Looking for people who want to make an easy video in exchange for credit

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MadSinCinema

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Okay, been trying to figure out where/which is the best section to post this. I'll try this section since I guess the last section, the user film section, was incorrect? Seemed like the right place, apologies.

So, we're looking for actors/filmmakers or anybody with a camera who'd like an Associate Producer or Special Thanks credit in a movie and raise awareness to human trafficking and slavery.

If so, here's what we're doing
1) Make a video which brings awareness to human trafficking (it can be just you talking about it, or whatever you possibly want and/or want to make, as long as it's taken seriously - not making fun of the situation - is accurate, and is under 5 min.). Upload it to YouTube &/or Vimeo. Put the full link to our indiegogo page in the video & in the description. If you get at least 1,000 hits total (which isn't that hard at all) the maker of the video gets a special thanks credit!

2) If you are one of those people who has a big YouTube following (or knows how to get one), the same applies as above but if you can get at least 100,000 hits (some of these people can get that in a day, or 10 times that in a day) then you'll get an Associate Producer credit!

Unfortunately we have to charge a whopping one dollar (we tried to make it free but indiegogo makes it at least a dollar or it won't work). For further details and info on the film (you can watch our videos to get examples) go to this link
http://www.indiegogo.com/Abducted-Girl-an-American-sex-slave

Thanks a bunch
 
not sure which part you're skeptical on

I'll try to re explain...

We're making a film about human trafficking and sex slavery. We need to raise money to make it. Because a huge part of the reason for making it is because we believe it's an issue which needs to be talked about, we thought about a new idea. If people make a video (could be fancy, or as simple as pointing the camera at yourself and reading off come statistics, takes hardly any time and no money for somebody to do this) then they've instantly become involved in helping bring awareness. Next step, if they can get lots of hits, brings more awareness, (if they get just 1,000 hits, that's pretty easy just send it to friends, post it on forums, tag it with enough stuff, etc.) then they'll get a special thanks credit. In return because this is promoting our indiegogo page then hopefully people who can afford to finance the film come on board. If we get 10,000 people do these videos but it doesn't bring a single person on board but they all get 1,000 hits we at least still did a major part in helping bring awareness to the situation with bringing in 10 million hits on awareness videos (obviously 10,000 people participating is a long shot, but you get the point, any hits help bring awareness). If by chance we did get 10,000 people to participate who are all successful with those 1,000 hits, because we have to charge that $1, well then that would be $10,000 which even though we're trying to raise $75,000, 10 is still enough to make the film on (hell, we'll make it on 500 bucks if we have to but obviously we'd like to make it a bigger better film). And since we plan on making the film regardless if we raise enough money, all these people still get credit even if all we raise is $1 at a time from only a few people. It's about as legit as I can think of, so hopefully it makes sense.
 
Ok, just so I understand, you're asking people to...

* Make a video and put your URL in it
* Promote the video to get 1,000-100,000 views of the video (and your URL)
* Pay you to put our name in your film

Do I have that right?

The topic may be something that needs awareness, but I think you're coming at it from the wrong direction. At the very least, you shouldn't be charging the very same people who are doing the legwork of raising awareness about your film for you. Perhaps indigogo doesn't have the facility to make a free contribution, but there are certainly other ways to keep track of videos people made for you.
 
I don't think that's a problem at all, in fact one of if not the best deals I've seen on indiegogo or anybody raising funds. People charge as much as $1,000 for a thanks credit, sometimes it's not even a thanks it's just for a signed copy of a dvd by a cast you've never heard of. And they'll charge $5,000 for an Associate Producer credit. We're asking for only $500 for an Associate Producer credit and just $100 for the special thanks credit but we're also saying, "hey, if you want that special thanks credit but don't have $100 we'll give it to you for just one buck, simply turn on your webcam and take 2 minutes to talk about human trafficking. If somebody was offering that deal I'd do that instantly. I've wanted to submit to things to get producer or at least special thanks credits but they're always so much, understandably, but if somebody offered that, I'd be all over it. So, if it's the best deal I've seen, and something I'd gladly do for a feature film credit, I feel that's entirely fair. I've looked into human trafficking awareness programs I can volunteer on and some you have to pay 200 dollars to volunteer at. Here, we're saying do this for a buck, volunteer to raise awareness, and you'll be acknowledged for it. And if enough people do it, these simple one dollar donations might even be enough to make the film on. As said, we'll do it with 500 bucks if we have to. We're more dedicated and offering a better deal than anybody I've seen yet, so if that's a "rip off" or whatever, I'd like to know what isn't? Asking somebody to take 2 minutes of their time to make a video (this is why we said it can as simple as speaking to the camera on your flip camera/web cam, whatever) in exchange for a credit many filmmakers charge hundreds if not thousands of dollars for, and you're saying that's not fair. Well, alright.
 
...and you're only looking for $75,000.00...why not make it an even $100K?

Would love to see some of your previous works, where can we find those?
 
I find it just a bit ironic that you're soliciting people to pay you in order to do work for you while simultaneously claiming to be against people who force others to work for them for free.

At least human traffickers don't send their victims an invoice beforehand... :huh:
 
I would find it much more noble to expose and fight a problem by encouraging others to help... for sake of the problem itself... instead of selling the idea of helping for personal gain.

If you could get 10K people to do a video about this... and you encourage this for nothing other then to help the situation, which is what you really want right? You want that, not $10,000(?)... if you made THAT happen... you'd have already made a much larger difference then you could with any film you'd make about it on your own. With the numbers you gave above... the exposure to the problem would have more eyes then Titanic.

You should make the first video... introducing yourself and why you care about the subject... and then encourage others to make a video not to raise money for you personally... but to raise awareness of the problem.
 
TwistedLincoln said:
I find it just a bit ironic that you're soliciting people to pay you in order to do work for you while simultaneously claiming to be against people who force others to work for them for free.

At least human traffickers don't send their victims an invoice beforehand... :huh:
Click to expand...

+1

rsbush said:
you guys are bitching about a buck?
Click to expand...
It's not about the buck...it's about the ethics. You're missing the point. Is this about the cause...or getting the film funded?
 
MadSinCinema said:
I don't think that's a problem at all, in fact one of if not the best deals I've seen on indiegogo or anybody raising funds. People charge as much as $1,000 for a thanks credit, sometimes it's not even a thanks it's just for a signed copy of a dvd by a cast you've never heard of. And they'll charge $5,000 for an Associate Producer credit. We're asking for only $500 for an Associate Producer credit and just $100 for the special thanks credit but we're also saying, "hey, if you want that special thanks credit but don't have $100 we'll give it to you for just one buck, simply turn on your webcam and take 2 minutes to talk about human trafficking. If somebody was offering that deal I'd do that instantly. I've wanted to submit to things to get producer or at least special thanks credits but they're always so much, understandably, but if somebody offered that, I'd be all over it. So, if it's the best deal I've seen, and something I'd gladly do for a feature film credit, I feel that's entirely fair. I've looked into human trafficking awareness programs I can volunteer on and some you have to pay 200 dollars to volunteer at. Here, we're saying do this for a buck, volunteer to raise awareness, and you'll be acknowledged for it. And if enough people do it, these simple one dollar donations might even be enough to make the film on. As said, we'll do it with 500 bucks if we have to. We're more dedicated and offering a better deal than anybody I've seen yet, so if that's a "rip off" or whatever, I'd like to know what isn't? Asking somebody to take 2 minutes of their time to make a video (this is why we said it can as simple as speaking to the camera on your flip camera/web cam, whatever) in exchange for a credit many filmmakers charge hundreds if not thousands of dollars for, and you're saying that's not fair. Well, alright.
Click to expand...

I don't follow this line of thinking.

What "deal" are you actually offering? Is it that you think people are lining up in droves to get their names in the credits of a film, any film, and thus with you only charging a minimal amount, they're getting a great deal? (Do you think that these IndieGogo films asking for thousands actually get it, besides?)

What you're not giving anyone is a reason why they'd want to be associated with your film. Do you have anything to show that this will be a film people would be proud to be a part of? Others have asked what you do for a living and where they can see other work of yours. Do you have anything?

And if you're asking people to put their own thoughts on camera, why can't they just be the executive producers of their own films on the matter? Why contribute to yours?

Seriously, these are questions you need to answer if you want someone to contribute -- especially when asking total strangers.
 
I'm not missing any point. It's about both. Do you know one single truly altruistic person on earth? Altruism is something to aspire to. Nobody is truly altruistic, everyone is motivated by some degree of selfishness. If you don't care to participate, don't. I think you are all just lumping this guy in with a lot of schmucks who want something for nothing. I myself don!t care to participate but see nothing wrong with what the OP is asking.
 
When somebody posts something here... in this community... the members have a right to comment on it, for or against. If that person's first introduction to the site is asking for something personal... in the name of something noble... he's also asking for criticism of his ethics.

The amount he's asking for is irrelevant... "spam" is normally deleted and the spammer banned.

This guy's request is pretty much on the line... zero posts... with the only reason being here to ask for that buck (under the premise that he/she wants to help others... which may or may not be true, as far as we know). If PK put up this same post... a lot of people would probably start making films, because he has a record of proof on his good intentions.
 
MattinSTL said:
The amount he's asking for is irrelevant... "spam" is normally deleted and the spammer banned.

This guy's request is pretty much on the line... zero posts... with the only reason being here to ask for that buck (under the premise that he/she wants to help others... which may or may not be true, as far as we know). If PK put up this same post... a lot of people would probably start making films, because he has a record of proof on his good intentions.
Click to expand...

I'm conflicted. Yes, this does reek of spam and the motives are in question, but still I'd rather not judge anyone before all the facts are in. Innocent before proven guilty and all that. But it's not my forum and I can see how mods anywhere need to develop protective incredulity for the protection of the community.

When somebody posts something here... in this community... the members have a right to comment on it, for or against. If that person's first introduction to the site is asking for something personal... in the name of something noble... he's also asking for criticism of his ethics.
Click to expand...

I wholeheartedly agree with this, but it needs to be followed to its logical conclusion. Anyone here has the right to form an opinion and comment on something (as long as it's not a personal attack), and anyone else has the right to form an opinion on that comment and offer theirs and so on and so forth. I see a lot of "well it's my opinion and I have the right to state it" as rebuttals, but it seems the people who state that fail to see how that right extends to the person or persons who challenge their ideas and commentary. Point and counterpoint keeps the conversation going.
 
As Zaza said, it's not about the amount he is asking, RSBush. It is why and how he is asking.

Several good questions have been asked of him:
What is your experience in film-making?
What else have you done?
Where can we see your work?

You have to remember there are people on this forum that make make a living as film-makers and film crew. And he walked into the midst of us with his hand out. Maybe his intentions are really altruistic and noble, the subject matter is a serious one. But he went about it in a way that smells of a scam.

I can ask 1,000,000 people each to send me a dollar and I will tell them the secret to success. Then I would have a million dollars and all I had to tell them is "Watch out for scammers". And I scammed them. Sure it only cost them a buck. But that buck adds up.

Unfortunately film-making can be used as a vehicle for a scam artist as well. If the OP would return to this conversation and answer the questions the body is asking, maybe they could show us something that would allay our skepticism. If not, well, the membership here has shone the light on a dodgy situation that may or may not have been an attempted scam.
 
rsbush said:
I'm not missing any point. It's about both. Do you know one single truly altruistic person on earth? Altruism is something to aspire to. Nobody is truly altruistic, everyone is motivated by some degree of selfishness. If you don't care to participate, don't. I think you are all just lumping this guy in with a lot of schmucks who want something for nothing. I myself don!t care to participate but see nothing wrong with what the OP is asking.
Click to expand...

Thanks a bunch to this poster, I think you get the point completely.

To everyone else
I'm sorry but the name of this site is the online community for filmmaking. I'm pretty lost here, because anybody on this site I thought would know making a film costs, uhmm, money. And Kickstarter and Indiegogo, which I'm sure everyone has heard of or used, is for filmmakers to raise that money. And people usually sell credits for that money, or don't even give credits, just a copy of the movie. We're offering credits but also saying "hey, if you got a minute and want to make a video instead of paying money (aside from a buck) then there's another idea." Like I said I'd be all over it if I saw that option.

As far as the person saying is it about the cause or funding the film? That makes no sense at all. We're making the film for the cause, obviously. We've spent our own money and the past 18 months trying to make the film, this isn't something we're thinking is going to make us money. We care about the cause and want to make a good film about it. Of course, people need to make a living (does a cop who wants to help people say no to his paycheck? that's ridiculous you need to eat and have a home, so if somebody came along and said this is going to be a Hollywood scale film and you'll make money, of course we wouldn't say no, who would? but we have no intentions of that happening, we're just trying to get the money to make this)

It's all spelled out on the indiegogo page for everybody, and I'm sure everybody didn't read it before this attack. We're asking for $75,000 (which is miniscule for a film aiming big) because even if we only raise a fraction of that we can still make the movie. We'll do it no matter what. That's nothing more than a god damn cause, somebody who will make this film no matter what it takes, no matter how little money is there to make it.

To compare some filmmakers to slavery because they're doing what every single other filmmaker out there is doing (asking for money to get a film made) is in fact disgusting. If you don't want to take 5 minutes to make the video and get the credit for a measly buck (when other people charge hundreds) then don't. That simple.

Where do you people come from that you attack people who are doing whatever they can to make a film, and doing it for a cause on top of that? I am flabbergasted. Well, obviously this place is not welcoming, at least for now. I'm sure people will still try to win this fight, so go ahead, win in. I've said everything.
 
BTW, at the end of our indiegogo page it reads "Whether it be helping us to make the film about trafficking or going straight to the source and volunteering yourself to help fight trafficking, there are many ways to help."
That says plenty, we're saying fight the cause whether it helps us make the film or not. So, make those videos. And don't put our indiegogo link in it. And don't pay that dollar. That's perfect, too. That's the point. Raise awareness. The point of putting our link in it is to try and get the film made. But the film is for awareness. So, make you own video then, forget about the film.
 
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