Support Western Australian Film Projects!

The day has finally arrived. Local funding agency ScreenWest's audacious 3 to 1 initiative kicked off today on crowdfunding site Pozible. In simple terms, ScreenWest will tip in $3 for every $1 pledged for projects that achieve their target.

By my count there are 29 original West Australian projects all vying for your love and donations. With a nice introductory blurb from Hugh Jackman no less.

Hugh Jackman talks about ScreenWest's 3to 1 Crowdfunding initative with Pozible from ScreenWest on Vimeo.

You can find background about the initiative here. It will prove a most interesting experiment and ScreenWest should be commended for taking such an entrepreneurial approach to assisting local filmmaking talent.

As I will no doubt know many of the people involved in a lot of these projects I have said I will choose only FIVE to support. Otherwise it might get a tad expensive. I am going to be as objective as possible and pick the five based on the ones I would most like to see made. I suspect this will be a difficult task.

But that's the point - support projects that resonate with YOU. Show that there is an audience out there for original content that will hopefully continue in one form or another long after this initiative is over.

Please go to the 3 to 1 page on Pozible, check out the project details/pitch videos, then help out those creative teams whose concepts you are excited about with a donation. It really will make a difference.

Be an important part of making a visual story come to life!

Shout outs and Gratuitous Plugs, Part 2

There is a word I love that I admittedly totally misuse. But I just like the sound of it. The word is ecumenical. Usually it has a specific religious connotation though I see dictionary.com also lists 'general' and 'universal' as meanings. So maybe I'm not too far off the mark. When I'm in an "ecumenical mood", in my terms, it means I'm in a warm and fuzzy, sharing, caring state of mind. Man, was that a long winded preface to say, here now are two projects that I am touting... with a twist!

That twist being a little crowdfunding love. Yes, these two creative teams are looking for support to bring their projects the life.

A little disclaimer - I am not creatively involved in either of these endeavours.

"So why are you promoting them, Richard?" Well, in the case of the Upstart Theatre Company I saw their production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot in June which was excellent. My comments at the time:

What a play!!! Absurdist, darkly funny, bursting with ideas, pointed, subversive, dense and intricate dialogue, playful... challenging. Three highlights (amongst many) - a powerhouse penultimate scene between Braye Dial as Judas Iscariot and Simon Thompson as Jesus; Kingsley Judd takes a beautiful written monologue at least 10 minutes long and hits it out of the ballpark; Desiree Crossing's character breaking down as she damns Satan as a liar. Get along and catch it - highly recommended! 

I therefore have total confidence that their production of not one but TWO of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies - Macbeth and Julius Caesar - will be excellent. So check out their Pozible page and help make wonderful theatre come to life with a group of talented actors. One of them will even make a cake for you as a reward!

Pozible Pitch from Bill Crow on Vimeo.

The second project is a short film by Gordon Waddell in Sydney. I was referred to Gordon recently by a mutual contact as he was looking for a writer to develop a feature film idea. As a result I've written a synopsis, the pitch has been made to a potential investor and now we wait to see if I get paid to write what will be a fun action/adventure story with a strong international flavour.

His short film is called The Offer and the Pozible page is here. Again, if you can spare some heard earned dosh why not help turn words in a script into moving images?

Lastly, talking of crowdfunding, a reminder about ScreenWest's 3to1 Initiative with submissions due on 12 November.

Crowdfunding – Anything is Pozible

On Wednesday I went to a briefing by Pozible co-founder Rick Chen and ScreenWest re the 3 to 1 Crowdfunding Initiative which is an Australian first. In brief, if you raise a minimum of $5,000 in pledges up to a maximum of $50,000, ScreenWest will tip in $3 for every $1 (of your target NOT the total pledged). This is for narrative film projects such as short films, web series, documentaries and only available to Western Australian creative teams.

It’s a fabulous idea and very encouraging to see the local funding body take such an entrepreneurial approach to encouraging new content. Basically, you have to show there is an audience for your project with a minimum of 40 contributors (maximum $2000 per pledge per person) to meet the minimum dollar requirement. ScreenWest will vet all the submitted projects to ensure the budgets are realistic and include components for the rewards offered; and Pozible’s percentage take and credit card fees (allow 6-7% of your budget).

Other than that, if the project meets the minimum requirements of narrative, screen-based, West Australian and doesn’t breach SW’s charter, then it’s basically up to the market to decide. It appears SW won’t assess the creative merits of each project.

There is a total pot of $250,000 available from SW to be accessed on a ‘first past the post’ basis. So, as an example, if you have a target of $15,000 and get pledges to the value of $16, 250 then SW will tip in $45,000.

As you might guess, there was a large turnout of local filmmakers with plenty of questions after the presentations which included two creative teams that have successfully used Pozible. Natalie Lewis and Werzel Montague were representing ‘Super Dingo’, a comedy web series whose first episode generated over 1 million hits on YouTube; while Alice Ross and Sam Field talked about 'Hunter: The Documentary' which currently holds the ‘record’ for most dollars ($20,360) pledged for a WA originated project.

It was great to see the two teams openly sharing their experiences and being forthright about both the positives and the negatives. It also demonstrated the diversity of projects that find support through Pozible.

I jotted down plenty of notes but to summarise some key messages about what works when using crowdfunding:

A personal touch is important.

It requires a lot of work… every day!

Be creative with the rewards.

A social media presence is essential – facebook page and twitter account in particular.

Set a realistic budget.

ASK people to share and contribute.

But DON’T spam or beg!

Keep people updated and thank them individually and publicly for their support.

Deliver the project!

Deliver the rewards!

Understand your audience and research similar film projects on Pozible.

The key date at this stage is 12 November when the initial submission to ScreenWest is due. So get your creative team and ideas together and check out the guidelines. It really is a great opportunity to test the viability of your project and source the dollars to make it happen.

If you need a screenwriter to help bring your story to life or to give feedback on your script(s) then send me an email at rwhyde3.0@gmail.com.