Extraordinary Documentary Kickstarter Campaign

Last week Morrie Warshawski, author of the filmmaker’s fundraising bible “Shaking the Money Tree”, shared with me a link to his daughter’s Kickstarter campaign. For those of you who may not yet be aware of this powerful new method of fundraising for documentary films, Kickstarter is one of several software platforms (including IndieGoGo) transforming the ways filmmakers raise money by appealing directly to friends, colleagues and other sources of “crowdfunding”.

Leah Warshawki’s is one of the best campaigns I’ve seen, partly because her direct camera address “ask” is so compelling: “Now we’re stuck. We need your help. We need to get to a rough cut by the end of the year.”

Prior to showing the trailer, she and her cinematographer explain why their film about Rawanda is unique and inspiring, unlike many “typical genocide films” about Africa. Note in particular how Leah’s trailer features a professional narrator who lays out the quest and challenges within 30 seconds. Also take note of the second “ask” after the trailer’s conclusion, by one of the film’s characters. It’s a brilliant and effective Kickstarter campaign, already generating $13,826 toward their goal of $29,000. Check it out at:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/365442215/film-festival-rwanda-a-documentary-film

I predict that by this time next year, four out of five documentary filmmakers will be using a platform like Kickstarter to fund their projects. New Doc Editing client Steve Lickteig, who hired us to edit his documentary “Open Secret”, raised more than $8000 last year to continue editing on the project. And his film premieres at the prestigious Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto next week!

For a free audio guide with great tips on how to use Kickstarter to raise funds for your documentary, check out my how-to interview with Steve at:

https://newdocediting.com/client-resources/documentary-funding-guide-to-crowdsourcing/

And…while we’re on the topic of predictions, I want to share with you filmmaker Tiffany Shlain’s exciting top ten “Big Ideas for the Future of Film”. Shlain, director of the Sundance-featured documentary “Connected” (connectedthefilm.com), writes for “PBS’s Mediashift: Your Guide to the Digital Media Revolution”. She includes the following in her list of film-related innovations that she wants to help make happen in the future:

–  All video images/songs you found online could be easily negotiated with a simple rights page, or through Creative Commons.

– 3D documentaries will be inexpensive to make so the visceral experience of important subjects of our day can be conveyed in immersive forms.

Check out more of Tiffany’s exhilarating peek into the future of film at:

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2011/04/10-big-ideas-for-the-future-of-film110.html