Cross Raising Money For An Animated Short Film
Nick Cross, the award-winning animator behind films like The Waif of Persephone and Yellow Cake, has embarked on a new short. For The Pig Farmer, however, Cross is staging a fundraising effort to help get the film finished quicker. Using the fundraising website IndieGoGo he aims to raise $5,000, and I just tossed $25 onto the pile. For that I get a mention in the credits and a DVD of the finished film. If I had forked over $100, Cross would have listed me as an Associate Producer and shipped me his entire catalog of films. (update – Nathan Malone added his name to the Associate Producer list)
There’s a few similar sites out there, including Fundable, Kickstarter and Indie Maverick, and animators around the world are having success using this model. For instance, I spotted Line, a stop-motion film by Justin and Shel Wagner Rasch, which has already raised $1,250 en route to their goal of $2,500, and a documentary about documentary about Bill Plympton that’s raised almost as much.
This method seems like no more than a sophisticated version of the ol’ Paypal “donate” button, but it’s apparently working. I’ve always imagined that fundraising is entirely personal, requiring lots of shmoozing, hand-shaking and repeated appeals. But perhaps you just need a slew of Facebook friends and a blog.
February 8th, 2010 at 9:26 am
I’ll kick in a few at the end o’ the week. Support indies, dammit!
February 8th, 2010 at 9:38 am
yeah! this is a great idea, i really hope it takes off and nick meets his goal! i think a lot of us get bent out of shape sitting around wishing there was better work out there but really there’s ways to fund your own film and stay afloat if you’re smart and driven. it’s nice to see this happening!
February 8th, 2010 at 11:16 am
Wow, thanks for helping get the word out, Aaron. I’m giving this method a shot on this film as a sort of trial run to see if it works.
And thanks too for throwing in some cash, every little bit helps!
February 8th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
[...] a proven film-maker. He has a small, but broadening following. And he’s getting press. Cold Hard Flash already ran an announcement, and now I’m doing the same. I’m going to be sure to put [...]
February 10th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
The animated feature, The Kind You Don’t Take Home to Mother, is doing a similar thing, but in a new way… folks can pay to have themselves drawn into the movie, and help raise the budget to get it made! http://www.thekindyoudonttakehometomother.com/beastar.html
February 10th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Yes sir!
thanks for spreading the word man!!
We love making animated films….and the internet has been so powerfull in putting people in touch with their community’s
by the way- heres our production blog..
http://www.justinrasch.blogspot.com
I usually update every week or 2 on the production.
justin rasch
February 11th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
I checked out the links you posted and fundable.com is defunct. From the talk on the web it was poorly conceived and fell apart in 2006 with a bit of a “scam” stink about it. A great idea though.