HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY CROWDFUND YOUR FILM

      Crowdfunding has always been a divine and abstract concept; it is the modern day equivalent of money growing on trees.  Almost everyone has what they believe is the next great invention idea or a screenplay this is sure to be a hit at Sundance if they only had the money to get that project off the ground.  But launching a successful campaign is not as easy as it looks at first.  Most of the crowdsourced film projects I have kept track of did not reach their goals.  That is way some people choose IndieGoGo, you can still get some money even if you do not reach your goal.  This is a defeatist way of thinking however, we all want our project to be labeled a success.  So how can you do it?  What goes into creating a successful crowdfunded film project?

     First of all it is important to manage your expectations.  Kickstarter statistics show that 90 % of the successful film and video projects have goals set under $20,000.  We are all attracted to the big paydays like the $1.4 Million Spike Lee raised or the heart-stopping $3.1 Million former Scrubs star Zach Braff used to finance his third feature as a director; Wish I Was Here.  I hate to say it but you do not have the name recognition of Spike Lee or Zach Braff, if you did you would not be reading this, you would be taking Hollywood power meetings and counting your money somewhere.  That is the irony here, the people you can make the most from crowdfunding are the ones who need to rely on it the least.  However, I do agree with Braff and the others who justify this by saying it is difficult for anyone to get a film financed.  So what does this mean for you and I, the independent filmmaker who is starting out?  If you have a feature script you want to get produced you could consider adapting that story into a short film and try to raise the funds for the short through crowdfunding.  Then that short can play at festivals and act as a calling card for your feature screenplay.  You would not be alone if you went this route, many features started out as short films; The Evil Dead, Grace, Napoleon Dynamite and Obvious Child, just to name a few.  People in the industry call making a short first or similar tactics as "proof of concept."  Try to pick a project that could be made properly on a small amount of money.  Kickstarter statistics state that the average amount a successful project receives is $7,825.  The average amount in the film and video category is even lower; $4,466.

     The other reason why it pays to have low expectations is because crowdfunding lives up to its name, it is crowded with competition.  One study shows that out of the 45,815 Kickstarter projects launched prior to 6/2/2012, the film and video category had the most submissions with a total of 13,502 campaigns.  Not only is the film and video category the most popular, but it has a much lower success rate than all of the Kickstarter projects put together.  Statistics show that around 50% of all Kickstarter projects are successful while only 24.1% of the film and video campaigns reach their goal.  These numbers tell us that it important to have a projects that stands out from the rest.  You need a professional looking video pitch that is short and likely to attack people.  It all needs to be appealing enough to get backers to pledge some cash.  Try to build an audience for your project before you launch it on a crowdfunding website.  

     Nothing in this world is free, not even free will. Crowdfunding is no exception.  To be successful you need rewards that your backers really want.  That is way strangers will give money to your creative cause, they will not be doing it out of charity, it is because they want something your project has to offer them.  Just like having a low amount for your goal set, the numbers show that you should offer some rewards in exchange for $20 or less.  As of June 12^th, 2013, only 39.99% of the film projects that DID NOT offer a reward for $20 or less reached their goal, while those that did have rewards for $20 or less had a 45% success rate.  Some of the most poplar rewards are DVD's or digital downloads of the finished film, producer credit on the movie and IMDB and more exclusive things like movie props, tickets to the premier or being a featured extra in the movie.  Foe example, Blue Like Jazz raised $345,992 dollars and 3 backers gave $8,000 each to fly DonaldMiller; the author of the popular novel the film was based on, over to their home town to perform a private book reading.  When the indie romantic comedy Obvious Child got accepted into Sundance in 2014, they turned to Kickstarter and raised $37,214 to cover the travel and promotional expenses.  Two backers on the Obvious Child campaign paid $1,000 each to become VIP guests at a show of their choice with either of the two stand up comedians who were featured in the film; Jenny Slate and Gabe Liedman.  Five backers gave $500 each to have Jenny Slate record an outgoing voice mail message for their cell phone.  These rewards worked because people with name recognition were behind them.  Chances are you cannot compete with rewards like this so you have to work with what you have instead.  Pretend that you are a potential backer, are the rewards you are offering worth the amount you are asking for?  People like to brag to their friends that they are an executive producer on a movie or that they were a VIP guest at a film premier or got to spend a day on a film set.

     Then there is the question of how long your campaign should last.  You would think to have it up for the maximum number of days the site would allow right?  More days means you have more time to raise the money.  Surprisingly, the average number of days that successful Kickstarter projects had set to reach their goal is 38 days.  The reason behind this is one of the things discussed in the best selling book Contagious: Why Things Catch On.  By having an offer available for a limited time can make you stand out from the competition and it can encourage the consumer to act, in this case pledge money to your project.

     Lastly, here is a surprising tip that is not often considered.  Be the first to back your own project! The first thing bartenders do when they start their day is put some of their own money in the tip jar.  I have walked into a coffee shop in the morning as they open the doors to find that a few dollars are already in the tip jar somehow.  Nobody wants to be first to invest in something, if other people are spending their money than it must be a good project.  I am sure many times people directly involved with a crowdfunding project put in some of their own money to reach their goal.  It is likely that you will have to spend some of your own money on this eventually, so why not do it through your crowdfunding campaign?

I hope this helps you with all your fund raising endeavors. Please check out this IndieGoGo campaign for a movie I am working on called Medium Justice.  

- Curt Wiser is a filmmaker and writer of everything from novels, screenplays and award nominated play scripts.

SOURCES USED IN THIS ARTICLE:
1) Kickstarter Statistics: Informing your crowdfunding Campaign 
Written By Maxim Wheatley (June 12th, 2013)

2) Kickstarter Failures Revealed Published by appsblogger.com