crowdfunding a film

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March 2nd, 2014 at 3:02:29 AM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
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The TV series Veronica Mars aired for three years and finished 7 seasons ago. The stars crowdfunded a film (got $7 million from crowdfunding) and are premiering in March.

The TV show had between 1.78 and 3.58 million viewers while it was on the air.

Have you ever participated in a crowd fund?
March 2nd, 2014 at 4:44:41 AM permalink
AZDuffman
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 135
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No but I am currently considering setting one up for a project I want to do.
The President is a fink.
March 2nd, 2014 at 8:09:17 AM permalink
TheCesspit
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 23
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Quote: Pacomartin

The TV series Veronica Mars aired for three years and finished 7 seasons ago. The stars crowdfunded a film (got $7 million from crowdfunding) and are premiering in March.

The TV show had between 1.78 and 3.58 million viewers while it was on the air.

Have you ever participated in a crowd fund?


I've crowded funded several boardgames, a satellite, a computer game, a box of miniatures and an interesting 'role playing' game (easiest way to describe it here).
The board game industry has really taken to crowd funding (with many successes and several high profile failures). It's suited to it, as you can provide a lot of detail on your design, rules and images and then decide if the world wants your product. Physically production costs are large for boutique games, which often only run to 3,000 copies in a normal print run. Crowd funding allows companies and individuals to get games out there. The most interesting development for me has been the 'microgame'. Small $5-10 games that would probably not have a route to sales through shops and mail order, due to the low actual margins, but companies can produce and sell direct to the consumer.

Kiva, the micro loans charity, is also a type of crowd funding, if you think about it. Done about 15 loans through them, though I'm still not quite sure if I think it's a good or neutral thing given the rate of interest the loan groups in some countries charge.
It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die.... it's called Life
March 2nd, 2014 at 9:27:54 AM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
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I've not participated in any crowdfunding but I've read a few proposals and have formed the opinion that crowdfunding should be more properly renamed as affinity funding reminiscent of sales pitches and con man schemes related to affinity groups.

Affinity sales of life insurance is one example. The insurance agent makes contact with some group such as Base Players of America and suddenly a group policy is available with musical themed photos but in reality that "group" policy is just a marketing gimmick and the insurance is no bargain at all.

Many con men don a mantle of fundamental Christians, go around uttering unfinished sentences about God Bless and collect money from donors. The only affinity is that of the con men for money.

Other affinity groups are essentially fan clubs. From time to time a network drops a program and the fans fight the network. Now with the internet, the fans don't have to convince the network, the fans need only convince themselves to kick in enough money to fund a few episodes.

Consider the Search for the S/V Nina: People were needed to analyze satellite images. Family and friends of the missing yachtsmen were part of the group, members of churches were part of the group, fellow members of The Greens Party were a part of the group, and so too were perfect strangers. The internet has allowed us to form ad-hoc fan clubs devoted to particular issues or projects. So based largely upon the interests and activities of the missing adventurers, an amalgam of gardeners, farmers, ranchers, boaters, zydeco dancers, photographers and photography students, knitters, self-defense teachers, politicians, essayists and yoga instructors formed. There was hardly a time zone on the planet that did not have people spending half the night analyzing satellite images. This was by its nature a crowd funded search and a crowd performed search.
March 3rd, 2014 at 12:18:19 PM permalink
s2dbaker
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 13
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My father bought into the limited partnership that was a part of the group that created the movie 'Tootsie'. I can't remember the name of the LP at the moment but it did very well. I'll see if my father remembers the name and I'll try to get more information.
March 3rd, 2014 at 1:49:57 PM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
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Quote: s2dbaker
My father bought into the limited partnership that was a part of the group that created the movie 'Tootsie'. I can't remember the name of the LP at the moment but it did very well.


Tootsie is estimated to have sold 57 million tickets in 1982. That is pretty remarkable when you consider that The Hunger Games (biggest movie last year) sold roughly 51 million tickets.

Also the biggest grossing movies free of special effects, animations and any fantasy was "The Heat", "American Hustle" and "We're the Millers" both of which sold fewer than 20 million tickets apiece.

The industry has completely changed in 30 years.
March 3rd, 2014 at 3:01:02 PM permalink
TheCesspit
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 23
Posts: 1929
Quote: Fleastiff
I've not participated in any crowdfunding but I've read a few proposals and have formed the opinion that crowdfunding should be more properly renamed as affinity funding reminiscent of sales pitches and con man schemes related to affinity groups.


I'm not sure how they are related if you look at kickstarter and indiegogo. Or maybe that is only the crowdfunding ideas I'm interested in (physical games, mostly). There are con men and shoddy practices out there (I can think of a couple of industry names that are always a red flag). But in general it's a novel way to raise money.
It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die.... it's called Life
March 4th, 2014 at 7:45:19 AM permalink
s2dbaker
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 13
Posts: 241
Quote: Pacomartin
Tootsie is estimated to have sold 57 million tickets in 1982. That is pretty remarkable when you consider that The Hunger Games (biggest movie last year) sold roughly 51 million tickets.

Also the biggest grossing movies free of special effects, animations and any fantasy was "The Heat", "American Hustle" and "We're the Millers" both of which sold fewer than 20 million tickets apiece.

The industry has completely changed in 30 years.
Here is the response from my father:
Quote: Dad
It was   DELPHI LIMITED ......  Tootsie, Ghostbusters 1 & 2, the Big Chill, Annie, they Sold Us out, to Sony, for a lousy 30 Millions, the GeneralPartner must have taken millions under the table to sell out for that measly price.....Residuals alone are worth tons!!
Bitter much dad?
March 4th, 2014 at 9:19:33 AM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
Posts: 7831
>GP must have taken millions under the table to sell out for that measly price ...
Often that is the case, however sometimes there is an actual misunderstanding of a movie's earnings potential.

When Flashdance was in the pipeline the general thought was it would be a flop with a capital F and the decision was made to bite the bullet and sell have the movies revenue for a flat-fee lump sum payment of a Peanut ... then the movie went on to bring in millions and millions, half of which had to be turned over to the bottom feeder that bought it for a peanut and a song.
March 4th, 2014 at 11:05:43 AM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: s2dbaker
Here is the response from my father.


Tootsie Release Date: December 17, 1982

Quote: Columbia Pictures (wikipedia)
With a healthier balance-sheet (due in large part to box office hits like Stir Crazy, The Blue Lagoon, and Stripes) Columbia was bought by Coca-Cola on June 22, 1982 for $750 million, after having considered buying the struggling Walt Disney Productions. Studio head Frank Price mixed big hits like Tootsie, The Karate Kid, The Big Chill, and Ghostbusters with many costly flops. To share the increasing cost of film production, Coke brought in two outside investors whose earlier efforts in Hollywood had come to nothing.

The Columbia Pictures empire was sold on September 28, 1989 to electronics giant Sony for the amount of $3.4 billion, one of several Japanese firms then buying American properties.


As Columbia Pictures was sold to Sony almost 7 years after the release of Tootsie, perhaps your father could explain how DELPHI LIMITED fit into the funding scheme?
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