crowdfunding - a solution for the starving (commercial) artist

As we prepare to go live in a few short weeks with our crowdfunding engine, we now understand that we may have a solution for the expression "starving artist" as it pertains to filmmakers.

We believe that fans will dictate the market, and that if these films do not reach critical mass or 100% funding, perhaps what the fans or market is saying is that the project being addressed is not strong enough for worldwide appeal.

I'm not speaking of video artist projects or short films. I'm speaking of feature film proposals that are intended for a theatrical release. These projects, using our engine will be able to predicate whether or not they will have an audience in advance, and this is great news for exhibitors, dvd manufacturers, and content delivery networks. Its also good for the filmmakers as all films funded using this system will have no debt, and I think everyone can agree that the last thing people need in their lives now is debt.

The one thing that the filmmakers must wrap their head around is the process of sharing revenue that is made with members within their project. In a traditional deal filmmakers are basically put out to pasture when it comes to the revenue side of the film business. This is the way it has been and will continue to be in the traditional world of film finance and distribution. That being said it will be interesting to see if filmmakers that use our system will allocate a fair percentage of the revenue back to the fans that funded it in the first place. The percentage that they share with the fans is determined by the filmmaker and not by our engine, so it will be interesting to see if fans support filmmakers who appear to be more ego driven or greed driven in their ownership proposals. The market will speak and from this we will be able to find an optimal formula that best serves the fans and the filmmakers.

We know that some filmmakers will reach 100% funding using our system and this is our ultimate goal....to have a creative project that is unencumbered by banking, legal, and distribution decisions, and that the fans and the filmmaker can together shape and deliver the project to the screen with no debt, and an army of marketers.

We also know that some filmmakers will not reach their funding goals, and to this we say that in a way its perhaps the opinion of the masses that you should not be looking at this project as a commercial vehicle that you are using other people's money to make. We're not saying that the project does not have artistic merit...what we are saying is that the market demand for your story does not work at the price tag of production.

Finally, we hope that the films that are funded by fans can successfully earn more net revenue after exhibitor and distribution costs. What this would prove is that fans and filmmakers could work together to create a sustainable film economy....and that would be really fantastic!

We encourage anyone who is interested in the crowdfunding, social media markets, motion pictures and fan based web 2.0 to sign up for our BETA at www.biracy.com In a couple of weeks time we will be walking producers, writers, marketers, journalists, distributors, and film fans alike through our process and from this we will select one project to move forward with.

If you have any questions regarding the project please contact me in writing and I will address all of your questions in a timely manner. You can reach me directly at dgeertz AT biracy DOT com

Thanks

David Geertz