I’m told that During the live 45-minute show, listeners are invited to call in and to participate in a chat, so please pass this information along to anyone you think would be interested.
I’m looking forward to talking with Betty Jo about movies, musicals, the Kickstarter campaign — and hopefully connect with other film lovers out there. It sounds like a fun time. Hope you can tune in!
Have you made — or ever wanted to make a feature film? How far did you (or would you) go in order to get it done?
One of the most common questions I get asked is how did I finance my feature films NEW YORK LATELY and WHAT’S UP LOVELY. While there is not one true approach, the answer always makes me reflect on how crazy I possibly am in being a filmmaker.
Would you be willing to quit your well-paying corporate day job and move to New York City? Would you be willing to cash out your 401K to finance your first feature film? Would you be willing to spend over an entire year (or longer) seeing a project through from start to finish? If your answer is “yes” to those questions, then put on this straight jacket my friend and please join me in my padded cell.
Unfortunately for most of us, we are not lucky enough to self-finance every single film project (nor would some want to). So in order to make the films we want, we must seek financing from an outside source. In today’s climate, even major studios are having trouble funding pictures unless the project is an established franchise or already has a built-in audience. They take safer risks, whereas we indie filmmakers are still the true risk takers. But where does that leave us if we know that our film fits into more of a niche and is not intended for the masses at the cineplex? Thankfully filmmakers like this are still getting movies made and it’s inspiring to see. How are they managing to do it? The answer is crowdfunding.
Crowd-whata-who? That’s the response I usually get from people who are not familiar with the term.
According to Wikipedia: “Crowdfunding describes the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money together, usually via the Internet, in order to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations.”
So basically we’ve seen this in action already for various causes (typically political or humanitarian campaigns) — but never has it been so popular with the indie film community until recently.
Right now, there are two prevalent services (IndieGoGo and Kickstarter) that assist filmmakers with crowdfunding. Both lead to the same question people ask over and over again (including myself): which one?
IndieGoGo and Kickstarter have the same intentions, but just different executions. I suggest researching both to see which fits your needs. But my initial response is “why not both?” In fact, I plan to use both sites eventually.
However, for my indie film musical HOW DO YOU WRITE A JOE SCHERMANN SONG I chose Kickstarter for two main reasons. The first is what has been coined the “Kickstarter Effect” where the implemented deadline gives a sense of urgency around the project and utilizes game theory to create an almost gambling atmosphere for people to generate interest and ideally financial contributions. And secondly the basic layout of the website design gave me more flexibility in terms of how I wanted to present the information about the film.
“SCHERMANN SONG” centers around the theater and Broadway realm of New York City. It deals with the struggle of artistic integrity vs. doing what others want you do to in order to be successful and examines how careers can affect personal relationships through unspoken competition. And the fun part is the song and dance numbers will be a mixture of both reality and fantasy sequences.
Now thankfully, the budget I’m trying to raise is nowhere close to what a full-fledged union cast/crew production would entail as that would be hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars needed depending on its scope. So for all intents and purposes, most people using the sites are dealing with micro-budgets (a casual search found the largest campaign around $50K).
But what crowdfunding does is take the investor equation out of making films. One no longer has to worry about the return-on-investment or making money back to recoup costs. Although I’m sure the majority of filmmakers do want to turn a profit with their film, it is not a looming cloud above their heads. In fact, crowdfunding is more attune to a PBS pldege drive where “thank you” gifts are offered in return for the donation — in a sense the person contributing to the project is pre-ordering certain goods that will be ready when the film is completed.
This platform frees up the filmmaker to really make the film he or she wants – and to know there is audience demand for it. It is actually a mind-blowing concept and liberating to know that you can get a film made this way. Even if the crowdfunding concept was around for a while, these sites have polished the system and has given legitimacy to it. Projects are getting funded every day.
The most challenging part comes once you have chosen which site to use: the fundraising campaign. I can only write about my experience thus far as I have approximately two more months to hopefully raise the full amount needed ($30K) to make HOW DO YOU WRITE A JOE SCHERMANN SONG. I plan on returning (if Tyler wants me back) to contribute an update on the campaign with any learning lessons to share mid-way through. So it seems that this is just a prologue to this topic in which there will be an epilogue later down the road.
The outcome is yet to be determined, but I really believe in this project for various reasons. The first being my complete adoration for the genre. I think it will be very interesting to explore the hybrid of intimate storytelling within the musical realm. And second, these types are films are rarely made at the indie level and people are hungry for them. We just have to find our audience which is part of the campaign’s goal. And we’re doing it — so far so good.
Over this past weekend we hit a major milestone with our Kickstarter fundraising campaign. Thanks to our incredible backers and their generous donations we are now 25% funded! This is amazing news for everyone involved with our indie film musical.
We are about 3 weeks in to the campaign and are 81 backers strong with countless more spreading the word. Everyone has been cheering us on and I appreciate it very much.
Remember, now that we’ve hit 25%, there’s the ever-important statistic from Kickstarter that shows we now have a 94% success rate.
Being 25% was the first major milestone accomplished. But we still have quite a hill to climb. Now with your help, we have to take it to the next level.
Mentioning our Kickstarter campaign to people is the only way to get the word out there. We need the exposure. I humbly ask that you help share this project with others via Facebook, Twitter, your blog, emails and word of mouth. It has been working! Being 25% funded shows that.
In fact, I myself will also have to step it up. So I’m going to be making several internet radio appearances in the next month:
UPCOMING APPEARANCES: Movie Addict Headquarters (hosted by Betty Jo Tucker) – Tuesday (March 16th) – 1pm PST/4pm EST
I also contributed a guest article titled “The Kickstarter Effect” for Multi-Hyphenate this past week and was very humbled by the support (and donations) it received from the indie film community.
I hope to do more appearances (in whatever form) and welcome your suggestions or offers to help bring more attention to this indie film musical and its campaign.
I appreciate everyone’s continued support for both me and HOW DO YOU WRITE A JOE SCHERMANN SONG. I really couldn’t do it without your generous contributions and belief. Let’s keep the momentum going so I can share more good news with you in the near future.
You can see the TLC he puts in to not only this video, but his screening series as a whole. It was an amazing experience and I cannot highly recommend attending or screening there — wish I could do both more often.
Thank you Peri, Lisa, Alex, Victoria, David, Nicole from the Ram’s Head on Stage, Coven, Corrie, Susanna, Caryn, Oscar….I know I’m forgetting people so I better stop while I’m ahead and say thank you Annapolis!
Based on the article “The D.I.Y Book Tour” by Stephen Elliot, this idea fascinates me:
“I asked if people wanted to hold an event in their homes. They had to promise 20 attendees. I would sleep on their couch. My publisher would pay for some of the airfare, and I would fund the rest by selling the books myself.”
I’m not sure how it could work with film, but in theory it could almost be a similar model.
And we’re not talking about booking theaters or alternative venues — this is actually visiting people’s homes who are willing to hold a screening and can guarantee a certain turnout. But think of how much of a connection this is with your audience — you’re in their home (haha!).
Whether they like your film or not (you’ll know if they hurry you out the door or keep you around for a while), it would be a very fascinating experience to tour the country and meet film lovers who want to see your film. At this point I don’t believe it’s an actual viable business model if one wanted to sustain a living, but the potential is there — and for some reason it really has me wondering about the possibilities.
ps – It’d be great if the person’s home theater looked like this too. That’d be the gravy on top.
Just wanted to take this moment to thank all our 46 amazing backers. We are now 17% funded with $5070!! This is amazing and I am truly humbled by the showing of support from everyone.
The actors and I are still planning to bring you some fun updates in the near future — so this post is more of a very important message of my appreciation to everyone who has contributed and also spread the word of our film musical.
I was not expecting to reach this amount so quickly — so a big big BIG THANK YOU!
Let’s keep this wonderful momentum going – we are on a roll! Please feel free to use any of the links below to spread the word.
We are one week into our Kickstarter fundraising campaign and are 33 backers strong with countless others spreading the word. I truly appreciate everyone’s support. It’s been nothing short of both humbling and amazing.
We are now at 5% funded. Everyone involved with the project is so thankful for your support and belief in us.
There’s an interesting statistic from Kickstarter that their data shows to date: if a project manages to get to 25% of its funding goal, it has a 94% success rate.
Which means if we reach $7500 pledged, we have a 94% success rate to reach our ultimate goal of $30,000 to make our film!
I believe this can be done with your help. We still need to continue to spread the word and keep this campaign fresh in people’s minds. I try not to be annoying about it on Facebook and Twitter (sorry if I am) — but each time I mention it there is someone new in my network who learns about this Kickstarer campaign and my musical project for the first time.
Mentioning our Kickstarter campaign to people is the only way to get the word out there — so thank you to all of you who have blogged, tweeted, facebooked, emailed, talked about….everything else you have done to help get us those 33 amazing contributors!!
A few people have asked how my film compares to the film “ONCE” (which I thought was wonderful) or “NINE” (haven’t seen it yet).
So here are just some more details about the film:
“Schermann Song” centers on the theater/Broadway realm. It deals with the struggle of artistic integrity vs. doing what others want you do to in order to be successful. The story will also examine how careers can affect personal relationships through unspoken competition. And finally, the song numbers will be a mixture of both reality and fantasy sequences.
So is it more like “ONCE” or “NINE“? Aside from having a much longer title…”Schermann Song” will probably a blend of both, but different enough not to elicit comparisons. I am aiming to make a new type of musical film. It’ll be my musical Prius (without the Toyota recall).
It’s Superbowl Sunday!! Don’t we wish we had a little advertising money to get one commercial spot during that event! Actually, I think we’d be able to make about 20 films with the advertising costs!
QUICK UPDATES:
We had 10 backers contribute to the “How Do You Write A Joe Schermann Song” fundraising campaign yesterday. It was an amazing day! A special thanks to everyone who helped contribute and to those who shared the project. We couldn’t do it without you!
NEXT STEP:Now our next baby step goal is to reach 10% funding in the next few days. As of today we are at 4%. With your help I know we can do it.
It’s just simply finding the right people who wish to contribute — but the challenge is getting it in front of these people. This is where you come in!
Please share our websites. Send the Youtube video. Post about us on Facebook and Twitter. Talk about it in conversations. By doing this, you will be helping our project gain exposure into your extended networks. We would really appreciate it and it would mean so much to us to spread the news of our fundraising campaign.
“How Do You Write a Joe Schermann Song” is a new feature film musical that I am planning to helm in the summer of 2010.
It will not be your typical “song and dance” musical as the goal of the film is not to be a spectacle, but rather a more intimate tale about an aspiring Broadway songwriter who jeopardizes his relationships and budding career after he begins working with a talented singer. The story is relevant in that it shows the artist’s struggle in today’s time — striving for both creative and financial success.
I am thrilled to make a film in a genre that does not get much recognition anymore. It’s something I hold close to my heart. I grew up watching musicals with my parents and was always in awe of the sheer talent of the actors on screen. Even back then, I knew there were a lot of moving parts and hard work that went into creating something so entertaining.
I believe there is an audience out there still hungry for unique musicals with a well-told story. So here I am. Ready for a challenge. Ready to make my next film. Ready to work with some amazing people who will showcase their talents as true performers — as singers, actors and dancers — which is something rarely done on screen nowadays at the truly independent level (yes, there will be tap dancing in the film!!).
However, making a motion picture is pretty expensive even when you’re doing it on the cheap. Costs for things such as audition/dance rehearsal space, cast and crew, film equipment, locations, editing, music, marketing materials (posters, postcards, etc.), DVD’s, film festival fees (the list goes on and on) can add up quickly. But thankfully there is this great website called KICKSTARTER and that’s where YOU come in!
KICKSTARTER allows us to raise money for the film in a fun and organized way. For your kind and generous donation you can get some really cool “Thank You” gifts in return! Things like a DVD copy of the film, CD soundtrack, film poster or autographed script….to exclusive “sneak peeks” of the footage, participating in test screenings or even a visit to the set.
Please check out the KICKSTARTER PAGE to review all the rewards available. If one strikes your fancy, then MAKE A PLEDGE. You won’t be charged a dime (or get the awesome gifts) unless we raise $30,000 by April 18th 2010. I would really appreciate any amount you can give. Every little bit helps. With your generosity, I believe we can do it.
Thank you for your continued love and support for me, everyone involved with this project and true independent (or “fandependent”) filmmaking.
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