Earlier this year I ran a successful Kickstarter campaign with a talented team of people. We exceeded our goal of raising $10,000 — days before our deadline. It was a great feeling!
Our talented designer, Tom, created these awesome t-shirts for our campaign.
Long before that campaign was launched, I spent many hours preparing. For years I labored over the idea of running my own campaign one day. I spent entirely too many hours reading, researching, and experimenting with crowdfunding so that I’d be ready when that day came. Now the campaign has concluded, we’re working on our backer rewards, and I’ve gotten slightly more sleep on a regular basis. I have had a little time to let some of the lessons I learned sink in. I’d love to share some with you. Here’s how to make an awesome Kickstarter video and raise funds for your next independent film:
- Create a Kickstarter video that mirrors your film in tone, production value, and content.
- Show yourself. And your team. People want to know who the money is supporting.
- Share excerpts so people know what to expect from your finished film.
- Leave time for post-production on your Kickstarter video: color correction, final sound mix, etc.
- Make it your own. You don’t have to follow everyone else’s recipe.
Check out the campaign we launched earlier this year for Brewconomy, my next documentary about NC craft beer right here. I learned a lot working on it. Watch the video we made below.
Now I’d like to know what kind of info you want about making a Kickstarter video. What else would you like to know? Are you launching a crowdfunding campaign of your own? Just starting the process? Do tell!