With four days left of principal photography for our film, "The Last Dance", we hope to be 'done' by end of May.
It has been h*ll trying to raise money locally; I'm sympathetic to job losses and business strife, which left me reluctant to 'ask' for donations or run a campaign. An in-person fundraising event had to be canceled. We are: over budget with post-production costs still to be undertaken.
I'm considering revisiting the public fundraising route now - would love to hear how others have managed this. What types of things did you offer as incentives? What worked, what would you NOT do again? What platform did you use and why? (Kickstarter, Seed & Spark, IndieGoGo, etc.)
For some background: "The Last Dance" is a feature drama; no 'named' stars except locally known in our community. Logline: Grieving the devastating loss of her beloved husband of 40+ years, a widow forms an unexpected friendship that confounds her friends and family.
Thanks in advance!
Reach out to --
https://www.stage32.com/profile/54438/about
Hi Donnamarie Vaughan I’m so sorry to hear that things have taken an unexpected turn. I’m going to name a few Stage 32 Members who have recently been involved in short-film fundraising. Feel free to reach out to them- Karen “Kay” Ross, Landis Stokes, Jane Sanger.
Good luck and don’t be discouraged!
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Get every email of every person you're connected with on social media, and real life, and send a proper fundraising email. With no big stars attached, the bulk of your money is going to come from friends/family/coworkers/anyone you know.
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I think you should consider something less transactional and more personal. Anyone can purchase a DVD or a VOD rental. Why do they want to get involved with your project at this stage in the process? Is there a way you can get them emotionally invested in the project because of shared values (the theme is similar to a company's mission statement) or shared specialty (the "fun" of the film is similar to a community's passion). I've been known to spend a little money on hosting an in-person fundraising event because it felt exclusive and unique, and was far more exciting than the end product - especially if the theme is something like yours, DANCING!
It boils down to thinking about your audience's experience, even at this stage. If you only think of your bottom line, yeah, people are going to run the other way. If you can make it fun, then you'll at least have a better chance at reaching your goal.
Madeline Hombert your experience is fairly typical. Usually the bulk of money comes from “strangers”. Don’t be too hard on those who haven’t supported you yet; it may not be personal, there could be a number of reasons. Leverage the donors you have, keep in close contact with them because they will likely end up funding your next project!
Scott Sawitz Agreed! This is no time to be passive. She should take the initiative and do as you suggested. Ps. Which crowdfunding platform do you prefer?
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Colette "ByFilms" Byfield I've viewed Kickstarter in the past (ran one in 2016, so the landscape has changed) but it's not the platform that matters; it's the legwork.
If I was going to launch a crowd fund now for a film, I'd start on Seed and Spark (which is catered towards creatives) and work more on driving traffic there than anything else. Finding the right people to push your project on social media, getting podcast and streaming interviews with popular YouTubers, that's what matters because you need eyeballs first.
One thing I learned from running a succesful one is that you need to think of it like a sales funnel; everything you do has to lead to getting that first click to become a buy.
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Scott Sawitz Wow! That is an amazing breakdown of a crowdfunding strategy. I really appreciate the thought you gave in your answer and I hope that everyone reads it and FOLLOWS IT!
Seed and Spark looks cool but like always it seems to be only for US companies (hopefully I'm wrong)
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Donna Marie, seed and spark is for US citizens or bank account holders only. It’s the most successful platform for film, next is Kickstarter, then Indiegogo. But I use Indiegogo. And am always successful as it doesn’t really matter on the platform but on the campaign. However, that aside….. your first port of call should be to make a deal with a post production house. In fact this can be done before you even start shooting in future. I am not fully conversant with New York film tax credits if you shot it there. A quick google brought this up- "The Film Production Tax Credit is a 30% tax credit on qualified costs incurred in New York State for eligible productions. There are no caps for potential benefit for this credit". So you go to a suitable production house with your requests and they may (and many will do )most or all of the work without pay ( on contract) so that they get the payment from the tax credit. They need to know your accountants and that you will be speedy about this. I know UK ones that will do the work for either 0% or 25% and the rest recovered from uk tax credit. Ask around someone will be recommended to you. Good luck.
Thanks to every one of you who responded - we're not connected so it doesn't seem to tag you, but I appreciate it. Jane Sanger- the NYS Film Tax Credit applies only to budgets of $150K and more and it may have increased to $250K or more this year, plus the 'credit' only applies to below the line.
US and Canada. Like all movie things, Americans and Canadians have the pick of the litter and us poor UK schlubs get nothing!
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@Jane great advice. FILMMAKERS TAKE NOTE: Determine your POST-PRODUCTION costs BEFORE FILMING and try to work out a deal. I would add that it probably makes sense to have a back-up just in case.
Madeline Hombert that is good to know that Seed and Spark also applies to Canadians...but sadly not UK yet.