Ready, Set, Fund: Local Filmmakers Crowdfund Productions

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Jayson demonstrates saturations for Kickstarter video prep

Welcome to "Ready, Set, Fund," a new feature we're publishing regularly about crowdfunding and related fundraising endeavors for Austin and Texas independent film projects. Contact us if you've got a film fundraising project going on you'd like us to know about.

The most educational film panel I've seen in recent years was a SXSW session moderated by Bryan Poyser of the Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund (TFPF) on "Low to No Budget Filmmaking." One filmmaker panelist remarked that although it might be possible to make a first film on favors, eventually money has to be spent on cast, crew, production, and more. The alleged $7000 budget of El Mariachi (as reported by Robert Rodriguez in Winter 1993 Filmmaker Magazine) is a filmmaking rarity, especially with the significant increase in production costs.

Funding is often the biggest challenge that local independent filmmakers have to face -- after they've used up their favors, or when their grants aren't enough to fund a project, what other funding options are available?

Thanks to the Internet and social media, crowdfunding of film projects has skyrocketed since 2008. Crowdfunding essentially uses online communities and crowdfunding-specific websites to pool money to support a specific project. Unlike the well-known microfinance website Kiva, contributions are not loans, but donations -- although contributors can receive rewards at certain giving levels. It's similar to public-broadcasting pledge drives that offer incentives to donors.

Kickstarter and United States Artists do not fund projects unless a specific fundraising goal is met, but sites such as RocketHub and IndieGoGo allow artists to keep what they raise, minus a percentage or fee for administrative costs. Project pages are often supported by video pitches such as the one being shot in the above photo above -- local filmmaker Jayson Oaks prepping his Flocker pitch, while my favorite local cinematographer Iskra Valtcheva (Mars, Fatakra!, Artois the Goat) is at the camera.

Want to help fund a local movie, and receive rewards ranging from special thanks and DVDs to cameos and film passes? Check out some Austin projects in need of donors within the next month:

  • Does Anybody Remember Laughter -- Local filmmaker Bob Byington (Harmony and Me) is teaming up with actor Kevin Corrigan, who wrote the script, to shoot this short film about a Hollywood-style audition. (United States Artists, ends Tuesday 8/30).
  • Goliad Uprising -- This Fractured Atlas sponsored project is a science fiction thriller about one man and woman's fight to stop a corporate world run amuck. (IndieGoGo, ends Sunday 9/18)
  • Living a Secret -- Tiffani Wampler's documentary on her personal and other stories from survivors of childhood sexual abuse and incest. (IndieGoGo, ends Wednesday 9/7)
  • Loves Her Gun -- The second feature film from Geoff Marslett (Mars), this cautionary tale of transformation, crime, guns, and hipsters follows a young woman making the transition from Brooklyn to Austin. The filmmakers are also using Facebook to solicit help with locations, props and even meals. (United States Artists, ends Friday 8/26)
  • Slacker 2011 -- Although not for a specific film project, this Austin Film Society fundraising event's goal is to raise an additional $60,000 for TFPF. Donations of $50 or higher to Slacker 2011 will receive a ticket to the world premiere on August 31 with the remake filmmakers and Richard Linklater in attendance for the Q&A.
  • Stuck -- This Fractured Atlas sponsored project is a short film by Travis D. Hardy about "how interactions of people -- family, friends, and strangers -- who make up a community and influence who we understand ourselves to be." (IndieGoGo, ends Wednesday 8/31)
  • Untitled Israel Football Documentary -- Austin filmmaker David Hartstein (Along Came Kinky) is looking for funds for equipment and travel related to his feature documentary project about American-style football in Israel. (United States Artists, ends Friday 9/23).

Visit the featured crowdfunding websites for more local film projects in need of financial support, both great and small.

I recently spoke via Skype with Alex Weimer of the Berlin-based production company, MovieBrats, and Marta Masferra, a Cuban-American director whose Kickstarter project and film Asternauts successfully met its fundraising goal of $20,000. Masferrer relocated to Austin in the summer of 2010, and developed her thesis film Asternauts with fellow Columbia graduate Raven Burnett while working as a development intern for Richard Linklater's production company, Detour Films.

In addition to the funding from Kickstarter, Masferra saved money from a film editing job to fund her short sci-fi/comedy, and has applied for a 2011 TFPF grant. In Germany, Weimer was able to obtain a grant based on a previous successful film project, and has also set up a fundraising page on the German crowdfunding site StartNext.

Check out the dynamic fundraising pitch below:

Asternauts Kickstarter Pitch from MovieBrats on Vimeo.

Check back for updates on this and other local film projects in future installments. Have a film project that needs funding support? Contact us with details, or feel free to post in the comments below.

[Photo credit: "Jayson Demonstrating Saturations for IndieGoGo Video Pitch," courtesy of Jayson Oaks]

Great piece!

Great piece on supporting local artists. Just got in under the wire to fund Loves Her Gun, which I'm looking forward to seeing, hopefully at an Alamo Drafthouse near me!