Crowd-funding: An "In Bruges"-like Comedy Series

J

Jardoss

Hey Indietalk,
You've helped me a bunch before, and so i post here again. I know crowd-funding is its own animal, so I ask you all to please check out my project- and spread the word! We're making a comedy pilot! Help me gather some buzz around it, that helps a bunch! :)

EDIT: We took your advice, and made a nice and short campaign video
Hope this sparks an interest in our project, and is worth your time. Feel free to read the text as well, as it covers the project more in-depth.

Have a look here: http://igg.me/at/clowne
We also just finished casting. Have a look!

https://vimeo.com/74322415
Thanks guys!

Here's what the project is all about:

"Clowne" is a comedy series with aspects from "The Big Lebowski", "In Bruges" and "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang". It' does not take itself very seriously, although it centers on a strict storyline carefully written. We need help to fund the first episode!

The plot is as follows:

Gary Clowne is finally let out of prison, only to spend the next three years of his life as a clown in order to fulfill his community service. And worst part is: his employer, has misunderstood what a clown is all about. Along the way he falls in love, gets jealous and meets his long-forgotten father.

We want to change how the tv-series are made: we want "Clowne" to have the production quality of a movie, the pace of a hollywood blockbuster and the feel of something strong. If you are not hooked by the end of the first episode, we did something wrong.

This is not a sitcom. Imagine Big Bang Theory with with the production quality, and strong actors, of dramas such as Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, or House of Cards- wouldn't you have loved to see that? We want to start over. The comedy genre should not be sitcoms only.

Clowne is all about loss, standing up for yourself, and letting go of old grudges: next to the clown, Gary has a friend who's name is "TIM". He's a drug addict, and will consume anything that puts his mind at ease. Gary does not like this, and strives to get him off. Along the way, Gary falls in love with a nymphomaniac: a woman who has misunderstood love, and thinks its all about sex, which makes it impossible for Gary to get anything more than a fling. And to make it even easier for Gary, he finally meets his dad after 10 years of lost communication. His dad is dressed up as a gorilla, and believes he has always been an animal. In other words: It's Gary vs the world.

Who are we?

Last year, we made Norway's first ever sci-fi feature film: EVERYWHEN
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2715556/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)

The film made our director, Jarand Breian Herdal, the youngest director in Norway to have a film in theaters. Press showed up, and all in all, people dug it. We got ourselves a distribution deal, which means the movie will be in stores on Blu-Ray, DVD and VOD in USA, Scandinavia, Benelux, and possibly Germany. With this in the back, we're confident that we can both make and sell something great, and that this will actually happen!

We're a group of five 18-year olds, trying to break into the film industry. Being from Norway, and writing a pilot in English, gives us an opportunity to pitch this pilot overseas. But we can't do it alone.

We've made film since 2009. You can have a look at everything we've made here:www.youtube.com/JARANDandJENS


Looking forward to hearing from you,
Jarand
 
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Come on guys, you made a really impressive sci-fi movie; you can definitely find the time to make a proper campaign video, rather than just a montage of clips from other movies.

I was all ready to chip in a few bucks to your campaign, based on your previous work, but the campaign doesn't display sufficient evidence of time, effort and thought having gone into the pitch.
 
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NickClapper said:
Come on guys, you made a really impressive sci-fi movie; you can definitely find the time to make a proper campaign video, rather than just a montage of clips from other movies.

I was all ready to chip in a few bucks to your campaign, based on your previous work, but the campaign doesn't display sufficient evidence of time, effort and thought having gone into the pitch.
Click to expand...

I'm a little confused. We're kinda new at this.
What can we do to make it even better?
 
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Jardoss said:
I'm a little confused. We're kinda new at this.
What can we do to make it even better?
Click to expand...
You can use your own footage - scenes you have shot - to show
your talent, skill and vision. Now you show you can use copyrighted
material without permission and can edit clips together.

Show us what YOU can do as filmmakers - not just as editors using
material shot by other people.
 
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Jardoss said:
I'm a little confused. We're kinda new at this.
What can we do to make it even better?
Click to expand...

You're new to this? Didn't you just make a sic-fi feature that's getting international distribution?

I'm sorry, but putting up a montage of clips from other movies (which, as Rik points out, you don't have permission to use) doesn't exactly inspire confidence. You guys definitely have the talent- so why not put together a video that uses clips from Everywhen to demonstrate your technical abilities, and then pop a camera down in front of some cast and crew and get them to talk about the project and why people should invest. That's the bare minimum that I expect from a crowdfunding campaign.
 
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Hey calm down, no reason to get upset about all this. I'm new to the whole crowd-funding thing, I've made movies for some time.

There's some really good advice here, so I thank you all for that! We'll definitely get started right away! :)
Again thanks,
Jarand
 
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Jardoss said:
Hey calm down, no reason to get upset about all this.
Click to expand...
No one is upset. What makes you think either of us are upset?
What did I say that makes you think I'm upset or need to be
calmed down?

I apologize. Let me know what I did wrong and I will be more
careful when answering a question from you in the future.
 
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Jardoss said:
Hey calm down, no reason to get upset about all this.
Click to expand...

You guys need an Executive producer. It's fairly apparent that you're not thick skinned enough to go out and ask for money. It's not a bad thing, but if you're going to get upset over what Rik and Nick said, you're going to waste your talents not being very happy. You're better off concentrating on what you're good at and letting someone else concentrate on what they're good at (the money), especially if you have a good, successful project already under your belt.

Good luck with your project.
 
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What Rik and Nick said:

you do not communicate your skills with borrowing hollywood-stuff.
It actually makes you look like dreamers, saying: "we want to achieve this look".

OK, nice, that you want that, but what can you do?
Do you have the skills to make it happen?
Maybe you do, but then you are hiding them. I (the potential backers) want to see it in the first video you show.
You got one chance to make a first impression. To catch our attention. To convince the project will be great. To convince you got the skills, the balls and the breath to do it. To tell us why it has to be made. Why we should join you on this journey.

This may sound harsh, but it's written with the best intentions.
Crowdfunding is marketing.
So you have to have your story ready to grap attention within seconds and suck the audience into your world.

(Lol, I really make it sound grand and dramatic ;) )

Now you may say: but did't you read what we wrote?

I say: 'No'
Because the video didn't make me want to read it.
The video should trigger me to read more.

OK, I hope you can do something with this comment.
You say you are working on it: great!
Hopefully you can tell us 'why' and show us 'you can' in the next video.

(I'm playing the very critical backer here ;) )
 
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Exactly what the above said.

Filmmakers should give information visually. Fuck voice overs and fuck walls of text.
I give you 10-30 seconds of video time depending on my boredom to persuade my to watch your pitch to the end.
After I see and edited movie clips with not even some voice over explaining wtf would you want to do that,I feel like an idiot. I could have watched funny cats or some fails on YouTube.

I am pretty sure this though process more or less corresponds to the average Internet user
 
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WalterB said:
What Rik and Nick said:

you do not communicate your skills with borrowing hollywood-stuff.
It actually makes you look like dreamers, saying: "we want to achieve this look".

OK, nice, that you want that, but what can you do?
Do you have the skills to make it happen?
Maybe you do, but then you are hiding them. I (the potential backers) want to see it in the first video you show.
You got one chance to make a first impression. To catch our attention. To convince the project will be great. To convince you got the skills, the balls and the breath to do it. To tell us why it has to be made. Why we should join you on this journey.

This may sound harsh, but it's written with the best intentions.
Crowdfunding is marketing.
So you have to have your story ready to grap attention within seconds and suck the audience into your world.

(Lol, I really make it sound grand and dramatic ;) )

Now you may say: but did't you read what we wrote?

I say: 'No'
Because the video didn't make me want to read it.
The video should trigger me to read more.

OK, I hope you can do something with this comment.
You say you are working on it: great!
Hopefully you can tell us 'why' and show us 'you can' in the next video.

(I'm playing the very critical backer here ;) )
Click to expand...

Haha, thank you! This comment really worked as a wake-up call! I'm new to this whole crowd-funding thing, so I'm sorry if I sound like a baby. Not my intention at all, I just didn't think this through enough. I know this series is going to kick ass, and I know a big portion of people are going to dig it- so thank you all for guiding me the right way, I'll definitely get a proper video up an running shortly!

Thanks to everybody else who commented as well :)
And just because you're here, have a look at my old stuff: www.youtube.com/JARANDandJENS
I know I have a chance at something here, and you're right- I just have to find the best way to convince you.

Jarand
 
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I'm also crowd funding for my next project, Pre. Pre. follows Johnny, Jerry, and Justin on their journey to get their feature film "Disco of the Dead" funded. Budgeting mishaps along the way have left them broke again, and with nothing left for them to do, they suck it up and re-enter pre-production. They have every intention to get this film made in any way possible.

"Pre." is a unique opportunity for anyone involved. The way I planned "Pre." out is that ultimately once we feel the show is finished, the final episode is the movie, "Disco of the Dead", which the crew has been working on throughout the seasons.

Pre. The Show Campaign Link
 
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