28 THE STANDARD STYLE / ARTS / BOOKWORM
March 1 to 7 2015
Crowdfunding a story Bookworm Dear Friend, I am almost finished writing the first 65 episodes of my new soap opera “Shawasha Hills.” If you are interested in getting involved, your help will be much appreciated please send letter of interest as an investor to Stephen T Chigorimbo at africasun@ zol.co.zw and we will reply in confidence supplying an agreement whereby in contributing a small amount, to develop this new exciting project you become a % owner of the series. Kind regards, Stephen Chigorimbo
A
curious meme is spreading through the world: crowdfunding. Veteran actor and film director Stephen Chigorimbo recently announced a crowdfunding initiative on the social network platform Facebook for a new TV soap opera with the working title, Shawasha Hills. This is the first time a Zimbabwean writer has sought crowdfunding for a story. Indeed, it is sobering to note that as a filmmaker, Chigorimbo is aware that things are changing. Around the world more and more films are being created outside the studio system, and some of them are of very high quality. It’s a beautiful and simple idea: have your audience fund your film directly in exchange for intimate access to the process and have ownership of the project. It’s a new way to fund and follow creativity. Perhaps the more success we can get outside the studio system for independent filmmakers, the better. That means quality, professionally handled projects that are not compromised. And weaning off from our sickening on NGOs. But crowdfunding is a show and tell game. It is whether you can put together a solid project, attach good, known people around it and then put on a great show. Historically, the local film industry has depended on donor funding. The successful and big projects in Zimbabwe such as the long running drama Studio 263 and various feature films like Neria, Yellow Card were all didactic scripts sponsored to teach and this was largely to meet the needs of the financiers. There were public and moral lesson behind the stories. Chigorimbo has been a round for a long time. He knows how hard it is to get backing for a film project in Zimbabwe. It means spending all of your energy trying to convince funders and sometimes being forced to sign bad deals and compromising a lot. It is clear he no longer wants to be in these discussions again and possibly doesn’t want to spend another five years or more trying to come up with the money. But Chigorimbo’s letter of invitation to potential investors in his crowdfunding mission
has a lot of general but important information missing. What is his initial target? What is the schedule of this project? When does he expect to have raised the funds? What does being a percentage owner of the series means? Apart from himself, who else is part of this project? Considering lack of interest in the national broadcaster ZTV and rampant piracy, how is the soap going to be distributed and make money? Who are some of the cast? Crowdfunding is about collaboration and people want to know what they are getting themselves involved and what they are investing to. While the Facebook announcement generated more than 60 likes and several comments in a few days, there has been no further update from Chigorimbo. A successful crowd-
funding campaign requires clear and transparent communication between the funders and those seeking funding. Crowdfunding is akin to relationships, if you don’t nurture them and give them the requisite attention they deserve, they atrophy and die. A soap opera is primarily defined as a long running drama concerned with everyday life. I am not sure if asking people to contribute to a long-term project is a sustainable model for this type of TV genre. Successful soaps may continue for many years: so new viewers have to be able to join in at any stage in the serial. In serials, the passage of time also appears to reflect ‘real time’ for the viewers: in long-running soaps the characters age as the viewers do.
Is this the new way to funding our stories into books or films or songs? In the US there are platforms for crowdfunding such as Kickstarter and Indigogo. What if a platform existed in Zimbabwe that facilitated this new formula: where a reader or those who love film could support the production of books and films they want? What if our private sector could pool money together and create a platform to support the funding of the arts? What if…. It is time to reinvent our creative processes. Thank you Stephen Chigorimbo for stepping outside the box. Feedback: bhukuworm@gmail.com