Crowd Funding: The Future of the Industry?

Online crowdfunding was founded in 2008 and 2009 and has lead to sites such as Indiegogo and Kickstarter that have changed the way grassroots filmmakers approach the public for funding. It has become an increasing necessity for independent filmmakers. This is an important change or the future of film due to the possibility of infinite resources for independent filmmaking.

How might crowd funding affect the 'big six'?
Hollywood studio resources are were "too constricting" for indie filmmaking, meaning that the crowdfunded projects generally engage the public online. This essentially means that closing the gap between Hollywood's resources and independent film is difficult because the two are contradictory. Some big Hollywood names like Bill Johnson (left), Charlie Kaufman and David Fincher have used crowdfunding to raise money for their films - they recognise that it's not only about gaining financially, it's about the small-time investors being people who are going to watch the films. It's their interest that will aid early marketing and possible theatre release. Therefore, smaller independent films have the chance to become possibly as big as the Hollywood films that are released by the 'big six'.

Do you think this method of film financing will allow creativity to flourish or will it reduce the overall quality of film making as an art form?
I believe that crowdfunding will allow creativity to flourish massively because smaller independent companies who might not get the opportunity to release their films to a wider audience can begin to be recognised for their talents. Additionally, I think the film restrictions that the 'big six' cause (i.e. releasing similar films which create specific ideologies and emotions that they can control) will be liberated because they won't have the control that they are used to having. Sometimes a documentary style film can be just as profitable or popular as a mainstream film that is released or re-released. Anna Karenina cost between $750,000-$1,000,000 to shoot per week - a lot more than the $400,000 total cost of Anomalisa, Charlie Kaufman's record breaking crowdfunded film. This goes to show that the audience are willing to donate money towards a project that interests them an that it is a viable was of film financing.

How can a crowdfunded film appeal to global and local audiences?
It provides a blog of the production process in a journal form so that the audience can track how their donation is being spent and how the filming is going. Every Sunday night they do a weekly meetup via Ustream where the local and global audience has a chance to ask questions or say what's on their mind regarding the film. Various "unique perks" are used to keep the audience engaged throughout the making of the film up to it's delivery to the audience. In Bill Johnson's film they included the audience's faces in the opening sequence - the people who donated more money had a bigger picture and vice versa.

Example of crowdfunded film:

'I'm Vlogging Here' will be a 90-minute feature length documentary featuring ShayCarl and the Shaytards and other Youtube vloggers. It's going to explore what Vlogging is, the rise of Youtube creators and how vlogging has changed the lives of vloggers , the viewers and the industry itself.
In their Indiegogo campaign they asked for a minimum of $180,000 to create the film. The cost covers the 6 months of full-time production and an internal cast of Youtubers.
Below a break down of the budget can be seen -  month by month guide. They plan to use the funding for:

• taxes
• additional/emergency expenses
• indegogo's cut
• scoring/soundtrack
• sound/colour/editing house
• food
• flights/hotels
• ensurance
• petrol
• vehicle rental
• crew
• gear rental

They keep the audience engage by offering different gifts to people who donate - the more people donate the better their gift. The perks include:

• $5 donation - weekly newsletter
• $10 donation - demand the Shaytards to come to your location
• $25 donation - onscreen credit
• $30 donation - online digital download
• $40 donation - full documentary download
• $100 donation - signed Shaytards calendar
• $150 donation - signed blu-ray DVD
• $300 donation - personalised video from their family to you
• $350 donation - get to join Shay's running club at Playlist Live
• $350 donation - get to join Shay's running club at Vidcon
• $500 donation - Skype date with KassemG
• $750 donation - talk with Shay and Colette on the phone.

In total they raised $201,989 which is 112% of the original amount that they asked for. This is clear evidence that crowd-funded films work and have the opportunity to become large films with the help of the public. 

Sources:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/sep/19/charlie-kaufman-anomalisa-crowdfunding-record
Crowd Funding: The Future of the Industry? booklet
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/i-m-vlogging-here-youtube-documentary