Crowdfunding for Filmmakers

My book, Crowdfunding for Filmmakers: The Way to a Successful Film Campaign, is now available for purchase at Michael Wiese Productions!

A book about crowdfunding? Specifically for filmmakers?
As a crowdfunding success story myself –– raising $6,300 to make my award-winning short film Cerise –– I’ve realized that most filmmakers don’t consider themselves crowdfunders, never mind entrepreneurs, and therefore rarely take the time to research other campaign strategies like I had done. Instead, they navigate this brave new landscape blindfolded with only a hope and a dream. That’s why Crowdfunding for Filmmakers: The Way to a Successful Film Campaign will be an invaluable tool to ensure a triumphant climax to a rigorous crowdfunding campaign.

So what’s the book about?
Crowdfunding for Filmmakers centers around offering practical information, tips, and tactics about how to launch a successful film campaign by going with the flow of traditional models of fundraising, utilizing today’s technological and social innovations, and augmenting each with an added personal touch. The book examines various ways to meet and exceed one’s crowdfunding goal through chapters that home in on team building, audience outreach, and crowdfunder etiquette, along with a section containing case studies from successful film campaigns, as well as a few unsuccessful ones and what they could’ve done to remedy their unfavorable outcomes.

What makes this book different from all the other books and blog posts out there about crowdfunding?
Brace yourselves! –– here’s a list (Hey, you asked, right?)

• It’s focused –– This is a book about crowdfunding for filmmakers by a crowdfunder and a filmmaker.
• It’s teeming with examples –– Filmmakers learn crowdfunding from real life success stories that will inspire them to be as creative with their campaign as they are with their films.
• Its advice is tightly organized into five parts –– Crowdfunding Basics, Campaign Personalization, Community Engagement, The Tao of Twitter, Facebook, and the Social Network, and Advanced Crowdfunding Tactics.
• It’s summarized and exercised –– The end of each section offers summary points for quick review as well as exercises to help crowdfunders get a head start thinking about their own film campaigns.
• Its “Crowd Studies” have depth –– Through an in-depth “Trignosis,” filmmakers can see which tactics used by specific campaigns made them successful and also discover why other promising campaigns didn’t quite measure up.
• It’s dedicated to steering clear of corporate jargon –– No business speak or unfriendly jargon that can deter filmmakers from reading a book about crowdfunding. Don’t believe me? Give a read to a twenty-page sample right HERE!
• Its appendix paves the way further –– Links and QR codes to a handful of victorious campaigns, prime time pitch videos, and helpful articles about crowdfunding promise to keep the next wave on the path to success.

Okay, that’s cool, but is it just for filmmakers?
Absolutely not! It’s especially for indie/Do-It-Yourself filmmakers, but Crowdfunding for Filmmakers can really be used by anyone who wants to launch a crowdfunding campaign, including, but not limited to:

• Screenwriters seeking funding for their next screenplay
• Producers of indie films, web series, and transmedia projects
• Actors looking to transition into the realm of writer/producer
• Development executives
• Students in film school
• Teachers and professors who teach film and/or film finance classes
• Artists, musicians, photographers, writers, and anyone else interested in running a successful crowdfunding campaign for their creative projects

What sort of information does Crowdfunding for Filmmakers contain?
So glad you asked! Here’s the complete table of contents:

Introduction: The What of Crowdfunding?

 Part One: Film Financing: A Brief History

• Chapter One: The Traditional Hollywood Model of Film Financing
• Chapter Two: The DIY Revolution
• Chapter Three: Crowdfunding and Filmmaking: Yin Meets Its Yang

Part Two: Crowdfunding Basics

• Chapter Four: Tao: Begin With the Basics of Fundraising
• Chapter Five: Decide if Crowdfunding is Right for Your Film Project
• Chapter Six: Build Your Team
• Chapter Seven: Decide How Much Funding You Need
• Chapter Eight: Choose Your Platform
• Chapter Nine: Home In on Your Target Audience
• Chapter Ten: Create (and Maintain) Your Campaign Strategy
• Chapter Eleven: Give Yourself Enough Time

Part Three: Campaign Personalization

• Chapter Twelve: Te: Integrity is the Tao to (Ka-)Ching!
• Chapter Thirteen: Your Pitch Video: Make It About Your Project and Yourself
• Chapter Fourteen: Perks: Make Them About Your Project and Your Contributors
• Chapter Fifteen: Promotion: Make It Your Whole World (and Everyone Else’s, Too!)
• Chapter Sixteen: “I’m Not Only the Director, I’m Also a Contributor!”
• Chapter Seventeen: “Be Water, My Friend…” – Transparency is Clear and Cool
• Chapter Eighteen: A Practical Guide to Crowdfunder Etiquette

Part Four: Community Engagement

• Chapter Nineteen: Pu: Let Your Community Help Carve Your Uncarved Block
• Chapter Twenty: The Golden Rule: “Don’t Solicit, Elicit”
• Chapter Twenty-One: The Importance of Keeping Your Contributors Updated
• Chapter Twenty-Two: Avoid “The Flood”
• Chapter Twenty-Three: “I’ve Got No Money, But I Can Give __________!”
• Chapter Twenty-Four: Don’t Panic! – Handling “The Lull” Between Contributions
• Chapter Twenty-Five: Build Relationships, Not Transactions

Part Five: The Tao of Twitter, Facebook, and the Social Network

• Chapter Twenty-Six: Wei Wu Wei: “Doing Without (Over)Doing”
• Chapter Twenty-Seven: Twitter Tips for Crowdfunders
• Chapter Twenty-Eight: From Facebook Pages to “Friend Fawning”
• Chapter Twenty-Nine: Sleep Strikes, Tweetathons, and Other Last Minute Strategies
• Chapter Thirty: A Few Should Nots of Crowdfunding

Part Six: Advanced Crowdfunding

• Chapter Thirty-One: From Lao Tzu to Sun Tzu: Waging the War of Art
• Chapter Thirty-Two: $30,000+ Budgets – How Do They Raise It?
• Chapter Thirty-Three: Indiegogo v. Kickstarter
• Chapter Thirty-Four: Fiscal Sponsorship and The JOBS Act: Added Incentives for Contributors
• Chapter Thirty-Five: Enhancing Your Team
• Chapter Thirty-Six: Bringing Your Campaign Offline
• Chapter Thirty-Seven: Consecutive Campaigning, Transmedia, and Beyond

Part Seven: Crowd Studies

• Trignosis #1: At Home Away From Home: Tilt the Town
• Trignosis #2: How Do You Direct [A Gary King Musical] – Build Your Brand
• Trignosis #3: “I Supported Cerise” and What I Got Was an Acrostic Poem!”
• Trignosis #4: Synced Up with Details and Nostalgia
• Trignosis #5: Stuck Like Chuck, Too: The Indie Sequel That Couldn’t and Why

Conclusion: The You of Crowdfunding

Appendix

• Five Memorable Pitch Videos
• Additional Resources for Crowdfunders

Wow! This looks great, Trig! What’s that link again?
I thought you’d never ask! Just click HERE and you can order your very own copy of Crowdfunding for Filmmakers and get it this month!