Five Questions to Ask Yourself Before Crowdfunding a Film

Five Questions to Ask Yourself Before Crowdfunding a Film
Posted on February 26, 2014 by Aaron Djekic Updated February 26, 2014
By: Ryan Strandjord

1. Are you willing to be the face of your campaign?

The personality of the creator behind the film can often be the difference between someone admiring the project and actually making a donation. First and foremost this means that YOU HAVE TO BE IN YOUR VIDEO. Making a personal connection with your audience is paramount. Seriously, go look at how many successful campaigns don’t have the filmmaker in the video.

2. Is this a project worth crowdfunding for?

This is a tough question to answer on your own so you may need some help (see #3). Just because you want money to make your film doesn’t mean you should ask for it.
Is this a film that people are going to get excited about? What’s the hook? Have you pitched the film to a number of people already? It’s a great way to gauge potential interest in the story. If people aren’t interested they’re not going to donate.

3. Can you assemble a team to work on the campaign with you?

Don’t do it alone. You’ll want people to consult on your ideas, others to help produce/shoot/edit videos, and possibly more to help with marketing and to push social media promotions. If you’re doing it alone then whenever you get “busy” the campaign stops evolving. Filmmaking is a collaborative art and crowdfunding should be no different.

4. Are you prepared to follow up with your backers throughout the life of the project?

Launching a crowdfunding campaign is like entering into a marriage with your future backers. If you’re working toward a sustainable career as an artist this union is vastly important. People want more than just their perk and to see the movie and keeping your audience engaged helps you to fulfill one of the greatest benefits of crowdfunding a film project which is AUDIENCE BUILDING. This is especially important if you ever plan on crowdfunding for another film in the future.

5. How much are you willing to sacrifice to make the campaign a success?

It takes hard work to reach your goal, and that translates into hour after hour spent prepping for the campaign and pushing it after launch. Be prepared to wake up early, work over your lunch break, and to spend many evenings working on getting the next donation. Often it becomes a battle of attrition. You have to make sacrifices with your time and for a bit sleep/friends/fun will have to wait. This is where you find out how important making the film is to you.



Ryan Strandjord is a Minneapolis based filmmaker, producer, crowdfunding consultant, and community organizer. His latest film City Boots premiered at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, and will soon make it’s museum and television debut at the world-renowned Walker Art Center and TPT respectively. The film has also played numerous festivals around the Midwest. He’s currently developing a script for Prescription Happiness, a story about a young pregnant woman struggling to hold onto free emotion while living in a society controlled through prescription drugs.

Location:Sycamore Dr,Lancaster,United States