1. Kickstarter
With 38,361 projects launched and $230.24 million pledged, film is the second most popular category on Kickstarter. From the Veronica Mars movie project, which raised $5.7 million, to smaller indie projects, Kickstarter is a great crowdfundin website for film-related projects. On Kickstarter, you must hit your fundraising goal or all of your backers will have their money refunded.
Fees: 5% platform fee + 3-5% payment processing
2. Indiegogo
Indiegogo is another great financing tool for film projects. The platform has seen successes like the Gosnell Movie, which raised $2.2 million and Lazer Team by Rooster Teeth, which raised $2.4 million. Unlike Kickstarter, Indiegogo also has a “flexible funding” option, where creators can keep dollars pledged, even if they do not hit their goal.
Fixed Funding Fees: 4% platform fee (if you reach your goal) + 3-5% for payment processing + $25 wire fee for non-us campaigns that have raised funds in USD via direct credit card.
Flexible Funding fees: Either 4%platform fee (if you reach your goal) or 9% platform fee (you don’t reach your goal) + 3-5% for payment processing + $25 wire fee for non-us campaigns that have raised funds in USD via direct credit card.
3. Seed & Spark
Seed and Spark is an one-stop shop where filmmakers can crowdfund, distribute, and interact with their audience and the broader independent film community. Like Kickstarter, the platform is curated and has stricter guidelines than Indiegogo.
“We’re different than our competitors in a couple of key ways. First, we’re a selective platform. This means that rather than offering our crowdfunding tools to everyone—regardless of the merit of their ideas or their strategy for attracting support for those ideas—we review every film project case by case.
If you’ve put a lot of thought into your project, and a bunch of time and energy into planning your campaign, there’s a really good chance that we’ll invite you to launch your project on Seed&Spark. If we don’t think you’re prepared enough, we’ll give you some pointers on how you can get ready.” – Source.
Fees: 5% platform fee + credit card fees.
Special note: “Upon checkout, we offer funders an opportunity to add 5% to their order so the filmmakers don’t lose any of the supporters’ pledges. And guess what? 90% of supporters choose to add that 5%.”
4. Pozible
Pozible is a crowdfunding platform that includes multiple verticals like Kickstarter or Indiegogo. It was started in Australia and has since expanded to other areas. So far, 6,875 total projects have been launched on the site and $22.8 million has been raised through the platform. One interesting fact is that Pozible accepts bitcoin.
News Alert: “Crowdfunding platform Pozible is teaming up with experienced film crowdfunder Thomas Mai offering five filmmakers financial backing through crowdfunding project Mission: Pozible. The competition is an open call to the filmmakers, offering a dedicated three-month program where Pozible will try to raise a minimum of $100,000 for each project for the five lucky winners.
Mai will work closely with each project to ensure they are as successful as possible. As a crowdfunder who has raised over $400,000 in three years for 11 documentaries, Mai said that in such a competitive industry, both a financial boost and clear direction are necessary.” – Source .
Platform Fees: 5% total funds raised up to $100k. 4% total funds raised between $100k – $500k (or projects issued an invitation code). 3% total funds raised of $500k or over. The platform also charges standard payment processing fees.
5. Fundrazr
Fundrazr is a Canadian crowdfunding platform that also accepts projects from international creators. Film is a subsection of the projects offered on the platform, which range from accidents & disasters to business-related projects. While it doesn’t seem that film is one of their more popular categories, other filmmakers have used the platform to finance new productions.
Fees: 5% FundRazr fee plus Payment Provider fee of 2.9% + 30¢* per transaction.
6. Self-Hosted Campaign
If you have an established audience or are marketing savy and believe you can “fill the seats” for your own crowdfunding campaign, then it might be worthwhile to host the campaign on your own website and avoid platform fees and website guidelines. You can do this with one of the self-hosting tools we mentioned in this article.
Conclusion
What type of film are you trying to raise money for? Let us know in the comments below. I’d also recommend checking out my ebook to get an idea of what it’s like to run a Kickstarter. Indiewire’s ultimate guide to crowdfunding for filmmakers is also a worthwhile read.
