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And so it begins..


Richard Ragon

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One downfall as far as kickstarter is concerned..  There's no guarantee that anything will be done with the money.

 

Also.. the producers can totally mis-manage the cash, just like any other film.  I've received crew calls, on kickstarter projects, where they were asking for ALL crew for free, after raising a fair amount.  During the phone interview, I ask, "wait, didn't you raise cash on kickstarter to properly pay cast and crew??"

 

One plus for kickstarter is that the goal must be reached before funding from people.  This gives a crowd source, green light..

 

-Richard

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I would think the poorest financial decision was to rent out a theater in each backers home town for a $5,000 pledge.  That would have to eat up a fair amount of the cash.

Pledge $5,000 or more

5 backers All gone!

At this price point, we will rent out a theater in your home town — or a town near you — and have a screening for up to 50 guests.

 

With apparently rabid fans out there it looks like they could have asked on Facebook for people to rent out their local theater for them and it would have happened!

Good for them I guess, I know nothing about the show.

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Keep in mind that the "rent out a local theater" part has more value than just a payback to donors.  It's also a marketing tool.  Fifty people -- presumably heavy duty fans -- in each such market, will help word about the film.  Pretty sharp idea, actually, as they likely have the donor who can become a further asset to help them find a proper venue and spread the world. 

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If I were an investor wouldn't the idea of crowd funding be scary? All of the money that the movie makes goes to...the producers and cast? Warner Bros. has offered to pay for the marketing and will likely make their money back and then some, but essentially isn't the position 'executive producer' eliminated? At least in this case?

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" All of the money that the movie makes goes to...the producers and cast? "

at least in this specific case, the crowd funders are not investors, and get no ownership for their contributions beyond the swag offered.

at best they are sponsors.. (as in: "brought to you by..."  I suppose they will get mentioned in the credits, as part of their SWAG

 

" essentially isn't the position 'executive producer' eliminated? "

singular ??

heavens no,  there will be the usual credits (and paychecks) for numerous executive producers (plural)

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" All of the money that the movie makes goes to...the producers and cast? "

at least in this specific case, the crowd funders are not investors, and get no ownership for their contributions beyond the swag offered.

at best they are sponsors.. (as in: "brought to you by..." I suppose they will get mentioned in the credits, as part of their SWAG

" essentially isn't the position 'executive producer' eliminated? "

singular ??

heavens no, there will be the usual credits (and paychecks) for numerous executive producers (plural)

That's my point. They're filling the position of the executive producer (not necessarily singular) without the return on investment. I'm not suggesting that they do make a return on their investment, but the money that would normally go to these people with the success of a movie is now spread out between fewer individuals. Meaning larger paychecks for others?

Are you sure there will be other executive producers? It seems as though this fundraising campaign looks to be the majority if not all the cash put in. Besides what Warner Bros. has promised.

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Except the fact that there are very few "local theaters" any longer.  Try to rent a Regal Cinema theater for a private event and see what that costs.  I'd bet it's high.  But I am full of misinformation lately.

 

That may be true in LA, but in many parts of the country there are numerous second-run, and alternative, cinema venues -- often available for rent, especially during off-peak times, for reasonable rates.  Many of these are former first run houses that have been usurped by maxi-multiplexes and enjoy a second life serving true film lovers.

 

In my neck of the woods, even some of the bigger first-run venues can be rented reasonably during off-peak times.  Several of them are "independent film friendly" and like to host screenings by area talent during times that won't negatively impact their bottom line.

 

Perhaps LA is not so independent friendly, but Indianapolis is, and I'm guessing many other areas of the country are also.

 

Screening rates I've heard quoted include: Free, $50, $200, $500, and Ridiculous.  I don't recommend "Ridiculous.

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Amazon and kickstartr combined take about a 9% commission between them, so it'll be a hair. Significant part of the budget.

I'm a bit confused why there seems to be an air of weariness towards this. This was a network show being funded by a hungry fan base, run by pedigrees producers. This will be a union show, with mainstream talent and above the line. The budget probably won't exceed 6m, but will a built in fan base i'd reckon a decent distribution. This strikes as actual market growth, instead of the devaluing usually produced from these services. But maybe I'm being naive.

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I work at one of the Ridiculous  screening rooms.. 50 seats.

How much does a HDCAMSR cost to rent per day if you went out and made the deal yourself, went and picked it up?

It's about $900 a day.

 

So a 4 hour time slot to run you feature movie is gonna be about $2000. Operator included.

 

We are indie friendly....

 

We call it ridiculous because it works ridiculously reliably. 

 

Good luck with your bluray for $500.

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Lots of indie movies have been funded through Kickstarter. There was a brief time that people who created kickstarter accounts were ripping people off, but I haven't heard of that recently. If you are weary of it, don't contribute to the project. I would be more likely to contribute to an indie short being made by people I know rather than something like this, but that's just me. 

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