What is movie crowdfunding?

Definition of movie crowdfunding

Movie crowdfunding means that the initiator of movie project financing launches project crowdfunding on the crowdfunding platform, and the target amount is reached or exceeded within the preset time. success. For projects that do not meet their goals, support monies will be refunded in full to all backers. After the fundraising project is completed, netizens will receive the rewards promised by the sponsor in advance, such as movie tickets or DVDs of their works.

Key factors for successful film crowdfunding

The first step: relying on IP/star effect

Director Feng Xiaogang can say that he does not understand IP, but he is a member of the film and television investment community You must not understand IP. Almost all the well-known crowdfunding projects in the domestic market are backed by IP. "The Return of the Great Sage" uses the Chinese super IP "Monkey King", and "One Hundred Thousand Cold Jokes" uses its own animation IP.

The greatest charm of IP lies in its connectivity with potential consumers. "The Twilight Saga", "The Hunger Games" and "Divergent" anchor the youngest movie consumers in the United States, while youth films such as "Tiny Times" anchor those born in the 80s, 90s and 00s. By measuring the size of the IP, the crowdfunding platform can also estimate the popularity of the project after it is launched.

The second is star effect, which can be regarded as a change of IP. There are several famous films in the history of crowdfunding for Hollywood movies: the animated film "Desperado" produced by David Fincher, and Spike Lee's crowdfunded black film "The Sweet Blood of Jesus" (directed by Steven Soderbergh). Donated $10,000), Joseph's animated short film "SideKicks" (starring Anne Hathaway), and Kristen Bell's "Side Kicks". Once these films are launched on the crowdfunding platform, they are immediately promoted by all major media. There is almost no need for the crowdfunding platform to worry about, and they are guaranteed to exceed the target and even break the crowdfunding record.

From an investor's point of view, stars are directly linked to their box office. It is not difficult to know their net worth. You can estimate the gross by directly checking the box office of a star's previous works. For example, the box office value of Hollywood's popular comedy queen Melissa McCarthy in North America is 80 million US dollars. Even the poor quality "Mommy" has this income; Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man is worth 3 to 4 US dollars in North America. 100 million, about 50 million for ordinary characters, and the North American performance of "Judge Daddy" is about 48 million. In Hollywood, unless there are particularly unreliable stars who only care about money but not the script, it is risky to invest. Ordinary stars are still willing to promote themselves through movies. This itself also expresses an affirmation of the project, which is an invisible endorsement.

Step 2: Create multiple projects

Investing in crowdfunding projects on Kickstarter generally does not result in monetary returns. Most crowdfunders do so out of true love for the project. . Domestic film crowdfunding is more like a new type of financial management product, with a rate of return and additional benefits. Some people will buy crowdfunding purely for the rate of return without considering the value of the project itself. There is an essential difference between the two.

Without monetary returns, is it not conducive to project crowdfunding? In fact, the answer may not be. Many crowdfunding projects are very careful in terms of gameplay. For example, "The Detective", which broke the Kickstarter record for the shortest time to raise a million dollars, has 26 ways to play. Among them, the first few are similar to the domestic physical crowdfunding routines, such as:

Funding $10: You can get a PDF version of the film’s script (about 10,000 investors have bought the project ).

Subsidy of US$25: you can get a script and a commemorative T-shirt.

Subsidy of US$200: you can get an additional poster signed by the protagonist.

The tricks are mainly focused on large-scale gameplay, such as:

Subsidy of 400 US dollars: You can ask the starring actors to record a greeting video specifically for you, or ask the director Thomas and the starring actors to promote the game. I will follow you for a whole year.

Subsidy of US$1,000: Movie fans will have the opportunity to go to the filming set of "The Detective", act as extras, and will definitely have the opportunity to appear on the scene, such as having lunch on the roadside with the leading actor. , but these scenes may be edited out, and participants must reimburse their own travel expenses.

Subsidy of US$6,500: You will get a chance to be called out by the protagonist's name, and the director guarantees that this scene will not be cut. If you spend a little more money, you can get a character named after you in the movie.

Subsidy of US$10,000 (maximum amount, only one, will be sold out as soon as it goes online): The sponsor will play a role with lines in the movie. However, the role and scene have been decided, everyone is qualified, and there is only one line.

For domestic investors, it is the best of both worlds to have both monetary returns and additional benefits. Suppose the movie version of "Tornado Girl" is crowdfunded and allows young Yang Yang to follow the fans on Weibo for even a day. Does anyone want it?

Step Three: Creativity is King

I have to admit that in terms of creativity, from movies, TV series to reality shows, there are various domestic shortcomings. Things are much better in Hollywood, especially when it comes to independent films. Kickstarter cooperates with Sundance and Tribeca, the most important independent film festivals in the United States. At the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, more than one-third of the films exhibited were financed through crowdfunding.

Zach Braff and Kate Hudson's "Heart Is Somewhere" raised half of the shooting cost from Kickstarter. After it was sent to the Sundance Film Festival that year, it was bought by Focus Features on the first day. North American distribution rights.

Another feature is that Kickstarter does not have fixed criteria for selecting films. Many avant-garde and experimental films are included in the film list, but it has a screening mechanism. To be eligible for entry, ordinary projects must at least prove to Kickstarter that the film has an "interesting but not cliché plot." This screening mechanism not only ensures that the film has a successful fundraising rate of more than 40%, or that projects that meet Kickstarter's "interesting" standards can stand out.

The most successful example of the screening mechanism was in 2012. A live-action short film about a 15-year-old illegal immigrant girl who believed she could become a painter passed the website's screening system, was pushed to the top position, and won an Oscar. , filling a gap in the history of crowdfunding.

In addition, the editor has previously introduced one of the most insane, weird, dazzling, and shocking movies in Swedish history, "Kung Wrath", which also benefited from Kickstarter. To be precise, there is no fixed standard for the screening mechanism, as long as you can conquer others.

Step 4: Sincerity

If you say that your movie can neither attract big stars nor have IP background, the creativity seems to be just that, but still If you want to make a movie dream, the only way is to impress investors with true feelings.

In the five years since its establishment, Kickstarter has helped more than 3,000 short films and 5,000 films to successfully crowdfund, most of which were unknown. The reason why the website can contribute to the success of its crowdfunding is that it sells feelings. Kickstarter is very fun. It tells the story of independent game producers developing games (search the WeChat public account "Dark Horse" for a crowdfunding platform focusing on the cultural and creative fields). The filming of the video "Independent Game Movie" only cost 100,000 US dollars, 1,600 The average amount of support from each backer is US$62.5, which is not too much of a burden, but I feel like I am supporting a group of young people with dreams to develop games, which gives me a great sense of accomplishment.

The story of the live-action documentary short film "Mudbloods" is also very simple. A group of high school students who like to watch Harry Potter Quidditch games invented a land-based Quidditch game. Stories about small frictions in daily training, as well as the process of the final match between the two teams. The crowdfunding project, which was almost self-entertainment, was supported by 540 passers-by. It can be said that the Quidditch feeling defeated everything.

In addition, there is another key point, which is the sense of participation of investors. On crowdfunding websites, every time there is progress in every project that investors participate in, investors will be notified online as soon as possible. Even if the movie has been released, a small film festival or a Blu-ray disc will still be "harassed" "Let's talk about investors. Supported videos can also be watched through iTunes, which will never leave investors feeling lost.

In the end, every crowdfunder can realize his or her dream, and every investor can receive ideal returns, which is the most wonderful thing about the development of the film industry.