Feed: Entertainment News Sky
Posted on: Sunday, April 07, 2013 11:26
Author: Entertainment News Sky
Subject: Crowdfunding Site Undeterred By Downturn
| A website set up to fund creative projects has seen enthusiasts pledge more than £350m since its launch. Kickstarter, one of the largest so-called crowdfunding sites, sees people invest in projects which interest them but is also unique for its all or nothing ethos, targets must be met to receive any money at all. Yancey Strickler is the one of the site's co-founders based in New York. He told Sky News the site isn't just about money: "There isn't a financial interest in this, there's just a desire to see people create. "So that sort of generosity and excitement speaks to a greater desire that people have for supporting the arts and that passion has not gone away even through these economic times." Cancelled American TV series Veronica Mars has raised the most money, breaking all of the site's records, becoming the fastest project to reach both $1m and $2m all in its first 12 hours in existence. Its creators pitched to make the movie version of the series and were inundated with support from fans. An impressive 24 projects have raised over a $1m (£656,000) and six projects have even been nominated for an Oscar. Digital film and media expert Liz Rosenthal agrees it's a really savvy way to raise capital. She said: "Veronica Mars has around 60,000 supporters, that's a huge amount of potential marketeers for your project so instead of having maybe four or five backers you have 60,000 people who are the stakeholders who are going to go out and evangelically market your film so it's incredibly valuable to have them involved. "It's really savvy, every single film-maker we've spoken to as well as games designers who've raised money through Kickstarter or Indiegogo or other sites like this have realised it's not just the money that's important, it's the engagement. "However (the downside is) it's also incredibly time consuming having an audience campaign." Not everyone is successful. Almost 39,000 projects have been funded through the website. But nearly 50,000 have failed to reach their target and 11% of ventures miss their goal without receiving a single pledge. The Post War Orchestra is one project attempting to raise money via the site. They convert weapons into music and are hoping to raise £27,000 to increase their arsenal of instruments. Hilary Champion is the group's founder, Paul Foss plays drums, percussion and mortar shells, Bruce Woolley and Ruby Fenn have perfected the rifle guitar and Tim Weater the rifle flute and the bayonet lyre. Mr Wooley said the site is a game-changer for the industry: "In the past the record companies and publishers have traditionally been the gatekeepers, if you like, of creativity, and what crowdfunding allows is for the audience to directly participate and really to become the sponsors, the patrons of the arts and they can invest directly in something they believe in. "It's a very good barometer of the strength of an idea." The film - The Dark Matter of Love - was one of the site's success stories. Sarah McCarthy, its director, received £20,000 to finish her documentary about an American family who adopt three Russian orphans. She told Sky News she found the process exhausting and time consuming but also very fulfilling. "Originally we got into it for the money but also because we wanted to explore what kind of possibilities crowdfunding had for establishing a community that you could engage with a film before it's released. It was amazing to see." |
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