FUNDING Part 1

             FUNDING Part 1     

      

Project funding was the topic of the April 10,2012 StoryCode Immersions at the Film Society Lincoln Center. The immersions hosts were Mike Knowlton of StoryCode and Sparrow Hall Author and New Media Innovator.  Done in two parts, Knowlton’s presentation was focused on the providing an overview of funding, Hall jumped in for part two of the immersions talking about brands. That being said I’m going to break this blog posting into two separate posts so I can cover both aspects of the immersion adequately. Lets start with first kind of funding anyone ever has self-funding.

SELF-FUNDING

Just as the name says self-funding come from you. You are taking your hard earned money and putting it into a transmedia project. When self-funding consider putting together several different budget. Really learn how to work a budget. Ask other people that have self-funded projects about what the have learned about how to use their own money. Sharing what you doing in a open source, meet up environment is all so help to self-funders.

CROWD SOURCE

A new trend in funding is Crowd Source funding. This is when you get a group of people that you don’t know donate money to your project’s goal. You have a certain amount of time to reach this goal. If you reach the goal amount in the allotted time you get the money. If you don’t you get nothing. Two of the biggest crowned sourcing web sites are indie go-go (indiegogo.com) and kickstarter (kickstarter.com).  A first glance they both look almost the same the theoretically. But big different between the two are how much money they take from you’re the funding.  Indie go-go takes 9% if goal not met; 4% if met. Kickstarter only funds if met, at 5%. But you really need good strategies to get people to notice you project. One is to ask people early in the week. Researching, having a team, an amazing video, having your campaign come out in phases, partnering people that make you project more visible is also effective.

INVESTORS/ VENTER CAPITALS (VCs)

When using investors/VCs remember that it is more about value position and less about story. Perfect your elevator pitch to take advantage of sudden opportunities. Preparing an investor deck will show that you are thinking with an investors/VCs mind and will separate you from others. Investors/VCs are less likely to fund experiments so business model is paramount. Showcasing any new technology that you inventing is always attractive especially if you can use in any future projects.

MARKETS

Markets are events where you pay to shop you project for funding to possible funders. Examples of markets are Power to the Pixel - Pixel Market and the BANFF Co-Production and Co-Venture Business Market. When dealing with markets you should expectations that a realistic. Have Headphone if you plan on playing you trailer or video.

CONFERENCES

Now I know the sound crazy but your goal at conferences are to increase your contacts so you can follow towards setting up meeting that could get you funding. This is also a good place for your evaluator pitch. Some upcoming conferences included StoryWorld - SF in 2011, LA in 2012, Ad: Tech - Fall NY / Spring SF, Digital Hollywood - Fall NY / Spring LA, and StoryCodes own Hackathons - TechCrunch / StoryCode in May 2012.

GRANTS / LABS

Getting funding from grants and Labs are very difficult in the U.S. doe to stiff competition. Canada and Europe on the other hand has government allocated   funding transmedia projects so you should consider bringing in a Canadian Co-production. Some leads for grants are http://creative-capital.org, Tribeca New Media Fund, Sundance New Frontiers. If you thinking about going the Canada and Europe route you can information on the  http://kulturvulturz.tumblr.com/post/12332547408/where-i-correct-the-rumors-regarding-transmedia-money blog.

In Funding Part 2 I break down Sparrow Hall's half the Immersion where he talks about funding working with brands.