How to successfully crowdfund with Seed & Spark
Photo by Katherine Rountree
Written by Tristan Lueck
With the recent successes of Zach Braff’s “Wish I was Here” and Rob Thomas’ “Veronica Mars” movie, crowdfunding is the future of the film industry. Seed & Spark is a crowdfunding site that caters to the independent filmmaker and makes “the films you really want to watch.” Emily Best, founder and CEO, and Erica Anderson, Director of Crowdfunding and Community Manager, explained what makes a crowdfunding campaign successful and how it can be used to finance your own independent film.
Seed & Spark is a relatively young company, just short of two years, but has a clear view of what it takes to be a successful film artist. Every filmmaker has the dream of going to the Sundance Film Festival and receiving that coveted distribution deal. The reality is that, even if you do make that deal, the payout is almost nonexistent.
“I don’t think we can go on like this any more,” said Best. “I want you guys to grow up and make art and make a living at it and have little artist babies and have the next generation of more empathic people.”
This is where the idea of Seed & Spark came from, making art by artists. However, both Best and Anderson agreed it isn’t about getting the movie made, it is about getting the movie seen. The first step is to know your audience. Not just some demographic, but what they like, where they get their news, what they listen to and what social media they use.
“There are two words in the compound word crowdfunding and one of those words comes before the other word and that’s because it is the more important and more immediate need,” said Best. “The crowd has to come before the funding.”
A direct connection to your audience equals independence and the success of your film. When they give you their money, it is a privilege they are bestowing upon you. The way you repay that is by making sure any incentives you provide are something they actually want and give it to them in a timely manner.
You need to learn about the community of support you are building and you need to make sure you don’t ostracize anyone in that community. If you fulfill all the promises you have made, you will have a built-in audience for your next project.
To learn more, go to seedandspark.com. The website hosts a number of projects and an online streaming theater full of short and feature length independent films. The “How to” document goes into detail about what needs to be done to successfully crowdfund. Seed & Spark also publishes the magazine “BRIGHT IDEAS” twice a year. The magazine features up and coming filmmakers and is meant to inspire others to make films.
