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Crowdfunding transmedia projects - input needed

Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 8:45 pm
by wrente
Hey everyone. I'm an independent documentary producer currently working on the Filipino Street Art Project. Our project uses street art, an accessible and approachable medium, as a way to explore Filipino culture and connect the Filipino American community with the artistic community in the Philippines.

Because our project is better classified as a transmedia project than a straight-forward documentary, we're having trouble settling on an angle for the campaign itself that will at once both accurately represent the breadth of our work, but also not overwhelm or confuse potential donors. If anyone has any experience with crowdfunding a similar project, or know of someone who might, I'd love to hear feedback to the issues below or just tips in general.

+ While the basis for our project IS a feature length documentary film, we're also producing (or have already produced) the following: a series of interactive e-books, short videos, live art events, a college campus tour, blog, and an interactive website that acts as a hub for everything. Question - Because we have such a wide range of products/media we're working on, how can we narrow it down to make it simple to understand for your general Kickstarter audience? Do you think people would be turned off if we keep it broad and describe it as a "transmedia project," or might they roll with it? What angle might we take to simplify and center our campaign?

+ Similarly, we'll use the funds primarily to finish the feature length film, but we'd also like to set aside a portion to polish our website, hire a content creator for our blog, outreach events, etc. I'm worried that potential donors might look at that range of uses and be less likely to donate, as opposed to a traditional documentary film. Thoughts?

+ At the end of the day, i guess what it boils down to is this: would we be better off positioning ourselves as a documentary-based transmedia project, or a documentary film with many outreach/engagement approaches?

Thanks for reading. Again, I'd really appreciate any input anyone might have. This is the first campaign I've run, and although I've studied and donated to many and am doing my due diligence before launching, I'm a little lost on this initial issue. If you want to see our website to get a better sense for what we do and how we talk about our work, it's www.filipinostreetart.com.

Re: Crowdfunding transmedia projects - input needed

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 5:35 pm
by sbriggman
These are a lot of questions haha. I'll let some of the other members of the community input, but some of my thoughts:

Similarly, we'll use the funds primarily to finish the feature length film, but we'd also like to set aside a portion to polish our website, hire a content creator for our blog, outreach events, etc. I'm worried that potential donors might look at that range of uses and be less likely to donate, as opposed to a traditional documentary film. Thoughts


Yea, I would focus on just what it will take you to finish the feature length film and maybe try to fundraise for those other items with stretch goals. Also, those other items will cost a lot!

Do you think people would be turned off if we keep it broad and describe it as a "transmedia project," or might they roll with it? What angle might we take to simplify and center our campaign?


I think you should sample a bunch of people's take on this. Personally, when I hear the word "transmedia" I have no idea what that means, and it just kind of makes me confused. Some people might like that though that are more in the art crowd.