This week Mattoid Entertainment launched a new venture with online crowd funding services IndieGoGo and Kickstarter. For those of you who may not be familiar with IndieGoGo or Kickstarter (I assume this goes for most of our fans) they’re essentially the same service in principle; in that both allow every day consumers or fans to help fund films or filmmakers they chose to support. While their target demographics may be different, both IndieGoGo and Kickstarter represent a growing trend in the world of independent film and that is personalization and interactivity.

Independent film is going through a transition period as of late as Hollywood struggles to make heads or tails of their once little darling leaving many filmmakers scratching their heads as to what to do next. In many ways the independent film community is being forced to return to their roots, a situation it hasn’t really had to face in the last ten to fifteen years. In the nineties, independent film, like dot coms, saw a surge and seemingly everyone with a camera and a credit card could become the next “big thing.” Thanks to film festivals, mini majors and even studios we saw the mass commercialization of independent film, however, just like with dot coms, it wasn’t sustainable.

The strength of independent film has and will always be its ability to tell/sell unique and alternative stories to niche markets and be able to off set the costs normally associated with large, big budget films, with targeted, personal interaction with you, the fans. It’s something I feel a lot of filmmakers over the past decade have lost sight of but are beginning to get back to.

Enter crowd funding.

There is always going to be a market for independent films for there are consumers and fans out there that prefer to watch content made by “real” people telling stories that they themselves want to watch. Where crowd funding comes into play is that it empowers those same fans to take an active role in supporting the filmmakers who’s films they enjoy watching by essentially helping them fund their next project(s). In my travels as a filmmaker I’m often asked, “how does one get into filmmaking or get involved with a film?” Well, prior to services like IndieGoGo and Kickstarter the answer to that question was a complicated one, which usually entailed having to qualify an individual as an investor as well as working with them to see what type of monetary contribution they could reasonably make. Throw in legal costs and the fact that with any investment there is no guarantee of return the road to getting involved in a film can quickly turn treacherous. Not to mention often times the one looking to get involved being caught unaware of the sheer cost or investment needed to produce even a budget conscious independent film.

What’s so great about IndieGoGo and Kickstarter is that it circumvents all of the before mentioned red tape, for you aren’t so much an investor as you are a contributor. Your funds are essentially a donation to the production in exchange for a perk or goods. Plus the barrier to entry has all but been eliminated for a fan can chose to donate or contribute as little (say a dollar) or as much as they want ($20,000.00 or more) so long as they feel the exchange is worth it for them. This new way of funding opens up a lot of doors for fans and filmmakers alike for it allows filmmakers to not only continue making their films but also gives them unprecedented access to those that support them.

This is why we’ve decided to work with both IndieGoGo and Kickstarter to help fund our next project “Who Killed Jane Finch?” Mattoid Entertainment has the best fans one could hope for and we pride ourselves on being transparent in our endeavors because we like the relationship that we’re able to build with you. We like the feeling of knowing that many of you follow us from the earliest stages of preproduction all the way through to the film’s release and working with IndieGoGo and Kickstarter is just one more way we feel we can include you in the process. We will continue to bring you quality films that are obtainable and enjoyable regardless of whether or not you chose to donate however we wanted to offer the opportunity to those who may want to take their interest in what we do a step further. In exchange we’ve come up with some cool perks that we think some or maybe even many of you will find worthwhile; perks such as Special Thanks in the film’s credits, signed DVDs, the ability to sponsor a cast or crew member, all the way up to being named an Executive Producer on the film and getting a walk on role in the film itself. Now some of these perks come at a higher price point than others, however, like I said earlier, you can chose to contribute as little or as much as you wish. We tried to structure it so that everyone who wanted to get involved could.

I’m sure some of you are thinking to yourself, “yeah, but how much can a dollar or five dollar donation really help in funding a film?” You’d be surprised. Here’s a little word problem (I was told there would be no math) for you. Currently, our film “In The Darkness” has 976 fans on Facebook. If those 976 fans all decided to donate $5.00 via IndieGoGo or Kickstarter to “Who Killed Jane Finch?” the production would essentially have an additional $4,880 to work with. Say half of our Facebook fans donated $5.00 and the other half did $10.00 well then the total goes up to $7,320. These additional funds could mean a myriad of things for the film, such as a limited theatrical release (see your name on the big screen). I’m not saying that $4,880 gets a theatrical release done but stranger things have happened. The point is every little bit can and does help especially when dealing with low budget independent films.

As always, thanks for your support, take care and stay tuned…

Andrew