Funding Through the Crowd

My morning routine, much like that of many other digital-aged Americans, consists of a cup of coffee coupled with my Twitter updates. I start each day with CNN, Variety and ESPN as well as the latest from major motion picture studios and independent houses alike. In the last year, I have noticed a trend with smaller studios in using these social media platforms to look for and secure funding for their films. The publicity for a project in the early stages paired with a search for investors is a drastic change from the day in age when money was not discussed with the general public.

The money raising process has always been a difficult one for independent filmmakers and new, creative, digital, and public methods are beginning to become the norm. This concept is being dubbed “crowd-funding” and allows average people the opportunity to become personally connected to a film and therefor invested (emotionally as well as financially) in a project. As Jeff Steele describes in his article “Independent Films’ New Path to Financing”, this phenomenon speaks to two basic human instincts; “greed and self interest” (2010).

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Documentary filmmakers have been utilizing this concept in order to circumvent a traditional donation process, which can be lengthy and extensive. Although this method is becoming more popular for smaller projects, it is not 100% effective with the larger undertakings. The amount of time it can take to raise a substantial sum through social media compared to going through the traditional grant process is influential. YouTube and company blogs are also being used to showcase film trailers, up-to-the-minute updates, and personal stories about cast, crew and filming in order to bridge the personal gap that many projects face in finding funders.

Instead of dealing with groups of face-less investors that have no personal interest in a project, only financial, many filmmakers are choosing to appeal to individuals who feel like they are a part of a special project that may some day appear on the big screen. The tricky situation, as Steele warns, is how to use these digital mediums in a more efficient and time saving manner by making sure your audience sees a return on investment. A producers credit is not as effective as filmmakers assume since the general public often times do not understand the importance of the title. Frankly, if the Executive Producer credit is over used and given out at ease, it will lose all influence in the industry. The Academy Awards are too long as it is, if an Oscar for Best Picture is presented to all the Twitter followers for a production company, the telecast would last for days.

References

Steele, J. (2010, April 27). Independent films’ new path to financing. The Huffington Post: Tech. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-steele/independent-films-new-pat_b_553044.html