You were born under a lucky star. It’s great to be a filmmaker now over other times in history because we are living in the time of the third greatest revolution in the history of mankind, the digital revolution. You don’t have to rent expensive 35mm cameras, shoot on film, pay developing costs and pray your cameraman filmed the bridge when it blew up.
You can buy a digital camera and editing equipment for under $10,000.00 and shoot a feature for under $50,000.00. Plus you are now able to raise money online from people you don’t even know and may never meet!
Crowdfunding is excellent for startup financing. However, there are a few tricks that you should know to be successful.
Let’s start with Sir Isaac Newton’s basic law: Every Action has an Equal and Opposite Reaction. This is the third of Sir Isaac Newton's laws of physics. Here's how it works. If you push on anything, it pushes back on you. That's why if you lean against the wall, you don't fall through it. The wall pushes back on you as hard as you push on it, and you and the wall stay in place.
It’s also a basic law of successful crowdfunding.
People who crowdfund by sending out scores of emails to friends, creating brilliantly written newsletters, tweeting and posting on Facebook sites with similar concepts are sending out energy. That energy comes back to them in money, which is another form of energy.
Those who use this concept, “every action has an equal and opposite reaction” are successful, those who don’t are not. Indiegogo gives you a platform to raise money; you still do the work.
You set a time limit and a dollar goal that you bet you can create. It’s up to you to push on the energies available to get the requested amount of energy (money) to return to you. Your list of names in your data base is your ace in the hole. How good is it? If it’s 300 names of friends and family, you should create a better list before you launch. This is your source of energy to attract your money.
The statistics say that by the 7th newsletter you collect your peak dollar amount. Advertising always pays off through repetition; each contact draws your list closer to the film. I tell my fiscally sponsored filmmakers to create 3 to 5 before they launch so they can use their campaign time chatting on social media to drive people to the Indiegogo platform to donate. Your newsletters need to tell me about the film, give me heart-touching stories on the need for the film, and in-depth studies of your characters.
The biggest mistake is to think that people watch the entire trailer. Online statistics confirm our fears that 90% don’t see the end. You must put your “ask” at the beginning of the trailer. People make decisions quickly based on your beginning information.
The Art of Film Funding states that “people give money to people, not to films.” How you present yourself and your film is paramount to the donation. In your online trailer, you need to tell us who you are, why you are making the film and touch our hearts. You can be fiscally sponsored and give your donors a write off, they like to have this extra benefit.
It’s also a basic law of successful crowdfunding.
People who crowdfund by sending out scores of emails to friends, creating brilliantly written newsletters, tweeting and posting on Facebook sites with similar concepts are sending out energy. That energy comes back to them in money, which is another form of energy.
Those who use this concept, “every action has an equal and opposite reaction” are successful, those who don’t are not. Indiegogo gives you a platform to raise money; you still do the work.
You set a time limit and a dollar goal that you bet you can create. It’s up to you to push on the energies available to get the requested amount of energy (money) to return to you. Your list of names in your data base is your ace in the hole. How good is it? If it’s 300 names of friends and family, you should create a better list before you launch. This is your source of energy to attract your money.
The statistics say that by the 7th newsletter you collect your peak dollar amount. Advertising always pays off through repetition; each contact draws your list closer to the film. I tell my fiscally sponsored filmmakers to create 3 to 5 before they launch so they can use their campaign time chatting on social media to drive people to the Indiegogo platform to donate. Your newsletters need to tell me about the film, give me heart-touching stories on the need for the film, and in-depth studies of your characters.
The biggest mistake is to think that people watch the entire trailer. Online statistics confirm our fears that 90% don’t see the end. You must put your “ask” at the beginning of the trailer. People make decisions quickly based on your beginning information.
The Art of Film Funding states that “people give money to people, not to films.” How you present yourself and your film is paramount to the donation. In your online trailer, you need to tell us who you are, why you are making the film and touch our hearts. You can be fiscally sponsored and give your donors a write off, they like to have this extra benefit.
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