Kickstarter-funded TF/TG movies

[Dr. Otto]

There's been some talk hereabouts about launching online campaigns to crowdfund TF/TG projects. Lately, I've been wondering whether it's possible to put together an entire feature film budget from online donations by the TF community. If not a 90-minute movie, then perhaps a half-hour video/film with halfway decent actors and special effects?

Is the community large enough to pull off such a thing, if the film's concept makes enough people interested? "Kung Fury" was a similar kind of project funded on Kickstarter, and the results are pretty spectacular, considering the resources David Sandberg had to work with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS5P_LAqiVg

[LK]

No.

Besides, it would be ridiculous to even suggest it without a strong script or proof of concept. Nobody was mistakenly funding someone's porn production when they threw money at Kung Fury. TF/TG isn't a genre of film, it is a kink.

There is no one here even remotely on Sandberg's level or saaviness with film communities to even suggest it.

[Dr. Otto]

Originally Posted by LK

No.

Besides, it would be ridiculous to even suggest it without a strong script or proof of concept. Nobody was mistakenly funding someone's porn production when they threw money at Kung Fury. TF/TG isn't a genre of film, it is a kink.

There is no one here even remotely on Sandberg's level or saaviness with film communities to even suggest it.

I think you're taking an excessively cynical attitude here. In the event someone DID provide a strong script/proof of concept (let's hypothetically say from moi ), the so-called "porn" aspects of such a script could be easily played down for something more...reputable, shall we say?

"An American Werewolf in London" is a mainstay for many TF enthusiasts, but that hasn't stopped it from becoming a horror/comedy classic enjoyed by people outside of the TF circle. The same principle could easily apply here. If the so-called fetishistic details of a TF/TG film was secondary to an engaging story (and the Kickstarter itself emphasized the story over the transformation/transformations), I believe it would have a chance.

[iamseercoltz]

This kind of thing has to start with an idea. Once a good idea for a film is created, do you know a director and a crew that will work for free?

Yes, free. The money from Kickstarter will fund a lot of the film, but it won't pay a bunch of salaries. Generally, you're working on the movie for free and paying the actors and for equipment with Crowdfunding.

I'm not saying this is impossible, but you'd need an idea that tens of thousands of people would want to fund, and you need a crew to pull it off.

You would also need a sample of concept, which can't just be drawings if you want a successful film Kickstarter.

What I'd suggest is for someone to shoot an amazing short TG film. 5 minutes max. Then, if it's great, make that into a full film proof of concept Kickstarter.

I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm just saying film-making; GOOD film-making, is a LOT of work. The only person I know with the drive to do so thus far is Ms Mako. There have been others from the community, but they are clearly not theater-ready. Professionally lit, acted, edited, directed, etc.. It's a lot of stuff, and more work than you can imagine. S'all.

[iamseercoltz]

Also, I'd suggest IndieGoGo over Kickstarter. That way you don't need to reach a goal to keep the money.

[Dr. Otto]

Originally Posted by iamseercoltz

I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm just saying film-making; GOOD film-making, is a LOT of work. The only person I know with the drive to do so thus far is Ms Mako. There have been others from the community, but they are clearly not theater-ready. Professionally lit, acted, edited, directed, etc.. It's a lot of stuff, and more work than you can imagine. S'all.

Please don't treat me like a naive fool. I'm well aware of all the stark realities involved with making a film, even a 5-minute film. I've already completed several short movies in the past, so I can't say I appreciate the blithe assumption that I'm a lazy novice (even if you didn't intend to come across that way).

All the same, the IndieGoGo idea is definitely a good one. I'll investigate further. Thank you.

[Scorch]

Maybe Mako would be willing to shed some light, I mean she's worked on numerous films of her own, both long and short with varying levels of effects. I mean personally, I think the transformation in The Interview was better in many aspects then the transformation of Eleven and The interview was released free and Eleven was 30 minutes long.

The interview showed more internal transformation then Eleven did and had much better effects. I guess having Mako playing a main character kept the actor salary down a bit.

According to IMDB, Last Piece had a budget of $8.5K estimated, god knows what that would be 11 years later. Oddly enough, Eleven isn't listed on Mako's IMDB page, guess she didn't actually make that one and stole it.

[thrandrall]

Well...the question is whether kickstarter/gofundme is the best way to go....patreon might work as an alternative. I know folks on youtube who make several thousand a month easily - either per video or per month.

If you were to produce it in short chapters - guaranteed a segment per month - it might work better (granted you'd need to develop an audience) but you could do that with more teaser chapters and character development. Would also allow more time for effects development on a budget.

Soooo, really....spreading something out in terms of the timeline would potentially even let you do a more "realistic" transformation using a trans-actor/tress - even though the transformation would be compressed in the story timeline.

Just thinking about commentaries I've watched/read about low budget movie-making. I think Peter Jackson spent several years just filming Bad Taste a little bit every weekend. That's just one example.

Also...with patreon, you have a lot more artistic freedom and you're not locking donors in and promising them something concrete that *might* wind up being not fully deliverable in the long term.

[coomanfu]

Is this forum about just being pricks to one another and manga scans now? Because that's what this shit looks like these days...

[Golvanious]

Originally Posted by coomanfu

Is this forum about just being pricks to one another and manga scans now? Because that's what this shit looks like these days...

Heh, I was afraid I was the only one to take notice.

[EduartBoudewijn]

I like to think that being a prick is still fairly optional.

On-topic, Otto, obviously crowdfunding can help you to get projects like this off the ground. However, the key word here is 'can'. You can't rely solely on crowdfunding to fund your entire project and before you can even start crowdfunding you still need to do your due diligence and have a proper plan laid out before going around asking people for money. So yeah, it can help with the funding, but thinking that you can finance a whole feature length movie through crowd funding, especially in a niche fetish community like ours is a bit misguided imo.

It's a tool, but in the end you still have put in the work and use the tool in the correct way.

[Dr. Otto]

Originally Posted by EduartBoudewijn

I like to think that being a prick is still fairly optional.

On-topic, Otto, obviously crowdfunding can help you to get projects like this off the ground. However, the key word here is 'can'. You can't rely solely on crowdfunding to fund your entire project and before you can even start crowdfunding you still need to do your due diligence and have a proper plan laid out before going around asking people for money. So yeah, it can help with the funding, but thinking that you can finance a whole feature length movie through crowd funding, especially in a niche fetish community like ours is a bit misguided imo.

It's a tool, but in the end you still have put in the work and use the tool in the correct way.

Eduart, I appreciate the advice, but for the umpteenth time, I'm well aware of all the ins and outs involved with getting a movie off the ground, and I'm getting exhausted with all the assumptions I don't. I realize I can't rely solely on crowdfunding, but I wanted to investigate the option anyway.

Is this forum about just being pricks to one another and manga scans now? Because that's what this shit looks like these days...

It doesn't seem that way to me (unless you've been visiting the "Politics" thread).