As a filmmaker, I watched traditional Crowdfunding, such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo, force the film industry in an exciting direction. And as someone who ran a Kickstarter campaign back in 2010, I can attest to its raw power.
It was crazy. Stars like Zack Braff were pitching their projects, and it seemed like the wave of the future for film. Then it wasn't. Something changed as it gained popularity and it became increasingly harder to cut through the noise.
Make no mistake, it's still a huge industry, but there now seems to be an unspoken limit on what you can raise for larger film projects like features.
I think the passing of the JOBS Act Regulation CF last year could be a bigger game changer, and pick up where traditional crowdfunding left off.
The Reg CF allows anyone seeking under $1.07M to solicit non-accredited investors online with a minimum of $100 through an SEC filing. Previous to CF you had to be accredited (a net worth of $1,000,000, or an income of $200,000/year) to do this.
With this, it allows offering accessible real ownership to fans, not just t-shirts or DVDs, for minimal dollars.
That said, we decided to give it a shot and just went live with an offering for our next horror film, Cryptid. If successful it could be the first feature-length narrative horror film to use this type of offering, ever.
See it here:
https://www.startengine.com/cryptid
Could this be a trailblazing new option for filmmakers?
Thoughts?
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This option has been around for awhile but I've never heard of anyone raising substantial funds using it. Is a PPM necessary?
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Not specifically. Because this isn't Regulation D, the requirements are less extreme, but the portal that files with the SEC does have an offering document that outlines some of the information that you see in a PPM.