Do you have an amazing film idea but do you still lack (a part of) your budget? Do you already want to involve your future audience in an early stage of the process of creating a film? Crowdfunding sounds like something for you!
THIS IS WHY FILMMAKERS PICK CINECROWD
Especially for film
CineCrowd is a crowdfunding platform created especially for film. Hence, the platform builds on the experience of more than 650 successful campaigns. Via our platform, you can easily reach a large network of filmmakers and -lovers.
Thorough guidance
We thoroughly guide filmmakers with their crowdfunding and think along with all filmmakers to support them in creating a crowdfunding page and campaign of high quality. In this process, we bring in the experiences of the 650 projects that preceded you! We are proud of our success rate of 86% since the establishment of CineCrowd in 2011.
Costs
Each person who publishes a project on CineCrowd first pays a handling fee of € 75 (excluding taxes). If the project succeeds, you also pay a fee of 10% (excluding taxes) of the amount that you raised.
THE INS AND OUTS OF CROWDFUNDING
It is possible to roughly split crowdfunding into three phases: creating a page, preparing the campaign and running the campaign. Here you can find all the ins and outs about the different phases. We will also explain what will happen after the campaign has ended.
PHASE 1: CREATE A PAGE
You present your movie to the audience on your page. This page is the place to share your personal motivation behind the film in order to convince all potential supporters. Of course, you also tell the supporters what you will create, who is a part of your team and what a supporter can receive in exchange for their donation. Look at the crowdfunding pages to get inspired by the filmmakers who preceded you. Examples of these pages are: Erkhii Mergen, Or Why the Marmot Doesn't Have a Thumb, From the Snow-Covered Hill, Dark Blood, Nocturne.
A catchy teaser
The ideal length of a teaser takes one to two minutes. Be original, surprising and yourself. Address your audience and convince them of why you should make this film. Explain why this film has to be created and why it must be created now instead of in a few years. It is important that the teaser does not only make the audience curious about the film but to also to evoke goodwill. Be sure to remember that a trailer for your film is not the same as a teaser for your campaign.
Context information
In the text, you can share more information about the film and further elaborate on what motivates you to create this film. Expand on things like the director’s vision, background information and the topicality of your film. You can illustrate your text with pictures. You can assume that most people read the information after seeing the teaser.
Your team and skills
Your audience might not know your work (yet). Present yourself and your team, mention and share earlier work and guarantee that people get to know you. People often support your project if you are able to evoke goodwill and because they agree with your motivation.
Amazing rewards
Most of the supporters decide to contribute based on the teaser. Rewards help them to determine the eventual contribution. Some tips:
Make sure that the rewards have a much higher emotional than financial value. The emotional value increases when a reward is more personal and original.
Describe your rewards as appealing as possible and, if possible, give them a fun name (in the theme of your film).
Do not exclude high amounts but also include different smaller amounts to include as many people as possible.
Look at the pages of Under the Apple Tree and 25 Jaar foute vrienden for inspiring examples.
Target amount
The amounts that are raised via CineCrowd usually rage from € 1.000 to €50.000 (higher is also possible!) and often contribute to a larger financial plan. Base your target amount on what can be raised through crowdfunding instead of what you need. Experience teaches that a maximum amount of €2.000 can be raised within a personal network. 80% of the amount comes from 20% of the supporters and the average height of a donation is € 80. Are you having difficulties with determining the target amount? We can give you advice about this.
Duration
Experience reveals that a duration of 30 days is the most successful. You need time to inform everyone that your project is online but if the project is online for too long, people pay less attention because they do not feel the urge to donate.
PHASE 2: PREPARING YOUR CAMPAIGN
Proper preparation prevents poor performance. Preparation might be the most important condition for a successful campaign.
Determining a target audience
You have to be aware of your potential supporters in order to campaign effectively. What audience will be interested in your subject, theme or protagonist? The more specific the target is, the more particular your campaign can be and the bigger the chance for success is. Adjust your rewards, teaser and promotional plan to your target audience(s).
Mobilise your network
One of the most effective ways to mobilise your friends, family and other acquaintances, is by sending a newsletter. Collect the email addresses of as many people as possible in advance your campaign. Don’t forget to include the friends, family and other acquaintances of your cast and crew members as well!
More than friends
It is important to reach out to the people outside of your network bu campaigning via for example media, ambassadors, associations, interest groups and other organisations related to your subject or another aspect of the film. Do not ask them for money in the first place but inform whether it is possible to share your campaign in their newsletters or on social media. Be sure to do this ahead of the campaign. It often takes a while before the organisations make a decision and respond whether they will contribute to your campaign via promotional (or financial) support.
Campaign plan
Are you going to send out a newsletter? Which organisations will you contact to see if they can share your project? Create a clear overview of the steps that you will undertake to reach potential supporters and to motivate them to contribute. Include concrete agreements with external parties and activities such as sending a newsletter in your planning. This gives you an overview, motivates you to carry out all the steps and simplifies the full process. Contact us for feedback on your campaign plan.
Match funding
It helps to start your campaign with a kickstart which gets the counter off the zero. Thanks to our collaborations with various funds, this is possible. Check the overview of the partners to discover what your possibilities are.
PHASE 3: RUNNING THE CAMPAIGN
Take into account that you will spend an hour each day on the crowdfunding and make sure you get the counter off the zero as soon as possible. Remember that messages become stronger and thus more effective when you repeat them. Experience teaches that most people have to encounter your project multiple times before they actually contribute.
Newsletters
We recommend that you send a fun and personal newsletter to your friends, family and other acquaintances when your project is published. Create a newsletter in advance and guarantee that the newsletter is interesting and creative enough to forward. Send about four to five emails during your campaign. MailChimp is a free and simple website you can use to send newsletters. You can decorate the emails with pictures and videos and import a list of email addresses to send the newsletter to. Your audience can easily unsubscribe this newsletter so you will not be sending any unwanted emails.
Also ask external parties that suit your target audience to feature your crowdfunding campaign in their newsletter!
Social media
Highlight your project on your Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Especially for these sites, it is true that repetition is key. Remember that most contributions are the result of more personal kinds of contact. Posts on social media are often viewed too briefly to result in actual contributions. Nonetheless, it is a great way to draw attention to your project.
Press releases
You probably already got in touch with the press during the preparations for your campaign. Still, it cannot hurt to reach out to them once more. Especially local press is often willing to feature projects that are created in a specific region or project that are made by talent from a specific region. Create a press release and send this to media related to your project.
Page updates
Keep the (potential) supporters up to date and offer them a glance into your process by posting ‘page updates’. These updates are automatically emailed to your supporters. Do not send out payment reminders but send fun and creative updates (for example rough cuts of a scene, pictures from the set or fun facts related to the project) instead. If your supporters can share these updates, they might help you reach even more people. It is also important to include updates related to the counter and the amount of money raised so far. People feel more inclined to contribute when they see that others have done the same.
Live
It is both fun and useful to speak to your supporters face to face, for example during a benefit event. Evoking goodwill is much easier in real life than via an online page. You can utilize authorisation forms to guarantee that the supporters contribute straight away. The information you need to ask for on an authorisation form is accessible via CineCrowd.
Send a thank you message
Send a personal thank you message to your supporters and keep them involved by using the update function so that they will also keep spreading the word about you.
CineCrowd film overview
The order of our film overview is based on popularity. This means that your page will be more visible and thus easier to find if you get more ‘views’ on your page.
Final sprint
Do you have about a week left? Then it’s time to make a final sprint! Do something spectacular, give a special update on the page and send out an eye-catching newsletter. Approach your friends, family and other acquaintances once again and send another press release to the media. This is the moment to convince people that you truly need their help and that they are the people that decide whether you can realise of your beautiful, creative and special project.
80% rule
If your project raises an amount between 80% and 99% of the target amount, the project might succeed nonetheless. In such a situation, you have to inform all your supporters about your ideas for the film using only the part of the budget that was raised. Supporters get the opportunity to reclaim their contribution (minus €0,70 for administration costs). When at least 80% of the target amount remains, your project succeeds and you can start realising your ideas!
Promotion by CineCrowd
Your project is also promoted via CineCrowd. This might happen via our slideshow or staff picks on our website, monthly newsletter and social media. Furthermore, CineSud publishes an interview with one of the filmmakers every month. Do you have a fun and original update that we can share with our Facebook friends or Instagram followers? Send it to us via email so we can post is.
FASE 4: AFTER THE END DATE
Yes, you did it!
What’s next? The CineCrowd crew will reach out to you and send you a contract with all the arrangements in detail. After this, you will receive the raised amount minus the CineCrowd fee of 10%. You can start creating and/or completing your film!
The rewards
The rewards you promised to the supporters have to be sent out. This takes a bit longer with some rewards than with others. Be sure to keep the supporters updated about this.
Keep updating
Keep your supporters updated, even after the target amount is reached and the campaign is finished. Supporters are usually curious about the results. Make sure the supporters can stay involved and keep in touch with the fanbase that will want to stay tuned for the rest of your career. Perhaps they will even contribute to a next crowdfunding project!
Ask away
Are you getting lost in your own campaign. Still don’t have a clue? Feel free to call our office.
