Crowd funding has seen recent success in kick-starting films such as Zach Braff’s “Wish I Was Here” or Rob Thomas’ “Veronica Mars.” As film aficionados found at the Sundance Film Festival, the combination of crowd funding and social media can be extraordinarily helpful in boosting an independent film’s initial budget.
For Northern California native Joshua B. Porter, utilizing the crowd-funding sites “Indiegogo” and “Crowdfunding Accelerator,” companies that promote crowd funding campaigns, will boost “To Find a Monster,” the film he is directing during the development and pre-production stages.
According to producer Matthew Donaldson, in a press release from Crowdfunding Accelerator, “By the time we were leaving Park City, the Sundance Film Festival was buzzing about ‘To Find A Monster.’”
The increased presence of social media at the festival makes it easier for independent filmmakers at Sundance to get heard at all. According to an article on Mashable, Hewlett Packard had a setup with interactive movie posters and YouTube rented out a shop to host filmmaker panels. Hollywood Reporter also provided a special booth where celebrities could upload an Instagram photo, some of which have garnered over 700 favorites.
Donaldson and Porter are marketing “To Find a Monster” as inspired by ‘80s feel good classics like “The Goonies,” “The Monster Squad” and “Stand by Me.”
To reach the next phase of development they are looking to raise $50,000 by Feb. 17. The Indiegogo page already has donations, videos, descriptions and updates. Earlier this week Donaldson and Porter participated in a radio spot on NewsTalk KFBK, a Sacramento news radio station owned by Clear Channel.
Crowdfunding Accelerator and Dominion3 are the two public relations and promotions managers for the film. Accelerator works specifically with sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter to help projects reach their goals and Dominion3 does PR for the Filmmakers Alliance and National Geographic Entertainment.
According to the radio interview, when the film reaches its goals it will be shot on location in Placerville, Calif., just outside of Sacramento. The crowd funding page is linked to the film webpage and is also accessible by searching “To Find a Monster” at Indiegogo.
