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HELLOOOOOOO GROUP! My name is Jim. I am writer/director and I would appreciate some advice from the Kickstarter Community. First off, just wanted to thank Salvador Briggman for having this type of forum in existence. It's awesome there's a place where people can go to to get advice on their campaigns.

The campaign hasn't started yet. We are going to film in a few weeks, so I think this is the perfect time to find as much information as I can. A little about me and my project:

I am the writer/director behind the award winning short films, I'm Not Matt Damon, Going Down There and Minutes. (Three years ago I ran a successful campaign for MINUTES for $5500.) Now, I finally want to make the leap into feature films.

My film is a horror film called SCYTHE. In order to find out if the film would have some measure of success, we shot 15 minutes of footage last year and submitted to film festivals. We premiered at the LA ShortsFest in Sept last year AND it'll actually be playing at the Cleveland Intl Film Festival next month on April 8th. So far so good!

We are looking to raise $50,000. I have begun the process of putting together my team of 4 people, with myself being 5, I've reached out to as many family and friends as I can already to manage expectations, and my team has done the same.

My questions are 3: 1) besides utilizing imagery, video footage from the short and my past work, what types of things does a donator or contributor want to see in a video in order to feel compelled to donate? Of course my passion, creativity about the project and a love for filmmaking will be in there, but is there anything else you would want to see?

2) What kind of unique prizes or perks does a donator or contributor want to receive? As I understand Tshirts, DVDs, or things of that nature aren't as popular anymore, so what kind of things would you want?

3) And the big one: REACH. I have viewed a few postings on here about the "9 Websites That Will Promote Your Kickstarter or Startup" and I will go in that direction as well, but what other types of groups does anyone know that might support a horror film? I tried reaching out to a number of horror film fan pages on Facebook without much luck.

Ladies and Gentleman, I am a sincere filmmaker and I truly want to learn from everyone in the community on how to be successful at this. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Looking forward to your replies!!!

Cool! One of my site's is listed in Bourge Designs "9 websites..." article, so that's good! We'd certainly consider promoting your campaign as a small paid ad.

The project you're doing isn't about zombies right? I've seen enough KS zombie films to last me a lifetime!

To address your points:
1) I think backers would want to know more about you (the director) and the cast. Where have they worked before, what previous films you've done and your experience. I think if they support you, they'd want to see that you'll get it done and that it'll look good.

2) Tshirts and other stationery is a no no in my book! So I'm glad you're not doing it. If you think about it, if you're giving a Tee out as a tier, you're giving out (free) promotion to your film...but in this case someone is paying for it.

Instead how about these ideas:
- Feature a backer as a background actor + give them credits in the film
- How about a backer's name being used as one of the lead characters
- Advertise a backer's company or website in the background to scenes...the list is endless.

3) I mentioned this one already

Best of luck

Great Advice Hyperstarter. Just have a few follow up questions:

First off, I've seen your ad as well as Backercamp, Kickquartz and a few others. Aside from promoting it on your website, what would buying an ad do for me? Who is it targeted to? I'm very interested.

When a filmmaker speakers of his experience in the campaign video, where should the experience part go, upfront or after I've pitched the film I wanna make?

Also should I have my past work available to be vowed on YouTube knowing that I might give away compilation DVDs as rewards?

And nope, it's not a zombie film. We are making the type of slasher film that should have always been made: a REALISTIC, HUMAN INTEREST psychological slasher thriller, where three dimensional characters that we care about are fully alert and aware of their surroundings and that a killer is loose, without all the horror film cliques that annoy us all. In other words, it's a dramatic piece that happens to be a slasher film as well.

"1) besides utilizing imagery, video footage from the short and my past work, what types of things does a donator or contributor want to see in a video in order to feel compelled to donate? Of course my passion, creativity about the project and a love for filmmaking will be in there, but is there anything else you would want to see?"

Great question! I think that a creator's STORY is seriously underrated. The story often weaves in elements of the values behind the product and the problem it solves. The story is what creates an emotional response, in my opinion, except for those products that are amazing in nature and revolutionary. Don't just focus on the product. Focus on the creator also.

I think the one thing that correlates with the action to donate is an emotional response after watching the video or looking through the campaign. Most campaigns aren't offering things we NEED they are more focused on things we want or that we want to support. Making people care is tough, but I'd come from this mindset if this helps.

I was thinking the same thing. Planning on it too!