John August

Archives for 2011

Raising movie funds on Kickstarter

How-To, Indie, Sundance

Last week, Matt went to a special Sundance session in which [Kickstarter](http://www.kickstarter.com/) co-founder Yancey Strickler spoke about how indie filmmakers can best use the site.

Here’s his report.

Kickstarter has a 45% success rate for funding projects. Of those that fail, 40% of never get a single dollar. Across all categories, more than 7,000 projects (of all types) have been funded.

In terms of film, some rough numbers:

* 1,700 successfully funded projects.

* $15 million in pledges so far.

* 3,000 live projects on the site as of this posting.

* 12 projects have raised more than $100k, six of them films. (Four of those were docs.)

How can I succeed in fundraising on Kickstarter?
—

Of the projects that are funded:

1) **Most have a great video.**

For a good example, check out [I Am I](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2115598587/i-am-i-feature-film). If you can’t manage that level of entertainment, keep it short — 60% of people stop watching videos after 20 seconds.

2) **Rewards/Incentives are priced according to expectations.**

For example, if you’re offering a DVD, ask for an amount close to what a DVD costs. No $125 tote bags. Aim to foster emotional connections to your project by offering personalized art or experiences associated with the film. Screenings, posters, credits, background roles, etc…

3) **Filmmakers have strong communities.**

The bulk of support will come from those who know and love you. That support will spur on those that follow you online and the size and reach of that support will determine how many stumblers you get. In most cases, there is very little support from strangers to strangers on Kickstarter. Count on people you know or sorta know.

4) **They reach out in the right ways.**

Direct email (and definitely not mass email) is by far the most effective way to secure backing. Facebook comes in distant second with Twitter barely registering. It’s too noisy. Tone matters! You’re not asking for a favor, you’re asking for support for your work and you’re offering participation in the process of making it — and in many cases something tangible, too.

5) **Keep the fundraising time window short.**

Thirty days is the sweet spot. Longer does not mean more. Longer means procrastination. Urgency leads to action.

How much should I ask for?
—–

Be realistic based on the size of the community you have access to and what you’re able to offer them in return for their participation. Make your goal the floor of what you need to get your project up and running. Most projects that get funded get 125% of the ask.

The average pledge is $70. The most common pledge is $25. Factor in costs of incentives into your budget and make sure you fulfill the experience by producing everything you promise.

What if I don’t reach my goal?
—-

You don’t get any of the pledged money. BUT! If you think you’re not going to make it you can ask people to raise their pledges and/or add new rewards to try to entice more or bigger participation.

You can always try again.

What about taxes?
—-

Kickstarter doesn’t advise individuals on how to handle their tax responsibilities and doesn’t report financial information to the IRS of the backers or the askers.

This is pretty much the extent of Matt’s notes from the meeting. If you have further questions about Kickstarter and indies, ask. We’ll try to get answers for you.

**UPDATE 4/21/11:** Yancey Strickler wrote in to correct numbers about how many projects have hit $100K, and the average pledge amount.

Bossypants

Books, Rave

If you like 30 Rock and books, you’ll enjoy Tina Fey’s Bossypants.

The first few chapters are very funny in a self-deprecating David Sedaris anecdotal-memoir way. My theory: the key to becoming a comedy writer isn’t having a miserable childhood (she didn’t), but a good memory for specific shames.

Any aspiring TV writer should check out the later chapters, in which Fey makes clear her ambition and ambivalence about her career. The way we make television isn’t healthy. ((Granted, you could say the same for how we make food, energy or automobiles.)) Yet the success of one’s career tracks closely to the sacrifices one makes.

And there are great lessons to learn: Watch as Amy Poehler alpha-rolls Jimmy Fallon. Listen as Lorne Michaels defuses and disarms. Explore the right mix of Harvard and Chicago talent in the writers’ room.

Very much worth the read.

Fucking pilots, cont’d

Follow Up, Rant

Following up the [previous post](http://johnaugust.com/2011/fucking-pilots), several TV writers I’ve spoken with agree with commenter Nick:

> Network execs in 2011 cannot afford to scorn cable TV programming. Maybe ten years ago they could, but now they all want their own cable show. They want the same level of prestige and edginess, but they want to somehow make it within the confines of the usual network restrictions on language and sexuality.

> The easiest thing to do, then, would be to take an outstanding cable pilot script and strip the offending elements from it, leaving (in the network exec’s mind) a perfect product: edgy, yet safe; prestigious, yet nipple-free.

> A writer who hands in a network script laced with nudity and profanity and the like is playing right into the fantasy. It’s got the same TV-MA stuff you’d see on cable, so presumably the quality of the rest of the script must be right up there.

> On the other hand, if the same writer handed in the same script but without the naughty bits, it would look like just another network script. And the exec doesn’t want to make a network show; he wants to make a cable show. On a network.

What bugs me about this isn’t the swearing — I love all variety of curses, the filthier the better. What annoys me is the dishonesty. The bait-and-switch.

Imagine I wrote an ABC pilot that featured a scene in which Angelina Jolie plays poker with Jennifer Aniston, with Brad Pitt’s heart as the wager.

Maybe it’s a great scene. Family Guy could do it as animation. But for a live-action show, it’s completely fucking moot, because Jolie/Aniston/Pitt are never going to agree to play themselves in this pilot. I’ve wasted everyone’s time putting this scene in the script.

It’s the same with characters saying “fuck” and “shit.” It’s not going to happen on broadcast television, so including it is just jerking everyone around.

Fucking pilots

Rant, Television, Words on the page

I’m reading more network pilot scripts this year than in years past, so I can’t say whether this is a new trend or just something I was unaware of:

**What’s with all the swearing?**

These are network pilots, not HBO or even basic cable. You can’t say shit or fuck in any combination. But characters in several pilots say both of these words a lot — at least in the drafts I read.

What gives? Why write words you can’t say?

I know some shows have a house style where the scene description is loaded up with a lot of profanity to give it texture:

Wallace turns to see --

THE BIGGEST FUCKING MONSTER ever. Seriously, this thing eats Girl Scouts and shits Trefoils.

That’s fine. It’s amusing for the staff and crew, and makes for a better read.

But I don’t understand the instinct to use never-okay swearing in dialogue. You’re going to have to replace it later, and you’ve made your job more difficult by setting up a dialogue structure that seems to demand a certain word. It’s going to sound wrong to everyone who has read the dirty version.

On D.C., I chastised a writing team for doing this. Now I see bona fide showrunners doing it. And I’m stumped.