feature Artists of all kinds have jumped on the crowd-funding bandwagon, proving online platforms can help raise the money needed to bring their creations to life. Columbia alumni, students, and faculty share lessons learned on their way to success.
Creator
Sean J.S. Jourdan (MFA ’09 ) Project
Teddy Boy
Sean Jourdan’s crew (many of whom are Columbia alumni) filmed his thriller Teddy Boy in Colorado.
In the video pitch for his Kickstarter campaign, filmmaker Sean J.S. Jourdan (MFA ’09), his wife, and their giggling baby daughter look directly into the camera and lay it all out for potential investors: “We want to do something special, something evocative, and just starting out, we don’t have the ability to just play it safe. I want to make something that one day, our daughter will be very proud of.” When he launched his online fundraising campaign in March 2012, Jourdan had been a filmmaker for a decade, writing award-winning scripts, and producing and directing short films, including his 27-minute-long MFA thesis film, The Beekeeper, a finalist in Columbia College Chicago’s 2012 Written Image Screenwriting Prize. Ready to create his first feature-length film, Teddy Boy, Jourdan hit the pavement to raise capital the traditional way, but the studios and financiers weren’t biting. That’s
Pweb extra
Watch Sean Jourdan’s Kickstarter video about his film Teddy Boy at colum.edu/demo.
when he turned to crowd funding, raising $35,633 from 244 backers—more than $2,000 beyond his original goal. His film, Teddy Boy, finished shooting in June 2012 and is slated to begin showing to select audiences in July 2013. “Without Kickstarter,” Jourdan says, “I wouldn’t have been able to make my first feature film—at least not now. For the past year, I’ve been the ‘almost’ guy. Kickstarter allowed me not to wait for other people to say yes.” In return for taking a small cut (4 to 9 percent) of the total amount raised, crowd-funding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo let artists and creators of all kinds launch online campaigns to solicit donations from friends, family, and supportive strangers for a specific project that might otherwise languish unfunded or take many more years to complete by traditional means. Columbia alumni, students, and faculty are breaking new ground with crowd funding, proving Kickstarter (the most well-known crowd-funding site) and similar sites can be a viable way to bring their creations into the world.
a feature-length film Campaign Start
March 14, 2012 Campaign End
April 16, 2012 Goal Amount
$33,333 Amount Received
$35,633 Backers
244 Best Advice
Start fundraising early. Contact everyone you know and pitch the project.
demo spring /summe r 2 013
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