*written by Emily Buder – Indiewire
What makes a good crowdfunding campaign? Is there a secret formula? Are there tried-and-true methods that always seem to bring in the green?
We’ve rounded up the folks who, quite literally, invented crowdfunding to answer your questions about the ideal campaign. When the success of crowdfunding can mean the difference between making a movie and not making a movie, it’s more crucial than ever for indie filmmakers to consider their campaign as the first step in a strategically orchestrated production.
Experts from Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Seed and Spark will participate in a live Google Hangout on Tuesday, June 24th at 1PM PST / 4PM EST. The Hangout is co-hosted by Indiewire and Craft Truck and moderated by Indiewire’s Filmmaker Toolkit/Technology Editor Paula Bernstein. You’ll be able to submit questions and get real-time answers. Leave it to the veterans to tell you what works–and, just as important, what doesn’t–in order to maximize your chances at bringing your film to fruition.
DID YOU MISS THE HANGOUT?
Here it is, enjoy!
Participant bios:
A veteran of the film industry for fifteen years, Marc Hofstatter leads film and digital for global crowd funding platform, Indiegogo. Originally from New York, he began his career at Bingham Ray’s indie film label, October Films. Hofstatter later transitioned to Los Angeles, and the William Morris Agency. He went on to serve as a production executive on both the Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox lots thereafter. During that time he helped oversee production on such projects as Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, A Single Man and The Golden Compass. Before arriving at Indiegogo, Hofstatter worked as an independent producer and collaborated with such filmmakers and producers such as Chris Weitz, Sam Raimi, Tom Ford, Peter Sollett and J. Michael Straczynski.
Emily Best founded Seed&Spark to make a contribution to the truly independent community in which she would like to make moving pictures. In 2011, she had the great fortune of producing her first feature with a remarkable group of women. The spirit, the community and the challenges of that project, Like the Water, inspired Seed&Spark. Before producing Like the Water, Emily produced theater, worked as a vision and values strategy consultant for Best Partners, ran restaurants, studied jazz singing at the Taller de Musics, tour guided and cooked in Barcelona, and before that, was a student of Cultural Anthropology and American Studies at Haverford College. Emily was named one of the 2013 Indiewire Influencers, dedicated to 40 people and companies who are asking the big questions about what the independent film industry is today (and why) and, more importantly, what it will become. Emily is touring film and tech festivals around the world, Sundance and SXSWV2V to Sheffield and Galway, to educate filmmakers and learn their best practices in connecting with their audiences to build a sustainable career.
Craig Engler heads up Entertainment Partnerships at Kickstarter. He was a network executive at NBC Universal for the last 10 years where he worked at the Syfy channel. He joined Kickstarter in early 2014 to focus on working with creators in the entertainment space including film, TV and pop culture. He most recently worked with LeVar Burton and the team at Reading Rainbow to launch their successful project: “Bring Back Reading Rainbow For Every Child, Everywhere.”
Learn how to crowdfund a film. Don’t miss you chance to sign up now.