Has anyone here ever used equity crowdfunding? I'm having a difficult time figuring out what a company needs to have in place before submitting for approval. (We're forming a new company specifically for producing a film.)
Anyone with experience in this type of raising mind answering some questions or offering advice?
I'm interested in more on this too! I did a Kickstarter campaign for a project and I would not do again.
I'm curious why Cherelynn?
I know of at least one situation where a crowdfunding campaign which raised $50k led directly to private investors backing the movie for a few hundred thousand. That in turn led to a pitch meeting with a major distributor who finished the fundraising with a whole lot more money and then distributed the film nationally through major channels, theatrical, VOD, retail etc. The directors now have a deal at a studio for their next movie as a result.
It was their first big feature and there weren't a lot of names in the cast. But it was a good story, concept and it was executed well.
That's how crowdfunding should be done. It's a jumping off point. Crowdfunding alone in most cases, will not give you nearly enough money to actually make or properly sell your movie. It's the first step of the backing process when you are trying to prove interest in your concept to actual investors.
Shiva, just sent you a network connection. After connecting send me a message and I would be happy to give you advice. I've produced 11 pictures, including six features and a short that qualified for the Oscars several years back. I've yet to go the Crowdfunding route, but I do have friends that have and I know someone who is fairly high up at Indie-Go-Go, so I have a bit of knowledge on the subject matter. Even more so on seeking private investors/angel investors. Hope I can help.
John T. Trigonis, the chief Film Campaign Strategist at IndieGoGo, has a wonderful seminar on crowdfunding called "Your Keys to a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign" available for viewing here on Stage 32. Take advantage of it. He's a leading expert.
I'll 2nd John's webinar. Excellent information delivered with style.
I've done regular crowd-funding (donation-based) on Indigogo and Kickstarter a few times with varying degrees of success. However, the budget on the film we're developing far exceeds what I would expect to raise with donations no matter how aggressive the promotions are. (We have a decent package in consideration to genre and budget.) I have a few interested investors, but no one who would qualify by SEC rules for investment.
As I understand it, equity crowd-funding came into existence in May 2016 and is basically a way to pool a lot of small investors together to fund a business in exchange for revenue-sharing. I just haven't found anyone who has gone this route and can tell me a bit about how things work (or don'r work, as the case may be) from the film-maker's point of view.