It's never been easier to raise money for your indie film or webseries. Today, producers and directors utilize a method called crowdfunding, which, according to Wikipedia, "describes the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations." In short, crowdfunding is how you can get your project financed -- in small increments by other folks.
Crowdfunding is sort of like microlending, in a sense. Individuals (either those you know or are related to, or total strangers) each donate small amounts of cash, ten bucks or so.
The most well-known websites for crowdfunding are kickstarter and indiegogo. But don't think you don't have to use at least a little bit of your own money to raise hype around your project. After all, we all know we need to invest money to make money. The indie films or webseries that are most successful at raising funds are those that have slick trailers and photos. Ultimately, the filmmakers have gone through some trouble to make something that is attractive so that you want to see more. Gene Massey of Cinema Shares, says it's pretty easy to see why the films that get funding via crowdfunding do so: "You'd look at that and say, 'I want to see that made.' " According to Massey, it's also pretty easy to see why the projects that didn't achieve their desired funds failed. These were the projects that didn't scream out to the viewer, "Hey, I need to be done."
But Massey also warns not to think that you don't have to give something in exchange to the people who are giving you money. Filmmakers can create different levels of incentive: donate $50 and you get a T-shirt. $1000 might get you an executive producer credit.
If you want to learn more about crowdfunding, check out a great interview on blogtalkradio, moderated by Gini Graham Scott with Gene Massey of Cinema Shares.
Showing posts with label webseries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label webseries. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Interesting Musings on Filmmaking and Webseries By Jesse Warren
Check out Jesse Warren's blog, the writer behind the super-successful webseries, The Bannen Way.
http://jwarrenpiece.wordpress.com/
Interesting new entry about the relationship between writer and director...
http://jwarrenpiece.wordpress.com/
Interesting new entry about the relationship between writer and director...
Monday, February 14, 2011
Why Webisodes?
When Felecia Day, star of the webseries sensation The Guild, couldn't sell her pilot about the world of online gaming, she repackaged the concept as a webisode series instead.
In an industry where it is more difficult than ever to sell your pilot, where studios are buying less feature scripts and where the reality show (which demands less writing, of course) is king, webisodes have emerged as a new-media outlet for writers, directors, producers and actors to show off their talents.
Because viewers' attention span is shorter on the Web, the episodes can also be shorter, which means they are cheaper to shoot. And because the screen is also smaller, you don't have to spend as much money on capturing beautiful landscapes, and you can thus concentrate on shooting in one location (which is also cheaper). What all this means is that it is way less expensive to create a webisode -- and, if you play your cards right, you can still get a lot of viewers to watch it, which can be literally translated into sponsorship dollars. In short, that's how you make the money.
But there are also "channels" that have emerged on-line, which will buy your webisode series (if the writing, acting and production quality is good; so don't skimp too much on money). Some of those channels are L Studio (funded by Lexus), where Lisa Kudrow can be seen starring in Web Therapy; My Damn Channel; Crackle; and now Aol. (There are a bunch more, and I will post them all later).
You can take the route or trying to sell your webisodes to these different channels, or you can just post your stuff to youtube. Of course, youtube isn't going to pay you for content, but, as we all know, as long as you can get a big following for your webisodes, you can convince some big company to sponsor/invest in you.
So that's why it's so important to know who your audience is, and then "hang out" where they do. Chats on twitter are great, and then doing all the social networking that's so necessary to get people to see your webisode. I have been so inspired by this new media opportunity that I am currently writing a webisode series that I will be shooting soon.
A few weeks ago, I attended a workshop with Mark Gantt of The Bannen Way, which is a super-successful webseries that has now been purchased by Sony Pictures Television. Why Gantt decided to shoot a webisode? He said you can chose to invest your hard-earned dollars (or someone else's money preferably) in making a short film that very few people will see (even if it's accepted to festivals) and which you then can't sell because everyone wants a feature-length film -- or you can invest that same money in a webisode (either a pilot or a whole series) and then promote the s**t out of it, so that it will be seen by a lot of people. Now which route would you rather take?
So, in short, as folks complain about less and less opportunities for writers as the paper-magazine world crumbles and the opportunities to sell scripts for TV and film dry up, turn your attention to the Internet, which never fails to provide more and more opportunities for writers, who take the time to brainstorm new and interesting way to make money and get their stuff seen.
In an industry where it is more difficult than ever to sell your pilot, where studios are buying less feature scripts and where the reality show (which demands less writing, of course) is king, webisodes have emerged as a new-media outlet for writers, directors, producers and actors to show off their talents.
Because viewers' attention span is shorter on the Web, the episodes can also be shorter, which means they are cheaper to shoot. And because the screen is also smaller, you don't have to spend as much money on capturing beautiful landscapes, and you can thus concentrate on shooting in one location (which is also cheaper). What all this means is that it is way less expensive to create a webisode -- and, if you play your cards right, you can still get a lot of viewers to watch it, which can be literally translated into sponsorship dollars. In short, that's how you make the money.
But there are also "channels" that have emerged on-line, which will buy your webisode series (if the writing, acting and production quality is good; so don't skimp too much on money). Some of those channels are L Studio (funded by Lexus), where Lisa Kudrow can be seen starring in Web Therapy; My Damn Channel; Crackle; and now Aol. (There are a bunch more, and I will post them all later).
You can take the route or trying to sell your webisodes to these different channels, or you can just post your stuff to youtube. Of course, youtube isn't going to pay you for content, but, as we all know, as long as you can get a big following for your webisodes, you can convince some big company to sponsor/invest in you.
So that's why it's so important to know who your audience is, and then "hang out" where they do. Chats on twitter are great, and then doing all the social networking that's so necessary to get people to see your webisode. I have been so inspired by this new media opportunity that I am currently writing a webisode series that I will be shooting soon.
A few weeks ago, I attended a workshop with Mark Gantt of The Bannen Way, which is a super-successful webseries that has now been purchased by Sony Pictures Television. Why Gantt decided to shoot a webisode? He said you can chose to invest your hard-earned dollars (or someone else's money preferably) in making a short film that very few people will see (even if it's accepted to festivals) and which you then can't sell because everyone wants a feature-length film -- or you can invest that same money in a webisode (either a pilot or a whole series) and then promote the s**t out of it, so that it will be seen by a lot of people. Now which route would you rather take?
So, in short, as folks complain about less and less opportunities for writers as the paper-magazine world crumbles and the opportunities to sell scripts for TV and film dry up, turn your attention to the Internet, which never fails to provide more and more opportunities for writers, who take the time to brainstorm new and interesting way to make money and get their stuff seen.
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