A non film project, but film related, that is using IndieGoGo is the webshow Film Snobbery Live covering all things indie film. Host Nic Baisley and co-host Jerry Cavallaro are raising funds for internal improvements and events. Fifty percent of the total money raised will be put towards an independent project directly or promotion and marketing for an independent film event.
“We chose IndieGoGo because they are a good long term solution. We’re looking to raise $5,000, but we don’t need all the money immediately. They are a slow and steady source of income that our fans can feel comfortable putting their money into. Add to that the personal touch we get with our project from founders Slava Rubin and Danae Ringlemann and it feels to us like they take just as much pride of our success as we do,” said Baisley.
Baisley finds the platform to be very intuitive and the only real hassle of setting his project was setting up the Amazon Payments account. This isn’t a necessary step as IndieGoGo does accept Paypal and credit card transactions. “I determined our goal amount initially by looking at what we needed here internally to upgrade some of our current resources, and basically just doubled that amount so that we could raise an equal amount for our indie contribution. We determined our perks in much the same way. We took an inventory of what we could offer potential contributors and then reached out to our sponsors to help make the packages a bit more attractive with their products.”
“My favorite part of creating the IndieGoGo campaign so far has been seeing who has been willing to help us accomplish our goals, either by referring us to other people, contributing directly, or giving us product for perks. Working with others and seeing your message spread is very rewarding. It also gives you a chance to see what ISN’T working in your campaign so you can fix what’s broken. You need to get personally involved with your project. Promote it several times daily (without becoming the equivalent of a SPAM bot). Make sure your friends and family know what you are trying to accomplish and get them involved in promoting your project. Try to reach out to potential sponsors that would be interested in contributing their time, products, or money to your endeavor. IndieGoGo’s motto of DIWO (Do It With Others) is exactly what you need to do to make a project successful,” says Baisley. FilmSnobbery airs every Tuesday night at 10pm EDT.
A very innovative project given the amount of funding they are seeking is Project Arbiter . Born from the mind of Writer/Director Michael Chance, this short film is set in 1943, the height of WWII, and is a story about an experimental O.S.S. unit code named Project Arbiter. It is a sci-fi espionage story that demonstrates how a small quiet victory tips the balance of power and foretells the outcome of World War II. The budget goal is $25,000 and the project around 22% funded at this time.
Created by a group of passionate and innovative northern California filmmakers, the Project Arbiter team is skilled at mastering limited resources while aspiring to high professional standards. They hope to raise the funds for a May production start which includes on-location filming in an original WWII aircraft in San Martin and on a film ranch in Petaluma, California.
The group chose IndieGoGo after an extensive review of multiple fundraising sites primarily because of its freedom to create several projects where they are able to keep what is raised regardless of reaching the financial goal in a given timeframe. “The page layout is clean and easy for anyone to view our trailer and learn about our levels of fund raising. IndieGoGo also has a great community of independent film projects, so we knew this was the site for us,” said Writer/Director Michael Chance. “IndieGoGo was user friendly when we set up our account – from uploading our Vimeo teaser trailer link to breaking down our levels of donations to highlighting our synopsis. As the site grows and the community of users expands, it would be great to customize the background of our project pages and have the ability to select from various types of profile skins that can carry over the branding we established for our film.”
