The single biggest revolution in financing has been crowdfunding campaigns. Whether it’s Kickstarter, Indiegogo or a virtual tip jar, there are a lot of examples of projects that raised money this way. In fact, you may even know some people who did it this way; or at least, they claim they did. While crowdfunding seems easy and straightforward, a professional quality campaign can require a lot of work. There are already fundraisers out there who specialize in this area for media projects. And yeah, the jury is still out on whether Zach Braff and Spike Lee kind of ruined these for ordinary people.
Crowdfunding Success Stories
Watch Kung Fury…because the parody of 80’s action/sci-fi/martial arts genres raised $200,000 in less than a day and is being adapted into a feature length film. Writer-director-star David Sandberg used a home studio green screen to tell the story of Kung Fury, a badass kung fu cop who travels back through time to fight Hitler. Sandberg combined his love for over-the-top 80’s culture with Internet friendly tropes like retro video games, dinosaurs, and Vikings to crowdfund a unique comedy spoof that showcased his own talents as an actor and visual effects artist. Based on a self-produced trailer, Sandberg raised almost $700,000 in donations – nearly half a million more than the initial request – from over 17,000 people, making Kung Fury one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns of all time.
Further Reading:
- Indiewire’s Ultimate Guide to Crowdfunding