LET'S TALK CROWD FUNDING ETIQUETTE

In the past 10 years or so, people have been using crowd funding websites such as Kickstarter, GoFundMe, Indiegogo and Seed & Spark, to name a few, for a variety of business and personal endeavors. It's not easy to find rich people to fully fund a film so crowd funding allows the film maker to get many people to make smaller donations that add up. You can't go a single day on social media without seeing at least one campaign post raising money for movies, music, art, books, medical bills, funerals, inventions and those who believe it's other people's responsibility to pay for their rent, utilities and vacations among many other things. My involvement with crowd funding has mainly been films so that's what I'll focus on in this post, though the information would apply to anyone who uses crowd funding.  

Many years ago when I first started helping young first time film makers raise money, we didn't have crowd funding websites... or the internet for that matter (yes kids there was a time when the internet didn't exist). We actually had to call people on the phone or meet people in person to discuss it... they would write checks and we'd have to physically go to a bank and deposit them... and believe me, it was very time consuming. I would constantly have to network and meet new people because you can only hit up the same people for money just so many times before they start telling you no. 

People are hesitant to give away their hard-earned money if there isn't something in it for them. Face it, a very small percentage of people who aspire to be film makers reach the level where their films are profitable. I had to convince people that they weren't investing in that film per se, they were investing in the film maker so they could get a foot in the door of the entertainment industry and hopefully grow from there. Knowing you helped a young person achieve a dream is a reward in and of itself. 

Once the film is funded and production wrapped, what happens to it is up to the film maker. Some are accepted into film festivals, most aren't. Some get distribution deals, most don't. Once the door has been opened, some film makers are able to continue making films, most don't. Some people just have more drive and determination than others, but, because they were able to get the funding they needed, they all had an equal chance of success. 

As I've written about in other posts, the 2008 recession took me out of the film game for a few years. Some time in 2011 I was able to start getting back into it, but a whole lot changed in those few years. The entertainment industry moves at a rapid pace sometimes and I'd lost contact with just about everybody. 

I opened a Twitter account while I was unemployed hoping it would lead to job offers... it didn't. Still, it was a useful tool. There was a time when Twitter was used productively instead of the non-stop bullying and cruelty we see now. I noticed many film makers using Indiegogo and Kickstarter to raise money for their projects. I had never heard of these websites before, so I educated myself. Once I figured out what it was all about, I couldn't donate much money because I was still struggling hard to get back on my feet, but I offered to help as many as I could in other ways.  

For a while, these crowd funding websites were great. But as time has gone on, I don't care much for them anymore, but, what are you going to do? The days of cold calling are gone because nobody answers their phones anymore. As a whole, we're becoming more and more anti-social because we have all these neat electronic devices now where we can go long periods of time never having to interact with people. Also, I, as many of you have I'm sure, have been burned by making donations on crowd funding platforms, the project never happened and the money was never returned. 

So, let's break down the crowd funding process. 

You are a brand. We are all professionally a brand... no matter what we do for a living. In order to succeed at whatever you do, you need to promote your brand (you) as strongly, positively and honestly as possible. It's up to you if you want to be taken seriously and have backers who continually support your work, or if you want to screw your backers and they'll never support you again. Believe me, I have a list of film makers I'd happily support any day of the week and an even longer list of film makers I'll never support again. If you screw me over and leave me feeling negative about your brand, I won't hesitate to let everyone know it. On the flip side, if you are the consummate professional and leave me with a positive experience, I won't hesitate to tell everyone that too. The choice is yours. 

You've made the decision that you're ready to make your film. You decide which crowd funding website you want to use:

Kickstarter is the most difficult for the film maker because it's an "all or nothing" site. You have to raise the full amount you specify in the limited time or you get none of it. Kickstarter does get a percentage of what you raise. It's the best site for the backers because if the campaign doesn't succeed, then backers don't have to pay. 

Indiegogo is simple for the film maker to use. You raise as much as you can in the limited time and even if you don't raise it all, you get what you did raise minus the percentage Indiegogo gets. It's not the best for the backers when there are people who don't follow through with their projects and don't return the donations. 

GoFundMe has no time limit which many people like. GoFundMe is a bit more strict with their rules on what they allow people to campaign for. Funding a film on that platform depends on what the subject matter is of your film. I've known a number of people who tried to fund their films on GoFundMe but the pages were shut down because someone thought the subject matter went against policy. This is another site where it's common for people to abandon their projects and not return the money to the backers. 

I'm not very familiar yet with Seed & Spark. I know two people who recently successfully funded their projects on that site; one is already on the festival circuit and the other is near completion in post production. 

I've noticed it's becoming more and more common for film makers to create their own web pages for their films to collect PayPal or other electronic donations without having to pay fees or have time limits. Since they've invested so much time an effort into it, they're not likely to abandon their project. 

Before you launch a crowd funding campaign, do your research and be professionally prepared. Remember, you're asking people, some who personally know you as well as total strangers, to invest in you and your dream. 

• You will need to write a summary of your project and post a video or some kind of graphic for your film. Make it eye-catching, relevant to the topic of your film and appealing to your potential backers.
• If your cast and crew are in place, write about them too. Most of the films I back are because of actors or directors I know.
• Know EXACTLY how much money you will need and write a detailed breakdown of where every penny you're hoping to raise will go; actor salaries, crew salaries, hair & makeup, costume designer if necessary, craft services, location fees, permit fees, music license fees, composer salaries, equipment rentals, post production color correction and sound, etc. You'd be surprised at how many people just start a crowd funding page with ridiculously high dollar amounts and no details of how the money is to be spent. If you come across one like that, don't back it because that's a good indication that film will never be made because the film maker doesn't know what they're doing. 
• If you choose to offer "perks" for the donations, you'd better follow through with that too. Many film makers will offer shout outs on social media, digital downloads of their finished films, bumper stickers, DVDs, T-shirts, posters, autographed posters or photos, personal phone calls or videos, dinner with the cast, IMDb credits, various producer levels, walk-on roles, etc. You'll have to figure shipping costs into it. If you can't follow through with the perks, then don't offer them. 

When these crowd funding websites first started to become popular, it was much easier to get people to donate. However, as time has gone on, people have become numb to them. We can't log onto social media anymore without somebody seeking money for something. It gets overwhelming and eventually we stop looking at them. So how do we get people's attention then? 

Try to get your cast and crew to get involved in the fund raising process... especially if you have actors attached to the project with large fan bases. That's not always as easy as it sounds. Some actors feel it's not their responsibility to help raise the money. I've personally never understood that. If the money isn't raised, then there's no movie and no part for them. You'd think they'd want the campaign to be successful. But that's not always how it works. Of course there are many actors who happily help spread the word about the crowd funding. If you look at my last post,  HOMELESS ASHES: MY PERSONAL STORY AND WHY IT'S A MOST IMPORTANT FILM TO SEE, the only reason I even knew about  the Homeless Ashes Indiegogo campaign was because co-star Andrew Lee Potts posted the link on Twitter. The same goes for a short film called Chimera. I didn't know about that one either until he posted the link on Twitter. 

It's not enough just to post the link on your own social media every single day. As I said, people are numb to them now. You're going to have to use your networking skills and talk to people about it. Reach out to everyone on your social media individually in private messages and ask them to donate and/or share the link on their social media.  

There are many groups on social media for posting crowd funding campaigns. Strike up relationships with the other people in those groups and see if they can help you. 

Try to get yourself booked as a guest on every podcast or talk-radio show you can. Also hit up all of the online film magazines for interviews or write-ups of your film and the fund raising campaign. 

Fundraising for a film can easily become a full-time job. Use the money you raise ONLY for your project. If, for some reason, you aren't able to complete your project, refund the donations since the money won't be used for the purpose in which it was intended.

Once you have your funding, you are still obligated to your backers to communicate regularly the status of your project. It disturbs me the number of people I never hear from once the crowd funding campaign is complete. I spend a lot more time than I should have to trying to get in touch with the film makers to ask what the status is and where the "perks" are. Give regular updates of how the filming and post-production are progressing. Even if your production gets delayed for some reason, tell your backers and keep them in the loop of when the production will be back on track.

If you're able to get your film on the festival circuit, communicate with your backers when and where it will be with plenty of notice so people can make plans to see it. 

You are a brand and people are investing in you. Be professional, be humble, be kind and be grateful.