The indieSocial series continued Wednesday night with a screening of short docs and a panel discussion on fundraising through social media, fiscal sponsorship and grant applications.  We had an outstanding panel of experts, from moderator Rose Vincelli, Program Manager at IFP, to panelists Juliana Steele, Program Specialist of Fiscal Sponsorship at Fractured Atlas, Nell Constantinople, producer of Summer Snapshot and our Kickstarter Campaign Case Study, and Reva Goldberg, Communications & Fellowship Manager at Cinereach.  We would be remiss to leave out the generosity of the Roger Smith Hotel who donated the space for the event.

Our audience was again composed of primarily filmmakers, but also a sprinkling of folks interested in breaking into the scene and a healthy dose of film-supporters (we love you!).  The films (listed below) gave us great examples of great examples of personal portrait stories and reflection.  Each documentary film took us into the lives of people.  We met an avid Star Trek fan and collector of memorabilia, the youth of summer as they reminisce about one beautiful, sunny day near a lake, and the dual life of a jazz musician/ water sanitation worker living in Texas.

The panel introduced a lot of ideas for getting your film noticed on social media fundraising sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, but also looked at more traditional sources like grants.  One of the most poignent pieces of advice came from Reva Goldberg, who encourages those applying for grants to look at those potential grants not as the main source of funding, but as a possible bonus.  Plan your budget as if you will NOT get the grant.  Then, if you do: windfall!

For fundraising ideas and support, both Fractured Atlas and Cinereach have directory pages for their members.  Become a member and get some ideas!

A great piece of news that was announced for Fractured Atlas.  They will soon be partnering with Indiegogo.  This means that artists under the umbrella of Fractured Atlas’ fiscal sponsorship will soon be able to create an Indiegogo page to entice their backers, and anyone who gives to the project is making a tax-deductable donation.  What is great about working with social media fundraising sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter (also OpenIndie and ChipIn) is that they allow you to post content and interact with your backers as you move through production.  They are ways of not only fundraising but crowd-sourcing.  Once someone has given to your project, keep them updated so that they are also personally and emotionally invested in the project’s success.  A $5 donor can turn into a rabid fan who will bring his friends to your screenings!

Please share your thoughts and responses in the comments below!  What did you learn; what did you love; what did you not like so very much; what do you want more of; what didn’t you understand; did you have an ah-ha moment?  Tell us about it!

Thanks again to all who joined us.  Stay tuned for info the next indieSocial!

~Holly

The Films featured at this event:

The Promise Land Dir. Sharon A. Mooney

Summer Snapshot Dir. Ian McCluskey

Transposition Dir. Juliette Richey