Write, write, write

Crowdfunding has exploded these past few years and that fact has meant absolutely nothing to me. But two recent short film projects made me take a closer look and have opened my eyes to a whole new world. Here's why I think crowdfunding sites are important for both new and seasoned screenwriters.

First off - take a look at the following two crowdfunded short film examples:

The Halloween Kid
This short film is prepped by writer/director Axelle Carolyn. It's already twice exceeded funding goals and keeps going strong - take a look at the Sponsume page. Among the people involved in this short are a number of top-notch pros, among them director Neil Marshall (The Descent, Centurion, Doomsday) who'll not only produce but also edit. And special effects make-up designer Paul Hyett will come in to give us the magic (and hopefully scares) he delivered for Neil Marshall's films.
The short film by writer/director Damien Cullen raked in the dough needed and more by engaging on every front. Just look at all the activity on the IndieGoGo page. All of that activity doesn't just happen - the gang has poured in their passion and created a level of excitement that clearly caught on. On creativity - I particularly loved the way they crowdsourced the film poster. With a special poster design competition they invited artists to bring in their ideas. More than one hundred posters - amazing artwork - came together. Check it out.

The intro question has probably already answered itself for you, right? Aside from getting the funds, this is about passion, creativity and network. As a newbie you should write shorts, find people who are on the same page, equally passionate - then try crowdfunding. You may not succeed at first - lots of projects don't raise the money - but that just means the filmmakers didn't reach their audience - they didn't bring their passion across - they didn't manage to engage. And that's something you can and must learn. Crowdfunding takes guts - you're putting yourself out there in the open - with the risk of everyone seeing you fall flat. But that's the same guts that you need to stand up and pitch, to fight for your characters in meetings, to stay in the game despite all the rejections. In the process of crowdfunding you learn a lot about social media, about networking, about collaborating, about marketing. All of these help us become not just screenwriters - but produced screenwriters. And that's why were in this nutso business of ours, isn't it? Not to make screenplays happen, but to make films happen.

We're screenwriters - we cannot make movies happen on our own. Being a recluse doesn't help - getting our asses out there does. So if you've been in the business for ages like me - involve yourself because it brings new spice into your networks. And if you're a newbie - get into crowdfunding because there has never been a better way for you to make your short story come to life.