You'll see a lot of this, I'm afraid. The worst thing for me is when a film actually gets made, is brilliant, but can't get a release. I saw a film last year which is one of the strongest I've seen in ages, but it hasn't got a release, so no one else outside of Serbia can appreciate it. Heartbreaking. All we can do is try to support projects as best we can - I know that makes a difference - but throwing hard cash at them isn't something I am capable of doing right now. Sounds an interesting idea, this new one, though...
Well, I didn't have much cash either, so I used what I did have, instead - namely the privileges of, respectively, posting on OneMetal and poking Ben in the ear - to help as much as I could. One of the joys for me of crowdsourcing type strategies is that people who want to help can bring whatever skills or leverage they have to bear as well as just throwing money!
I'm just incredibly glad they've succeeded and I'll be waiting to see what if any effect this has. I mean, if nothing else at least it's one moment of glory for indie cinema, but I'm hoping it will lead to more of the same kind of thinking - if something can be done once it's possible, and if it's possible it can be done again, and if it's done enough it becomes customary. Be nice, wouldn't it? :)
'...if something can be done once it's possible, and if it's possible it can be done again, and if it's done enough it becomes customary.'
I may be wrong, but I think the majority of indie movies are made in this way now - if not directly part-funded by crowdsourcing, then funded by other parties to a level which reflects the online 'buzz' the project's been able to generate. The time it takes is scary, though. I wrote an article about a project called The Mourning Portrait (which looks superb) two years ago I think - and they're still at the 'trailer and good ideas' stage. I've done my bit, I hope...
I'm still pissed off by AD Lane (who has amassed £100,000 in donations for his film) and his failure to answer me and Dave Flint's questions about where the hell the money is and what he's doing with it, but thankfully people like him are rare.
Made this way, sure, but as has been demonstrated, raising funds to make a movie will only get you so far if you then can't promote and get a return on the finished product. Fortunately, I think critics and journalists are effectively programmable: if you tell them loudly enough that something is news, they will believe you, and they will make it news. And that's what premieres effectively are. They're a way to shout out "HEY LOOK WE'RE IMPORTANT AND FAMOUS AND COOL, YOU WANNA TALK TO US" - and that's what a lot of indie cinema doesn't seem to manage to do, because it only budgets for the bare minimum, and forgets to include "publicity/promotion" under its budget headings at all.
That's why the idea of a separate kickstarter for something like this, rather than just for the movie costs overall, seems both clever and very honest to me. It's explicit that your money will be spent on promoting the film, not on the nuts and bolts of making it; so you can decide for yourself whether you want to help pay for that in particular, or whether
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I'm just incredibly glad they've succeeded and I'll be waiting to see what if any effect this has. I mean, if nothing else at least it's one moment of glory for indie cinema, but I'm hoping it will lead to more of the same kind of thinking - if something can be done once it's possible, and if it's possible it can be done again, and if it's done enough it becomes customary. Be nice, wouldn't it? :)
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I may be wrong, but I think the majority of indie movies are made in this way now - if not directly part-funded by crowdsourcing, then funded by other parties to a level which reflects the online 'buzz' the project's been able to generate. The time it takes is scary, though. I wrote an article about a project called The Mourning Portrait (which looks superb) two years ago I think - and they're still at the 'trailer and good ideas' stage. I've done my bit, I hope...
I'm still pissed off by AD Lane (who has amassed £100,000 in donations for his film) and his failure to answer me and Dave Flint's questions about where the hell the money is and what he's doing with it, but thankfully people like him are rare.
Reply
That's why the idea of a separate kickstarter for something like this, rather than just for the movie costs overall, seems both clever and very honest to me. It's explicit that your money will be spent on promoting the film, not on the nuts and bolts of making it; so you can decide for yourself whether you want to help pay for that in particular, or whether ( ... )
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