Are you having trouble getting financing for your indie film? Crowd funding could be the way to go. The concept is nothing new: In 17th-century Germany, there was a subscription system called Praenumeration, which was used to finance books. The first rock band tour to be crowd-funded was for the British group Marillion, in 1997, done entirely by their US fanbase. Then, in 2001, ArtistShare launched their “pioneering crowd-financing platform” for musical artists, thus pioneering a new era of online crowd funding. But why should you choose crowd funding as a source of financing for your film?

Profile: First of all, a successful crowd-funded movie can give you a significant boost to your reputation. In fact, there have already been award-winning films made possible by crowd funding. Take the 2012 film Inocente, for example. Created by Sean & Andrea Fine, they had already covered the film’s initial production costs. However, without crowd funding, they wouldn’t have been able to cover other expenses, such as the costs of creating a website and other marketing materials. Thanks to crowd funding, Inocente went on to win multiple awards, including “Best Documentary Short – San Antonio Film Festival”, “UNICEF Special Award – EBS International Documentary Festival” and even an Academy Award for “Best Documentary, Short Subjects”.
Marketing: As mentioned before, crowd funding can give a film an edge when it comes to marketing. However, marketing goes beyond simple websites and posters; social media is very important, too. Also, keep in mind that you will need to tailor your marketing campaign for each platform. But that’s not all! Marketing can help you find out if there’s even a market for your film in the first place. For example, Mark Tapio Kines created a website for his film Foreign Correspondents in 1997. The twist? The film hadn’t been produced yet. Nevertheless, this website helped Kines obtain the $125,000 he needed to finish the film, which starred Melanie Lynskey & Wil Wheaton as two people from different countries engaged in a long-distance relationship. Foreign Correspondents went on to receive mostly positive reviews from critics around the world, thus proving its viability and that of crowd-funded films in general.
Audience engagement & feedback: Crowd funding provides a forum with which the filmmakers and audiences can interact with each other. Social media is just one part of this. Another way the filmmakers can engage the audience is with a more traditional venue: Film trailers & pre-screenings. By allowing people to view portions of the film, you can get useful feedback. Best of all, by taking their feedback into account, you are helping to create a world in which ordinary citizens – rather than faceless monoliths – decide what movies they want to see. In doing so, it gives a fair chance to people like Mark Tapio Kines as well as Sean & Andrea Fine. After all, America was founded on freedom of expression, and crowd funding helps keep it alive.
These are just some points that you should keep in mind when deciding. Visit IndieFilmFunding.com if you’re ready to take the plunge.