Indiegogo Perks for Films

The $35 - Special Thanks and DVD is repetitive because I'm assuming anyone who pledges $25 gets the DVD + the special thanks in the credits offered in the $10. Usually each pledge bracket is cumulative.

The $60 pledge (Special Thanks + Blu-Ray) is also necessary because of the $50 pledge (Blu-Ray).

Dejager - I see where you are coming from but perks do not need to be cumulative. I know a bunch of projects do that but then I'm having to bump up the DVD by $10 or your basically getting the 'Thanks' for free... when why would anyone pick that vs getting the DVD & Thanks?

* By 'free' I mean it costs me money to print DVD's, so I to ensure I'm not loosing money on them.

That said... how much does it cost to Duplicate DVD's / Blu-Rays with Boxes in mass? I picked those levels because that is what I've seen on other projects and I'm assuming they are not loosing money on each unit.

Graeme said:

that is what I've seen on other projects and I'm assuming they are not loosing money on each unit.

Click to expand...

I think you'd be surprised at how many people count these costs as next to nothing, and effectively use up all that money to produce the discs.

Cost of discs
cost of authoring
cost of mastering
cost of duplication
cost of packaging
cost of shipping to you
cost of someone to handle sending out the discs
cost of packaging to mail discs
cost of postage to mail discs to them
cost of dealing with inevitable returns/exchanges when it doesn't work on their old DVD player...

...add in a few more costs as well. That's an awful lot of work, time & money to end up with a handful of dollars to actually spend on the production.

At the same time, you've just eliminated an actually interested segment of the retail market.

Good luck.

.

Look over posts #168 & #169: http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=39742&page=12

Additionally, I would suggest that a "special thanks in credits" to be a rather <ahem> lame and non-engaging perk for a $10 donation.
Might I suggest gearing up and maintaining a filmmaking blog to provide "regular updates and behind-the-scenes scoop throughout the fundraising and movie making process" which maintains regular periodical interest in the film project as well as providing the possibility that interest could actually grow.
Whereas with just a "special thanks in credits" there's no potential to grow interest = potentialy more funding, although it would certainly be faster and easier to do just a "special thanks in credits."

rayw - Super Useful post.

I would do the blog except for that fact that we are mainly filming at a remote cottage for 4 solid days. Not sure the internet access my phone has out there and that would be the time I think people would want updates.

DVD's yeah... I'm looking at around $5 per dvd plus shipping (another $5?) so I would get $15 for every $25 DVD I sold. Similar Idea with Blu-rays but they are more expensive (But we are shooting the film in 1080p if not 4K).

I'm also looking to raise about $4000 so at your average of $43 per pledge I would need about 93 backers.

You gotta be imaginative.
Get a little crazy.
Put on your shuckster hat.
You gotta throw all sense of propriety right out the door.
Make yourself uncomfortable SELLING your product.

Graeme said:

I would do the blog except for that fact that we are mainly filming at a remote cottage for 4 solid days. Not sure the internet access my phone has out there and that would be the time I think people would want updates.

Click to expand...

The blog isn't just for the four day shoot.



"We are going to be making a feature film in early September at a Cottage"

Great. It's early August, now.
That's probably at least three weeks, if not four, of pre-production you gotta do before you disappear into the boonies for four days - Lord knows there's NO suspense potential there to exploit, right? Right?!
Bullsh!t!

Start your google blogspot page ASAP. https://accounts.google.com/SignUp?service=blogger&continue=http://www.blogger.com&hl=en
First post is stating what you are going to do.
Second post is what you've done already.
Third post is how you're going to get it done.

Invite all the people currently involved in the project to promote THEIR film to everyone in their social media circles.

Have you done casting, yet? Y/N? Talk about the process.
Discuss the cabin selection and location scouting process.
Draw out a map of the journey, post that.
Talk about your cast.
Talk about your crew.
Talk about your equipment.
Talk about the fish that got away.
Ask your cast and crew if they wanna contribute.

Work! Work! Work, d@mmit!

Consider that you can offer a donation premium that includes the BTS extra bonus features for $10 more than just the DVD alone.
The material you compile for this production blog will go a long way towards that, so you're really getting a two-fer.


Then you go on to blab about post production.
Foley.
ADR.
Pick up shots.
Color correction & grading.
Audio editing.
Musical score.

Doggone it! You need MORE money to finish post production!
So you run ANOTHER crowdfunding campaign, and God willing, you have an even larger social resource pool to shake people down for more donations.


And then you blab about what your donors have been saying.
Fears and concerns you're having.
Putting together all the premium packages.

And doggone it! You need MORE money to goto market the film for festival runs!
So you run YET A THIRD crowdfunding campaign just to cover film festival submission fees.

It's just ridiculous - and you gotta get used to that - if you want to reach as many people as you possibly can and provide them with a premium product.

I swear I pass up plenty of bagged&tagged multi-million dollar Hollywood films in the $5 bin @ WalMart.
I peruse through the $1.95 DVDs @ Dollar General and don't buy all of 'em.
Just bought both 'Monsters' and 'Let The Right One In' for four bucks and change.
What on Earth are you going to provide to compete with that @ $10, $20, $25, $35, and up? A pig in a poke? I advise not.

People want experiences!

Hmm... like how I'm selecting cast right now and also waiting for my camera (FS700) to get back from getting the upgrade... I see your point. How does one make a 'private' blog though?

The link! The link!
https://accounts.google.com/SignUp?service=blogger&continue=http://www.blogger.com&hl=en


(That I went and found and handed to you already)

Just give it a name no one's gonna sensibly think of but still related.
None of the donors are really gonna just hand it out over the internet during the 30 day campaign and ruin it for everyone.
And you can probably change the name later just in case some d!ckhead does mess things up.

I'm in agreement with previous posters.

That blu-ray commitment at the end of your project is gonna kill you. Don't give away free copies of your final retail product to ANYONE!

Aside from a major distributor pickup, the only way you'll likely see real cash from your film is by starting your blog-marketing thing now -- equal time/effort to marketing and filmmaking is the key.

Good luck.

While I haven't put that much thought into the process, putting the DVD/Blurays as rewards to donating is simply frontloading your sales. This isn't a bad thing but as others have mentioned, there are consequences.

First, costs. It'll cost a lot to deliver physical products, posters especially.
Second, even if the costs aren't an issue, is it what your target market really wants?

I'd be interested in an experiment where you do two pitches:

Pitch 1). Offer the rewards that you're offering.
Pitch 2). Ask for donations with differing amount options.

If you put in a compelling enough pitch to your viewers (remember, it's usually a friends and family fund) they may get behind you regardless of the rewards. As rayw said, apart from you and your team, what can you deliver that you cannot already purchase in the bargain bin at your local discount dvd sales store?

http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?p=314394#post314394 and the one right below it.
http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?p=333163#post333163

Hmm,

So blog people like, advance DVD/BluRay not so much...

What about the T-Shirt idea?

Graeme said:

Dejager - I see where you are coming from but perks do not need to be cumulative. I know a bunch of projects do that but then I'm having to bump up the DVD by $10 or your basically getting the 'Thanks' for free... when why would anyone pick that vs getting the DVD & Thanks?

* By 'free' I mean it costs me money to print DVD's, so I to ensure I'm not loosing money on them.

That said... how much does it cost to Duplicate DVD's / Blu-Rays with Boxes in mass? I picked those levels because that is what I've seen on other projects and I'm assuming they are not loosing money on each unit.

Click to expand...

That is my point. There is no need for that pledge level. A special thanks is not worth $10 by itself. I back projects often, and I think the way you are creating your brackets isn't as effective as they could be. I also disagree with the people who are saying don't include DVDs or Blu-Rays. Are they kidding? If I pledge to a campaign for a filmmaker, usually the ONLY thing I'm interested in is seeing that movie and OWNING the dvd and/or blu-ray. Usually the other perks are worthless. They then argue that oh the distribution companies won't like that in the end but then they will go on to say that your chances of getting distribution without spending big $$$ and having name actors is next to nothing. For most, offering physical copies upfront is front loading sales and isn't an issue. It's really not even that expensive to get DVDs and Blu-Rays made from a company such as Discmakers.

I think pre-selling the movie is fine, I'm not worried about distribution etc, and if someone is really upset I sold 500 copies isn't looking at the big picture (there is demand!)

How about this:

$10 Special thanks + digital download (any suggestion on how to do a digital download?)

$30 Special Thanks + DVD with tonnes of Bonus Content!

$50 Special Thanks + Blu-Ray with tonnes of Bonus Content!

$100 Special Thanks + All three Methods + Movie Poster!

All four levels will get someone access to Indiegogo 'Backer' Updates/Blog and a Digital Copy of the Script.