FEATURE: "DOWN AND DANGEROUS" - new update, one year later.

Zak Forsman said:
Yeah, I didn't answer on Twitter because I have friends at IndieGogo and didn't want to publish my thoughts there. Because for me, the "all or nothing" requirement with Kickstarter is essential, in my opinion. IndieGogo is not all or nothing. And it concerns me that if a filmmaker says he or she needs $30,000 to make a movie and they only raise $5000, that they're going to take my little contribution and half-ass it. I've seen these guys who only raise a quarter or less of their budget say "we're making it anyway!" and I just sit there thinking, "but the people more or less just told you they don't want to see it?!?!" Maybe some of people who will be donating to you don't care, but I think it's the reason why KS campaigns, when they are successful, are many more times successful than the equivalent campaign on IndieGogo.
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SOrry about that! I've done the same, though. Have to not step on toes, but at least there is an outlet for a little honesty. For the same reasons you outlined, I figured IndieGogo wouldn't be the platform this time around, either. If anything, the fact that you have to reach a set goal or you see nothing at all is something that gets people involved on merit alone. Again, for the reasons you already pointed out.

Two thoughts are with me as i move into this. what am i really offering in exchange for someone's participation in our campaign? and what do people expect in return for their money? we have some mighty fine perks lined up. some are kinda funny, others function like presales of the movie (an HD digital download or a Crowdfunder's Edition DVD). I have people lined up ready to donate. And that's a good feeling because people like to give to something that looks like it's going to be successful from the beginning. I know I felt that way about the Superseeds campaign. I like being a part of something successful. Joke and Biagio's Oscar campaign just caught on like wildfire to the extent that you even had Jane Espensen retweeting the link.
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Indeed. Joke and Biagio's Kickstarter Only DVD Edition was a brilliant idea. We'll be borrowing from that campaign and Maria y Mari as well when we go into our second push. Thankfully, our first KS effort didn't see too many T-Shirts (which we still have to deliver, probably about the same time as Screeners start showing up) or other expensive items, but this time I want to make sure that the overhead of delivering those are equal to what we can actually afford.

Sounds like you're doing the same thing.

On the flipside, I'm perfectly content with the notion that if people don't want to see Down and Dangerous get made, then I should move on to something that does have support -- like my post-apocalyptic action movie Arc Light :). And despite my standing in the indie community, whatever that means, I'm still unproven as a genre filmmaker and feel like I'm a step behind you in that respect, Kholi. I know I'm capable of making a bad ass crime thriller and i know how studied I am in working with actors, composition, scene construction and more, but I also know that Heart of Now and it's handheld, improvised style isn't exactly the calling card I need for where I want to go next as a filmmaker. So I plan to keep the numbers low, script for available resources and craft a hell of a ride full of action, wit and a touch of poetry.
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Genre or not, you're still the real deal. I actually don't have a movie, yet. It's still in post. You've got a very strong voice as far as a filmmaker goes and a community member and you can bet guys like myself and others will be supporting, retweeting, telling etc. I think that's a major advantage for you and that's the kind of support you really can't buy.

And I do have a target number in mind for the budget, but can't say for certain until i do a true breakdown of the screenplay, which I'm revising.

BTW, if you want a franchise to jump into that could be produced on the microbudget level, check out an author named Heather Brewer. She wrote a series of books about a teenage vampire and has a loyal following that she interacts with daily in her personal forum and on twitter. There's a nice built-in audience there for whoever wants it. I read the first book and decided it wasn't for me so if anyone else wants to pursue it, have at it!

PS - link to whatever you want. I don't care.
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Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to go and find some info on her books right this second. Always have my eyes peeled for opportunities.

We'll probably have this discussion again soon, but it's good to share it with everyone else as well. Crowdfunding is real, and it seems the numbers keep growing more and more for worthy projects as more people learn that they can help the things they love get made. Projects and Filmmakers like yourself are really turning the Platform into a first consideration for budget raising, versus a last resource as it was just a year and a half ago or more.

More soon! oh, and Mark Harris, yourself and I should get on a Podcast and talk trash!
 
dougspice said:
I agree with most of those thoughts on Kickstarter. The fact that IndieGoGo still provides you with funds even if you fall WELL short of your goal has always kept me away. In your example, what is the fimmaker who budgeted $30,000 supposed to even do with $5000? The movie they promised people sure isn't going to be what comes out the other end. And yes, from my experience, "pre-baking" your contributors for these campaigns is somewhat important. The projects that see it as a way to attract money from a bajillion strangers usually fail, but the ones that use it to focus their already-developed support group in one place are often able to do that and then build on it to a much greater level.

(don't tell Kholi, by the way, but I'm still amazed that I never heard about the KS campaign for Superseeds until long after it was over. Come on man!)
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Haha. It's all good, Doug. Which actually reminds me of something I forgot to mention in responding to Zak, just now: we're starting our fund raising campaign well before it even gets placed on Kickstarter. That was one of the major mistakes with the last, lack of preparation in the sense that we should have gone to talk with our target audience several weeks prior to launching the KS. This time, I'm already talking to very vocal community members of the target audience and gaining their trust, and their excitement to be directly involved from the get-go translates to a push from them to people who trust their words.

Just another essential cog in having a REALLY successful campaign.
 
Zak Forsman said:
No, i'm not familiar with this book. My story is about a young girl who can wield free radicals in the air and thus can generate explosive bursts of electrical energy at will. there's quie a bit more to her than that and other elements of the story take a lot of inspiration from Tesla and his experiments. It's also a little bit of Road Warrior and a little bit of Joan of Arc. Off to amazon to see what this book is about.
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Ah, very different then! The book (Eric Harry) is about an accidental nuclear war between Russia and U.S. Sort of a techno-thriller that I just picked up accidentally, but actually really enjoyed. Very well written compared to the usual Clancy junk. But, y'know, not the kind of thing you'd want to do on an indie budget, really. ;)
 
This sounds great! Good luck Zak. Looking forward to learning a lot from this thread.
Also, very excited about finally getting to see Heart of Now in the near future!
 
A lot of old friends have been coming out of the woodwork to help make Down and Dangerous. Most recently, my buddy Sam sent me a message that said he saw the poster and would drop everything to come work with us again. And further, that he owns his own Glidecam and has become very adept at it since i saw him last (a few years ago). I'm kind of speechless at the amount of good will coming my way when all we've put out there is a poster and a tagline. And it just spurs me on.
 
Wishing you well in this project and wish I was there to help out the Sabi family as a crew member. Thanks for the insight into the decision of not having a gun in the poster due to the character's principles which reminds me of your comment on Film Courage about having Michael Madsen on a poster carrying a gun to appease the potential distributors.
 
I've been in production the last week on a 10 minute proof of concept for a psychological horror movie called Lucid. my buddy Kevin directed and I DP'd. Home now and dead tired. But jumped right into writing up the Kickstarter page today for Down and Dangerous. Plan to launch in 10 days.
 
My Kickstarter video is almost ready. Have been comparing notes with Kholi and others behind the scenes. Feeling good about it. May even launch a few days early.
 
Very excited to follow this Zak, I also think I am going to have to track down that book, that is insane, my family stories aren't nearly so interesting.
 
Off to a great start. Want to thank two dvxusers, Jeremy Hyler and Dustin Rogan, whose contributions just put us over the 5% funded mark.
 
$30,000 – ambitious, for Kickstarter. Good video, though. Good luck with it! I'll kick in a bit when you hit the "minefield of the middle."
 
it's been a pretty good start. less than six hours in and we're already $44 from being 10% funded. hope to see you in the "middle" doug. :)
 
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