In 2012, Kiwi director Taika Waititi raised over $110,000 to release his film, Boy, to cinemas in the United States.
Going in with a $90,000 goal, and a simple project page, the Kickstarter attracted over 1,800 backers and was one of New Zealand’s first big crowdfunding successes.
The campaign attracted backlash from backers over a failure to deliver rewards. Negative comments continue to be posted on the Kickstarter page, while there have been no project updates in 2 years.
But last week, Waititi and long-term collaborator Jermaine Clement launched a new project looking for $400,000 to distribute their next film, What We Do In The Shadows in the US.
What is it?
The project aims to release the film – a mockumentary about vampires flatting together in Wellington – to 70 US cities. The creators claim the money will be used to cover marketing and costs associated with suppling the film to cinemas.
Rewards
Rewards include digital PDF scripts, signed DVDs and posters, baby bibs and onesies, personal video messages and even the opportunity to be an extra in the next Waititi film.
Learning from past mistakes the pair plan to use a professional third-party distribution company to deliver backer rewards.
Will it succeed?
Hard to say so early on in the game. 2 days into the project and it has managed to raise 2% of it’s target. It’s not hitting the goals most successful projects should be hitting (successful projects typically raise at least 10% within the first 48 hours). Kicktraq is currently calling the project to end at $72,000 – well short of the $400,000 goal.
If this were a project run by an ‘everyman’ then I would be calling it a dead duck.
However, Waititi and Clement fall into the category of ‘celebrity creators’ – people who have connections and favours and fans. They may pull one out of the hat yet.
Lessons
Waititi’s earlier efforts on Kickstarter are a really good illustration as to why developing Forever Fans is a good long term strategy for creatives. The lack of ongoing contact with backers and problems with rewards distribution has meant that 1,800 potential backers are unlikely to support the next project.
Anyone who has crowdfunded (successfully or unsuccessfully) will tell you that the hardest thing to do is to find a crowd. The ‘Boy’ project meant that a crowd is already at the creator’s fingertips… if only that crowd still had faith in the creator.
UPDATE: What We Do In The Shadows successfully funded, hitting $446,666 USD with 7,204 backers. They’ve been doing a great job of keeping their fans updated on the project, and on the delivery of their rewards.
