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

Yeah, it's been fun but now I think I'm going to be sick. We had a huge pledge this morning, one that wasn't "pre-planned" before the campaign. In total shock... and feeling a bit dizzy!

Actually, i'm kidding about the dizziness. We've hit $10,845 and 36% funded in less than 48 hours and well, what can you say at this point. Lots of hard campaigning still left to do but never in my wildest dreams did i think we'd move so quickly. I mean, the articles I'm trying to get written about us haven't even started publishing yet.

Twitter is ablaze with retweets and #followfridays that contain a link to our campaign. The grassroots support has been pretty good. Still, not going to coast. I've slept a total of 5 hours that last two nights, writing personal emails and personally thanking everyone that's contributed. Definitely a full time gig. Alright, back to it. :)
 
Currently at $11,610 on day four. Only 3 backers from 100 which is pretty cool. Had a long conversation with Lance Weiler yesterday and the man offered some ideas on capitalizing on Google+ because a lot of big tech blogs are waiting for someone to do something creative with it. Thought about doing a "hangout" (10 person video chat) with John in character, being interviewed about his tradecraft. Looking for something a little more innovative though.
 
Zak Forsman said:
Yeah, it's been fun but now I think I'm going to be sick. We had a huge pledge this morning, one that wasn't "pre-planned" before the campaign. In total shock... and feeling a bit dizzy!

Actually, i'm kidding about the dizziness. We've hit $10,845 and 36% funded in less than 48 hours and well, what can you say at this point. Lots of hard campaigning still left to do but never in my wildest dreams did i think we'd move so quickly. I mean, the articles I'm trying to get written about us haven't even started publishing yet.

Twitter is ablaze with retweets and #followfridays that contain a link to our campaign. The grassroots support has been pretty good. Still, not going to coast. I've slept a total of 5 hours that last two nights, writing personal emails and personally thanking everyone that's contributed. Definitely a full time gig. Alright, back to it. :)
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I get a great feeling just reading your posts and feeling the excitement. Good job on the kickstarted video and congrats.
Inspirational.
 
Thanks J Davis.

We are cruising along still. We had a major $5000 donation as you know, but in taking that out of the equation we'd have to hit $12,500 ($7500 + $5000) to reach the statistically relevant 25%. want to reach that by end of day today and if our current rate holds it should happen. Only $490 from that milestone.

Mentaduke, the percentages "seem" to hold. I don't often see something over 25% funded that failed. I have, but I believe it to be pretty rare. The advice from the founders of the web site (who only benefit if you succeed) have also indicated that 30 days is the "sweet spot" for successful campaigns, and that longer ones are generally less successful, as are shorter ones.
 
if a campaign does not meet it's goals do the people get their money refunded back or is it that their money is not released from their bank accounts unless the goal is met?
 
FilmBoy77 said:
if a campaign does not meet it's goals do the people get their money refunded back or is it that their money is not released from their bank accounts unless the goal is met?
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Closer to the latter but there isn't exactly a "hold" on the funds either. No pledges are processed until two things happen. The campaign is over, and we have more than $30,000 in pledges. So if you're using a credit card or debit card, it will not be processed until after the campaign and only if we are successful. This is why I personally prefer Kickstarter over IndieGogo. On IndieGogo, you can receive any contributions even if you didn't hit your mark. I set our goal at the minimum we can do the movie for. Trying to do it for substantially less would be irresponsible to our backers who have championed us. So in a great way, Kickstarter also serves as a filter projects by validating their level of community support. Afterall, I'm not just doing this for myself, I genuinely want to make a tight little genre picture that people are excited about seeing. And being fully-funded would be a great indicator of that. :)
 
Tom Shortridge said:
Pledged. Good luck.
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Tom, tried to find you on facebook, but anyway thank you so much for that contribution earlier today. It really is appreciated, especially since the momentum of today's back to back to back contributions started with you. We've had a wildfire morning. Thank you!
 
When using crowd funding for projects like this how much do you figure to compensate yourself (if at all)? It's a lot of work so there's no wrong answer IMO as long as it's reasonable.

Also just curious how much you compensate the talent on that budget? Just pay the lead and main supporting actors and maybe pay everybody below that deferred pay upon distribution?

Obviously the crew will be paid. Just wondering how majority of the funds would be spent on your project.
 
hey these are great questions right now because I was just going through the budget again. yes definitely, the crew will be paid. the producers will not. actors will get $100/day. and I'm not paying myself out of this budget. A small amount will be held as a 10% contingency. But I have as much of it going on the screen as possible -- wardrobe, props, weapons, fx makeup, locations, etc. It's just as important to me to make something fun and entertaining for the audience as it is to make something that represents what I'm capable of right now. I have other, $1-$3million projects in development where I'll get paid for the writing and producing (maybe the directing if that's not viewed as a liability -- another purpose of making D.A.D.). but that's next year...
 
Cool man, yea, if the actors aren't getting paid much I'd not take a pay day either and put as much on the screen as possible. I was just wondering if you managed to figure out a way to pay yourself *something*. Of course the real payment is when the film is in the can. How many days do you think the shoot will last? Are you planning to film consecutively, just weekends, weekdays with weekends off, or what?
 
right now it's scheduled out to 20 days. in as chronological an order as possible. haven't decided wether to do six day weeks or five day weeks or a combination. but for the most part, consecutive.
 
Zak Forsman said:
Currently at $11,610 on day four. Only 3 backers from 100 which is pretty cool. Had a long conversation with Lance Weiler yesterday and the man offered some ideas on capitalizing on Google+ because a lot of big tech blogs are waiting for someone to do something creative with it. Thought about doing a "hangout" (10 person video chat) with John in character, being interviewed about his tradecraft. Looking for something a little more innovative though.
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Man, you're really getting all the best folks input which is why you're doing so well thus far in my opinion. Shoot, Lance is an ace with the "new" ways to do it and has been for a long time. Those sound like really cool things, I might join Google+ soon :)

-M
 
Got some nice words of encouragement on Twitter today from the director of Narc, Smokin Aces, A-Team and The Grey – Joe Carnahan...

dadjoecarnahanquotetrim.jpg
 
Here is the short doc (in two parts) that I cut five years ago for the Smokin' Aces DVD and Blu-ray. Seeing all the raw footage of him and the vibe he created on set left a real impression on me. I had titled this piece "Knock 'Em Dead, Baby!" but Universal changed it to "The Big Gun". Zzzzzzzzzzz.


 
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