stephen brings his experience of teaching at some of the world’s best film schools, running a leading online video agency and as a film industry data expert. He has crunched the numbers on over 50,000 crowdfunding film campaigns from platforms including Kickstarter and Indiegogo, studied the videos on the top 5,200 film projects, interviewed over 50 filmmakers and people who work at the major crowdfunding companies.

Notes: This is an advanced course and we expect all students to have a basic knowledge of crowdfunding. Please also note that the free course Stephen discusses in the recording is no longer available and only available to students who took his course live. 

PRAISE FROM STEPHEN'S TEACHINGS:

“Being new to the film industry Stephen guided me through all aspects of producing. I was stunned in his extensive knowledge about the industry. Stephen was always attentive on what I wanted to learn and introduced me to several industry professionals. I recommend Stephen’s classes, he is truly an expert in producing and an excellent teacher.” - Karine Pawel - Producer, M&C Saatchi

“Stephen is an inspiring and creative teacher and I learned more about the real world of film production than I could ever have gleaned from a dozen books on the subject. I’d recommend anyone who’s serious about a career as a producer to spend time in Stephen’s company and listen.” - Mark Lo - Producer, Asylum Giant

“Stephen’s research is brilliant. No-one is doing data-driven analysis of the film industry quite like Stephen Follows. His detailed research and reporting about the film industry is unique and invaluable. Every week Stephen's insights shed new light on different areas of the film business. We have syndicated some of Stephen's work and will continue to do so. It is always very popular with our audience of producers and distributors.” - Jonathan Wolf – Head of the American Film Market

“Stephen’s research is brilliant. No-one is doing data-driven analysis of the film industry quite like Stephen Follows. His detailed research and reporting about the film industry is unique and invaluable. We have syndicated some of Stephen's work and will continue to do so. It is always very popular with our audience of producers and distributors.” - Jonathan Wolf – Head of the American Film Market

“Being new to the film industry Stephen guided me through all aspects of producing. I was stunned in his extensive knowledge about the industry. Stephen was always attentive on what I wanted to learn and introduced me to several industry professionals. I recommend Stephen’s classes, he is truly an expert in producing and an excellent teacher.” - Karine Pawel - Producer, M&C Saatchi

“Stephen is an inspiring and creative teacher and I learned more about the real world of film production than I could ever have gleaned from a dozen books on the subject. I’d recommend anyone who’s serious about a career as a producer to spend time in Stephen’s company and listen.” - Mark Lo - Producer, Asylum Giant

Session 1 – Campaigns That Connect and Convert

Stephen helps you build the best possible campaign based on research into over 50,000 film crowdfunding campaigns, conversations with filmmakers and interviews with key people behind major crowdfunding companies.

• Picking your platform based on your needs
• Crafting a powerful campaign
• Inspiring action in your audience and turning viewers into backers
• How to road-test rewards, ideas and copy before launch
• What makes people share campaigns to their friends and family
• A model for a $1 million crowdfunding campaign
• Special industry expert guest
• Recorded Q&A with Stephen

Session 2 – Video as a Professional Tool

We will study what makes the most compelling video message, what other types of videos you should be making and the results of Stephen’s research into 5,200 top performing crowdfunding videos.

• Systematically building a high-converting video from scratch
• How to decide on your style and approach
• Creating the personal touch in a professional manner
• Measuring the effectiveness of humor
• Video adverts and seeding
• Hard-learnt lessons from the professional online video frontline
• Special industry expert guest
• Recorded Q&A with Stephen

Session 3 – Marketing and Outreach

All crowdfunding filmmakers need to reach new people but if you’re going to run a big campaign then you’ve got a bigger task than most. But by using the tools of professional marketers you can reach millions of people and convert them into the backers you need.

• Identifying your key audience groups
• Building brand awareness with a tiny budget
• Professional lead generation
• Facebook marketing
• Retargeting to follow your audience online
• Metrics for success and benchmarks
• Special industry expert guest
• Recorded Q&A with Stephen

PLEASE NOTE: Although this exclusive Stage 32 class is no longer live and the teacher is not available on email, we highly encourage you to do any assignments to get the most out of the educational experience.

All levels of producers (advanced, intermediate and beginner) looking to learn marketing strategies through crowdfunding.

All levels of filmmakers (advanced, intermediate and beginner) looking to learn marketing strategies through crowdfunding.

All levels of screenwriters (advanced, intermediate and beginner) looking to learn marketing strategies through crowdfunding.

Actors looking to learn marketing strategies through crowdfunding.

Testimonials:

“Being new to the film industry Stephen guided me through all aspects of producing. I was stunned in his extensive knowledge about the industry. Stephen was always attentive on what I wanted to learn and introduced me to several industry professionals. I recommend Stephen’s classes, he is truly an expert in producing and an excellent teacher.” - Karine Pawel - Producer, M&C Saatchi

“Stephen is an inspiring and creative teacher and I learned more about the real world of film production than I could ever have gleaned from a dozen books on the subject. I’d recommend anyone who’s serious about a career as a producer to spend time in Stephen’s company and listen.” - Mark Lo - Producer, Asylum Giant

“Stephen’s research is brilliant. No-one is doing data-driven analysis of the film industry quite like Stephen Follows. His detailed research and reporting about the film industry is unique and invaluable. Every week Stephen's insights shed new light on different areas of the film business. We have syndicated some of Stephen's work and will continue to do so. It is always very popular with our audience of producers and distributors.” - Jonathan Wolf – Head of the American Film Market

“Classes were a joy to attend every evening as Stephen is inspiring in his wealth of knowledge and teaches his students like colleagues and friends. He was always happy to answer questions and give advice about career paths as well as organze great guest speakers from different areas of the industry. I would highly recommend this course and Stephen as an educator. I would attend any course he offered as I feel I learned more in this course than my three year BA.” - Gina Powell - Assistant Producer, Unstoppable Entertainment

“Throughout the long information packed days Stephen was never less than an engaging, super enthusiastic fountain of knowledge, and, for what I learned from it, the price was a steal! For anyone searching for a super short course that teaches them the no holds barred reality of what it takes to become a UK Independent Film Producer and get a feature film made, look no further.” - Susie Watson - Freelance Director

“Stephen is one of the most gifted producers I know. His mind operates at an entirely different speed to almost everyone I know, solving problems, offering solutions and innovating new opportunities at break neck speed. I don’t know anyone his age that has the same depth of experience and insight in film making.” - Chris Jones - author of The Guerrilla Filmmakers Handbook

“Stephen is one of the best informed and prepared tutors at the Met. Student feedback from his sessions is excellent and the fact that they can follow him on his invaluable industry blog is a bonus that few tutors can offer.” - Steve Pinhay - Head of Producing, Met Film School

“Stephen's work is bursting with the same unstoppable creative energy as the person himself. He is driven, focused, and completely committed to utter perfection, always making sure that each detail is as polished as it can possibly be. As a producer, he's excellent at motivating and managing people and enabling everybody to give their best. As a writer, Stephen's ideas never fail to amuse, surprise, entertain and amaze: at every turn, just when you thought you knew where the story was going, an unexpected twist will take you to a completely new and exciting place. It's a delight to work with him - a Renaissance man for the 21st century.” - Roberto Trotta - Director at Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication, Imperial College London

“Working with Stephen is a real pleasure - he's a great guy, highly skilled, a great problem solver and really gets under the skin of the environmental issues we are concerned with. We've now made a number of films with Stephen and have never been less than overjoyed with the results. If you need someone creative, focussed and who delivers every time, he's your man.” - Glen Colegate – Creative Director, Friends of the Earth

“The national trust is re-launching its website and embracing a more content focussed approach to communications and marketing. We ran a series of workshops for headquarters teams last week and Stephen was the star turn. He evangelized for great story-telling in a witty and engaging way. He gave us the science, the mind and the heart of storytelling and backed it up with examples of great short film making. His erudition supported by his practical skills! I would happily use him again.” - Daniel Dodd – Head of Communications, The National Trust

“With much enthusiasm, creativity and relentless hard work, Catsnake (Stephen's production company) gave us ‘The Secrets of Food Marketing’, a film that has attracted an amazing 7.8 million views – and counting! Catsnake are an agency who definitely promise a lot and still blow your expectations to smithereens (in a good way).” - Sophie Baden - Direct Marketing Co-ordinator, Compassion in World Farming

"The cosmological 'Theory of Everything' production was Lovestruck's first foray into the world of film, and we can thank our lucky stars that Stephen and Ed were at the helm. Straight from our initial meeting, it became clear that we were dealing with the finest exponents of their craft. Everything from the beautifully crafted – and factually correct – script, the ultra-professional organization and day of filming and the resourceful way in which they leveraged contacts for both meeting budget and seeding the film. They are fanatical in their attention to detail (possibly bordering professional OCD), the result of which will be a production you'll be proud of. Work with them." - Brett Harding - Managing Director, Lovestruck

"The lovely people at Catsnake have made some wonderful films over the years, from ‘A Love Story In Milk’ to the charming ‘Theory of Everything’. I was proud to be involved with ‘Two Words’ and can’t wait to see what they produce next." - Stephen Fry