A friend of mine has been planning to create a Kickstarter campaign for a film idea he’s had for a year now. It’s a great idea, a Maltese Falcon-esque mystery, but it needs plenty of money injected into it to do the story idea justice. And so today he created the campaign, and I gave him a hand writing it as it was looking a bit bare in terms of detail. Here’s an excerpt:
The biggest risks surrounding this production would be running out of both money and time. As with any production, most often projected timelines are stretched much further, due to the amount of people that are needed to collaborate to complete the project – actors are sick, crew can’t make it. Other interruptions such as weather or issues in securing locations for specific dates could also draw out the production process, and if more time is needed then often, so is more money. If this project runs out of money it will be difficult to continue production as cast and crew won’t be able to be paid for the extra time and some less pressing financial needs (such as post-production music, other locations, costumes, press) may be neglected. However, if I can carefully plan out the budget to allow for unforeseen circumstances to be accommodated this risk can be minimised, and by scheduling for extra days of filming and possibly backup cast and crew, I can be sure that there is a contingency in place should any interruptions or obstacles arise. Beyond these two, other risks to the project are minimal.
It’s interesting to trace the increasing popularity in crowdfunding with grassroots filmmakers, and note the increasing effectiveness paired with this. When finding sponsors to help get that short film production started is harder than ever and money more vital than ever, crowdfunding seems like a godsend to those of us who aren’t blessed with industry and financial connections to begin with, and don’t want to fall into debt while pursuing their craft. I’m hopeful my friend’s kickstarter will be a success, and I’ll be following the progress closely. If he does well, it’ll motivate me to create my own campaign for my future film ideas. If a first year film student like my friend and I can get their project funded, then anyone can.
