Financing Your Project: Kickstarter

The Internet to a filmmaker is one of the greatest places one can go to promote their film. With the popularity of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook as well as YouTube it is no surprise that these resources are among the best to help spread the word about your production. Now, filmmakers can focus their attention to the Internet for more then just film promotion;  the opportunity to finance your film over the web is now becoming very popular for independent filmmakers. Thanks to a website called Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com) filmmakers can set up a page for their production and accept donations for the film all through there project page. 

How easy could it get? Financing a film is supposed to be one of the greatest challenges of filmmaking, but thanks to kickstarter they are making this daunting task seem much more doable.  Since 2009, Kickstarter has funded a near 1,500 productions and has dished out over $10 million. What gets even better than that is that this year at Sundance a total of 5 of the films in the festival were all funded through kickstarter.

Taking the search for funding to the internet provides many opportunities to the independent filmmaker. Producer Kim Jackson said that “As a producer, any platform that provides new opportunities for funding resources is a good thing, especially when you retain 100% ownership.” If all goes as plan and your project gets funded a major bonus to the production is that is shows distributors that people have an interest in the film and it can potentially be a success.

Why fund a project? I think this is something that the team starting up the fund needs to really keep in mind when establishing their fundraising page. As people review their page they are going to be asking themselves why should I give them my money? I think to really hook potential investors you need to introduce them to the topic in a way that really sparks their interest. I feel that an effective approach to this may be by having the films producer, director, and other above the line crew come together to create a sort of pre-production documentary.  Having these keys introduce the project and explain what they will bring to it from their department, I feel is an extremely effective way to show that the production has potential and it should be funded.

When people have donated there hard earned money to your fund, I think it is very important to thank each and every person no matter how small of a donation. Keeping ties to the video concept, I see it being appropriate to send a thank you video from the crew to all those who donated. As the production continues on sending these people video updates showing what there money is being put to use to is something that can make your many investors feel more involved in the process. To those who donate a pretty penny to the fund, I see it being important to credit these individuals in the film with some sort of producer credit. Also I think getting these investors involved directly with the production and inviting them on set will really make them feel they put their money into something good.

Kickstarter is defiantly the new way of funding films in today’s Internet age. With the ease that this service provides there is no need to look anywhere else for financing for your project. Whether it be film, theater, photography, dance, or music kickstarter is the place to get your project up and running!   

TV: Roles of an Associate Producer

Over the past month I have begun to break away from films and into the world of television. The reason behind this is because I think in order for me to make the right decision as to what I really want to do with my career, I need to experience as much of the industry as possible to find my niche.  Currently I am taking part in one of the most exciting opportunities I have had come my way yet, being a production intern at Great American Country.  The work that I am taking part in at GAC has opened my eyes to the many differences television production has to that of film production.  My mentor for the time I have here is one of the Associate Producers for the station, Jenny Dew.  Recently I had the opportunity to sit down with Jenny and ask her a little bit about her job and the role she takes in getting a show on television.

Just like any production, Jenny shared with me that there are three pieces to getting a show on television: pre production, production, and post-production. During each phase of the process Jenny has a series of tasks that need to be completed in order to have a successful production.

One of the shows here at GAC that Jenny is the Associate Producer of is called On the Streets.  This is a weekly show that brings viewers up to date on what is new and hot in country music. The pre production aspect of this show Jenny compared to “renovating a house, all the work goes in during the planning process.” In order to map out the plan for this show some of the first questions Jenny addresses are: What is the project? How will it be executed? How much time do we have to execute it?  Once these questions have answers a timeline of tasks starts to come together. With a show of this nature it is no surprise that it is research heavy. Jenny conducts research to figure out what the show will be based on (i.e. new country songs or music videos being released).  From here all facts are double checked for accuracy and the show is planned out from A to Z in the form of what is called a rundown.

When it comes time to produce the content that Jenny planned, one of her main goals is to manage the plan to the best of her ability and as the shoot goes on adjust things as needed so production can stay on track.  As the production rolls on Jenny serves as a floor manager in the studio, wrangling talent and crew as well as managing the needs of everyone from the directors, talent, and producers.  Through communication over headsets messages can be relayed easily from the control room to the studio; allowing for needed adjustments to be made and production to continue on.

When production is all wrapped, you can catch Jenny spending some time with the editors.  Post- production is where the video and audio is laid out and put together to complete the puzzle. Jenny serves as a supervisor during this phase, making sure that the edit is following the rundown previously created. In the case a specific piece of album artwork is needed, Jenny collects that and provides the needed items to the editors. Once final touches are made it is laid to tape, shipped out, and aired on national television.

When it comes down to comparing a producer of films to those of television, speaking will Jenny helped me to understand how they really are drastically different. In the film world producing involves lots of logistics, negotiating, and production coordinating. Television Producers have a much more creative role in television then in film. A television producer is more the brains behind the show. The show being produced is their vision and they work with the crew around them to make it happen and sign off on a final product.

“To be successful in this field you need to soak in as much as possible and find a balance between being observant, networking, and asking questions.” Through hearing this from Jenny I am going to be sure to work on finding that balance, as well as using this concept to get the most of my internship.  When it comes to other important producer qualities, Jenny shared that you must be outgoing, creative, take risks, don’t be afraid of sharing your ideas, accept rejection, and be organized as you will have a much easier time.

When it comes down to it all productions come down to the dollar. In the case of music television music costs money! Whether it a song, music video, or just a line referenced from a song, it all costs something. This being the case it is important to have this factored into the budget of a show. Another aspect of the budget is the cost of the crew. Through Jenny enforcing her plan for the shoot and managing those in the studio the efficiency of the crew can be much greater.

Speaking with Jenny and getting the opportunity to learn from her on a daily basis is helping me greatly with deciding where I want to take my career from here. I could not agree with Jenny more when she shared that after working in this industry for years its still cool to see the footage you produced come together to tell a story.  This is something that I for sure want to be a part of doing for years to come. Thanks again Jenny for sharing your knowledge with me and being my “mentor” throughout this internship.  I am looking forward to learning more over the next few months!