Crowdfunding for the second time
We continue to look at filmmakers who successfully have run more than one crowdfunding campaign in order to learn how success builds on itself. This guest post from UK based filmmaker Christopher Bevan of YSP Media talks about the importance of setting a reasonable funding goal and communicating regularly with your donors.
As an independent filmmaker, I was very keen at looking into crowdfunding as a viable option to get our next project off the ground. I’d first heard about the idea of doing this at Chris Jones’ Guerilla Filmmaker’s Masterclass back in 2011 and, when the time came in March the following year, I made the decision to press ahead with our first crowdfunding campaign for a short film called Caught in the Headlights. I chose to use IndieGoGo due to the flexible funding option and also because, at the time, dollars were the only currency on there and I wanted it to be open for international backers.
Having watched lots of other crowdfunding pitch videos, it was clear to me this had to be well made and feature interviews with the team talking passionately about our project.
What helped was already having an existing social media base to reach out to with regular content updates. The first campaign was an overwhelming success for us and we raised $2893, or 181% of our target with backers from all around the world. From this campaign I learned a lot and it was an exhausting experience, but well worth it. The effort of continually pushing the campaign through social media can be a trying process and much of the campaign I ran alone, adding to the work involved, but again totally worth it.
The biggest thing I learned from running that campaign was perk fulfillment. I listed perks that, once factored in, cost a lot to create and took up a lot of time to fulfill. Fortunately we raised more than our goal, so this didn’t affect the film’s budget, but when we had American backers qualifying for perks that required additional postage, the numbers didn’t add up.
In the end, we wrote to backers explaining the situation, offering them the option of digital versions of the physical items to cut down costs, and all were happy to accept this to help the film. Yes, we essentially offered more than we could deliver in terms of perks, but on the one or two items where this became an issue, we were honest and upfront about it. Many backers are more concerned about the project, but giving them the information and choice is still very important. The film turned out well and went on to receive several awards and nominations on the festival circuit.
As far as sending updates to the backers through IndieGoGo, this started frequently, but as post-production continued, these updates became more sporadic as fewer events were happening that warranted passing news on to our backers. Once we began the festival journey, we updated our backers each time we were nominated for or screened at a festival. I did find it was easier to direct backers to our social media channels if they chose to follow them as this was far easier to update and more flexible too. The film is now available online and since we are no longer contending for festivals, we have ceased updates on the project and informed backers of this news. They can of course follow us through social networks still.
Our second campaign ended earlier this year for a short film called Love & Other Chairs
Love and Other Chairs IndieGoGo Video from Christopher Bevan on Vimeo.
A similar funding target was set and this time we were fortunate enough to reach 136% of our target. This is where the lessons of the first campaign came through. We created perks that were mainly digital, cost less to produce and were easily manageable, but still valuable. They included a mention in our Twitter feed and Facebook page, thanks in the end credit roll of the film, a thank you credit on imdb, as well as a walk on role, and executive producer credit. We did away with perks that required posting, everything was delivered online.
In terms of communication with backers, we used videos to convey messages on occasion, but again this would happen more frequently depending on what news we had on the film. We did use the IndieGogo update function a lot more during this campaign, releasing concept art and casting details to backers throughout to keep the momentum going.
During the campaign for Caught in the Headlights, we found that our $25 perk was the most popular, and this is where we’d directed most of our rewards. We’d looked at IndieGoGo’s stats to back this up and when creating the Love & Other Chairs campaign, we created an equivalent £20 perk that had similar weighting and once again this proved to be the most sought after perk. So we learnt the second time round about stacking up what people were going for.
We also chose to reach out to the same backers who had contributed to us in our first campaign via a direct email campaign, details of which were available from our fulfillment spreadsheet generated by IndieGoGo after the first campaign. I would estimate nearly half of our backers came back again to follow up their support, some upping their contribution and going for a higher credit on the film this time around. I think most donors want to see a quality product at the end of it. Most perks that short films can offer don’t have huge monetary value, but offering a credit or being a part of a project have the most appeal.
Being honest and passionate about what you are creating is very important as well as sending contributors regular updates to show that you haven’t just used them for the money and ceased communication. I have seen so many campaigns that send one, two or sometimes no updates and don’t talk to the people who have already supported them. I have personally backed 6 or so campaigns now and am always more attracted to filmmakers who interact and keep in touch.
Managing the donors can be tricky, but the spreadsheet function on IndieGoGo helps in that you tick off backers who’s perks have been fulfilled as well as maintaining a list of what you still need to do. It is a challenge to run one campaign, let alone two back to back, but our success encouraged us and the results were worth it.
I think in order to have the best chance at success, you must set a target that is achievable based on having pre-existing material. Had we set out for £2000-3000 and been overly confident the first time around, we may not have hit our target. Yes it is hard work running these campaigns, but the pay off is great in that you have a ready made audience for your films. Know your audience, know your realistic funding target, know your timeframe and try to bring a track record. This is what will give people confidence to support your work.
Christopher Bevan is an award winning filmmaker specialising in directing, producing and writing. He has amassed a wealth of experience over nearly 8 years of filmmaking whilst actively working on over 60 projects. His films have been screened at festivals both at home and abroad. His award winning short film Caught in the Headlights (2012), picked up best picture and the audience award at the Transitions Derby Film Degree Showcase and has been nominated for several other awards. He is in post-production on his latest short Love & Other Chairs (2013) and the pilot episode of sitcom Jobseekers (2013). He runs production company YSP Media based out of Derby, United Kingdom. You may follow him on Twitter @chrisbevan89 @yspmediafilms and on Facebook. Also, on the Facebook page for Love & Other Chairs.
Sheri Candler November 19th, 2013
Posted In: crowdfunding
Tags: Caught in the Headlights, Chris Jones, Christopher Bevans, crowdfunding, donor communication, Guerilla Filmmaker's Masterclass, independent film, indiegogo, Love and Other Chairs, perk fulfillment, pitch videos, YSP Media