|
Arin Crumley
|
NY
Putting real life into film, podcasting to extend the narrative, captivating social network audiences, Google mapping the audience demand for a theatrical release and digitally distributing to millions of internet viewers around the world. The pioneering efforts of Arin Crumley haven’t gone un-noticed as Indiewire, MovieMaker, The Wall Street Journal, The Spirit Awards, The Sundance Channel, IFC TV, & many others have jumped into the echo chamber further demonstrating all that new media has to offer.
Today The Wall Street Journal lists Arin among the top 20 new media moguls, and applauds the co-creation of the popular independent film and online video series, Four Eyed Monsters. The film won the Sundance Channel Audience Award and was nominated for two spirit awards. Millions of viewers have engaged across multiple mediums with the project from podcasting, to MySpace to YouTube, facebook & twitter. The community around the film has participated in DIY theatrical screenings around the world and the audience has created material that has been put back into the project. The phenomena of Four Eyed Monsters has also attracted deals to air the film on IFC TV and the Super Channel as well as other foreign distribution interest.
Continuing his exploration into new media Arin also co-founder a research and development project called From Here to Awesome which has been uniting filmmakers to create the future models of collaboration, funding, production and distribution. All of this has lead to the development of many new films including one that was just shot out in the desert at burning man and is set for release in 2010. Keep track of all Arin’s projects and ideas on his blog at arincrumley.com
Projects by Arin Crumley (5)
Arin Crumley is Backing (1)
Recent Posts by Arin Crumley
-
Arin Crumley
commented on a project updateSorry only just seen these. @Melissa: Nope, filmmakers will get accounts automatically. No need to fill in extra forms. @Butterflies: So are we :) Kieran Masterton OpenIndie Co-Founder
Claim your reward!
This post is exclusive to backers.
-
Arin Crumley
Posted project update #10OpenIndie Development Screencast
Hi everyone,
Just a quick update to let you know that today I posted a screencast of my progress with building OpenIndie. If you're interested to see how far I've got and what kinda shape the site is in after four weeks of full time development check out the post on our blog.http://blog.openindie.com/post/318287012/openindie-development-screencast
As always if you have any questions, feel free to comment on the blog, on vimeo, or on here at Kickstarter. Alternative, pick my brains by email kieran AT openindie DOT com
Kieran Masterton
OpenIndie Co-Founder -
Arin Crumley
Posted project update #9Claim your reward!
This post is exclusive to backers.
-
Arin Crumley
commented on a projectThanks Mike, Mark, Linda and everyone! We did it!!!!!
-
Arin Crumley
commented on a projectSusi Walsh, glad to have you on board. And I'm into coming to Boston. Check http://arincrumley.com/travel and you can see where I'm loosely anticipating being in the next few months and feel free to propose some dates. To those who have upgraded from 100 to 200, that is great, even better is getting another awesome filmmaker on board. So talk to your friends. Give them the pep talks they need to part ways with this money. The point is this, we are funding and building this together. We could let corporations fund the tools we need, but then we wouldn't really get what we need. So we have to all work together to build this so we can reap the rewards once it works. Arin
-
Arin Crumley
commented on a projectHi Susi, Thank you so so much for your fantastically generous donation and we very much look forward to working with you too!! It's undoubtedly more practical for Arin to attend an event in the Boston area because he's on your side of the Atlantic :) However, I'm sure I'll find myself stateside during 2010 and would love to attend one of your events given the opportunity. Kieran Co-Founder OpenIndie
-
Arin Crumley
commented on a projectZak & Jill, There were some very inspiring interactions I had one on one with filmmakers at the forum this weekend. It's true, there is a real shift towards community and learning all the benefits of what happens when filmmakers really unite in the common goal to bring stories to the surface for society to learn more about it's self. Whether it's a social doc or a personal exploration or a sic fi or horror, all of the genres share in common the same goal of landing the message with the audience that wants that message. To see us now past 1/3 of our funding goal with still 16 days to go has me very confident that if we all keep blogging, tweeting and even getting on the phone with other filmmakers then we'll really see this happen. Arin
-
Arin Crumley
commented on a projectVanesa, We had a very neat experience trying this method with the first film I co-Directed called Four Eyed Monsters. We asked people to request the film, then we booked it in the cities with the most demand. Similar to paranormal activity who has recently had huge success with this technique. Here is a full Four Eyed Monsters case study that details how we made the film for very little and then embarked in this distribution method: http://foureyedmonsters.com/four-eyed-monsters-diy-case-study/ Arin
-
Arin Crumley
commented on a projectDavid, I also wanted to thank you for your concerns and input. The important thing to emphasis is that we are deploying a mult-phase process to build OpenIndie.com. We are only making promises we are fairly certain we can keep. The function we are offering to these first 100 filmmakers is a function that was created for Four Eyed Monsters already and one way of looking at it is that we are porting it over to 99 additional films. This is a load we feel the servers can handle. And we've timed it out so that with this money, it will be tight, but we'll be able to build that functionality. Plus the ability for anyone to put on a screening. Part of our plan is that as soon as we achieve raising this 10,000, we'll immediately begin the process of raising another 10,000 to keep the site going and to introduce the next slate of site features. We really want the community that will be using this site to fund it so that we don't have outside investors with advertising ambitions or some other motive that could interfere with the site best serving it's community. We are very glad to have yours and others critical eyes on what we are doing to help guide this project to success. Arin
-
Arin Crumley
commented on a projectOops! previous comment was Kieran posting from Arin's account. Apologies, account confusion ;)
-
Arin Crumley
commented on a projectThanks Anne! Openness is what it's all about! Looking forward to having you on board :)
-
Arin Crumley
commented on a projectThanks for the good words Roger. I love the stat about 100 million views to Zeitgeist, I didn't know it was that high. Of course I was one of them back when that was first circulating and have really been inspired by that film in much of what we did to get Four Eyed Monsters out there. Annie, as Kieran mentioned, the cost is going towards him being able to go full time to build this. I should mention I've tried other models for development of this same service. With Four Eyed Monsters we had hired Brian Chirls as essentially an employee of the film to build much of this for just our film and had plans to port it over for other filmmakers to use it. That model was good for experimentation but it relied on the revenue of just one film to pay for the entire development load so ultimately it was not sustainable and didn't work. We had to let Brian go as there was not money revenue to from Four Eyed Monsters to continue to pay him and the man needs to eat. Then MySpace and others were interested in hiring us as a team to make this service work for them, I wasn't interested but passed the opportunity to Brian who did some work in this direction with MySpace. Funding it that way of course brought up issues of ownership of the technology I didn't want to be a part of and that I know Brian struggled to balance that factor as he worked with MySpace. I then started my work with Lance on From Here to Awesome as a way to explore uniting filmmakers and film exhibitors in an effort to design and implement a connecting solution such as OpenIndie.com. The momentum there became very much about providing a proof of concept rather then the end solution. We Delivered 22 films onto digital platforms to explore those opportunities. From Here to Awesome didn't have funding or skills to create a service such as OpenIndie.com although I knew that was the missing link in all that we aimed to do. So that ended up functioning as further research and development into this concept. Then I had a really great experience with Kickstarter.com a month and a half ago raising money for a new feature I was about to shoot. We exceeded our fund raising goal of 2,500. It was at that point I realized the democracy in letting the internet supporters decide what projects I should or should not pursue. If there is support out there that can cover the cost of building OpenIndie.com, then it will happen. If there isn't, well, it may still happen, but we'll have to find another way to support it. A way that likely involves partnering with larger companies and investors. I'd really prefer to produce this site completely autonomously because many of the potential investors feel paralyzed and scared about where the indie film world is going so I worry they'd influence the creation of this tool to ease their fears about their futures. But rather then create this site from a place of fear and defense, I'd like to create it with excitement and hopefulness. I've always found the most excitement in connecting directly with filmmakers and film lovers and that is why we've decided to go with this model to fund the creation of OpenIndie.com. We have 23 days to raise another $8,443 dollars. I know that is asking a lot from filmmakers and film fans who might not have a lot of money. But so far we have 36 backers many of whom have contributed a small amount to encourage this to become a reality. If everyone who has donated gets one person to match what they donated then we'll double. And if then those people do the same, and so on and so on, pretty soon we'll be to our goal. So that is the hope here. Sarah, Glad to have you on board, you have some very good suggestions. OpenIndie.com is all about discovery. That's it's primary focus in the way we've been designing it. So yes, that is what makes it different then the other solutions for booking screenings. Now exactly how we implement all the bells and whistles of neat ways to discover, that is still up for discussion and your ideas set a very good foundation for that discussion to begin. We are open to hearing from everyone about how they'd ideally see discovery of films take place on OpenIndie.com. Right now the most powerful one that is inherently built into OpenIndie.com is to simply amplify each users action into a mini feed and allow a twitter/facebook style mini-feed viewer of all the friends and filmmakers you follow. So you'll know when a good friend RSVP's to a screening prompting you to hopefully want to visit the page for that film and watch the trailer and consider RSVPing yourself. Or when you follow a filmmaker and they have produced a new film that is being screened near you there is an automatic discovery that can take place. What we don't want to do is randomly throw lots of films at people that have nothing to do with what they are trying to look for. Amazon, eventful, and even netflix do this a bit too much in my opinion. So anytime someone is put in an environment for discovering films not already on their Radar, it should be because they clicked a button to call up new films that have nothing to do with their social circle, that way they aren't spammed with obscure films left and right. However, there is so much discovery to do just with-in what you friends and previously followed filmmakers are up to, that we feel step one is to close the word of mouth gap. So out of the gate OpenIndie.com hopes to digitally provide what already happens in organic word of mouth amongst friends. And help it happen quicker and in a trackable way. This alone will bring so much power to discovering indie films and seeing the demand for a film in a particular area. Many more functions to let a film fan delve deeper can emerge as the volume of films increases beyond 100 and eventually I imagine an unlimited number of ways audiences can discover films as eventually people write their own discovery algorithms aided by the sites infrastructure. Feel free to ask any other questions or make any other comments here or message me directly if that better suits you. Thanks again to everyone putting the word out about our fund raising campaign. Arin Crumley OpenIndie.com Co-Founder arincrumley.com
-
Arin Crumley
commented on a projectRather then the mafia style "we're the collectors and we are here to collect" type approach, the donation model allows for a more inviting atmosphere. It's more inviting to the host of a screening because why should they carry the burden of risk? It's more inviting to the audience because they are already risking loosing all this time if the movie is bad, why force them to risk money as well? And it is more inviting to the money because when you feel good about giving money, when you feel like you have a choice, there is a chance you'll actually give more money. Radio Head proved that with In Rainbows letting the fans choose what they want to pay. It also changes the type of screenings that are possible. The donation model allows free screenings to take place. If in screening in someone's home, this is great. It can be a potluck style refreshments solution and everyone can have a good time and throw some money at the filmmaker after the end. I shouldn't say "tip jar" cause that implies change, I'm talking a money basket, something that gets passed around with like 10, 20, 40 dollars being put in. Especially if the filmmaker puts a message at the start about their current project and how they are raising money for that, I think there is a really good chance it can happen that way. And if someone puts nothing in the basket, in many cases this could be people who never would have watched your movie, so it's getting more exposure. Also people who RSVP to a movie will have the option to "follow" a filmmaker meaning they'll automatically "request" any film that filmmaker makes in the future. So you are building your fan base by having these screenings, especially if your movie is good and if people want to see other movies you make. Now this makes sense for home screenings, but how does it make sense for proper theatrical? Well what we've been discussing, and this is open to more discussion, is to have it be that up to 50 percent of the collected donations can be put towards a venue fee. Also, there is nothing stopping a venue from having a recommended donation they take at the door. The idea is to take a less military mafia tactic towards collecting money and a more punk rock show meets church meets art gallery meets folk concert approach. The reason why is that you have to keep the people feeling good so the over all thing is a good experience. Also filmmakers & hosts need a certain level of confidence that people will give money. And a culture needs to be created where giving money is understood as a way to be encouraging that kind of a think to go on. Indie music gets it and honestly indie music has thrived because they get it. Indie film is languishing a bit at the moment, but it's okay, we just have to take steps in the right direction towards getting it. Arin
-
Arin Crumley
commented on a projectJenny, I've always loved your film and would be so happy to have you guys on board. In terms of your mailing list. That is completely optional and in your control. Only involve the email addresses you feel good about. In 2006 Susan and I started going around to festivals and conferences and recommending that filmmakers collect zip codes and email addresses for of people that want to see their film. So that is the list we imagine being uploaded. This site is designed to provide a use for that kind of a list. So in your case, maybe you have some of that and can upload but for the rest you simply send an email inviting them to visit your openindie page where they can sign up to get updates about screenings in their area. That would be a good way to work it. But the point is it's all up to you. In terms of DVDs, the host of a screening is welcome to screen the film in what ever way they decide. That being said, in all my festival experience, DVDs are not as reliable as computer playback. Computers crash way less often then DVDs skip. And if a computer gets a little hot it might drop a few frames, but a DVD player having problems might glitch out completely and then just stop. So there is going to be a large emphasis on people playing back digitally. Also, in terms of rights, OpenIndie.com isn't a download selling platform, it's a theatrical platform. So if you have your theatrical rights, you'll be okay. That being said, some people may use OpenIndie.com to review films to consider them for a theatrical screening and if there is ever a need to either split money with another company or simply back out of openindie.com then both will be possible. But one thing to say is you can definitely link to the DVD purchasing page for your film from your openindie.com page. The other thing to mention is that we are planning a series of technical check files. One for audio that plays white noise out of each audio channel so that people can determine if their speaker system is properly set up. Also an NTSC color bars video along with blue glasses that can be ordered. WIth this system they can adjust the color on their projector to be as accurate as possible. Further more hosts will build a reputation for the type of screenings they are able to achieve. So for audiences who really enjoy top notch image and sound quality, the spaces that provide that will quickly rise to the top. But also, if the only way to see a very important documentary is in someone's back yard and the street lights are spilling onto the screen a bit, if it's a good film you'll not be bothered and will still have an intense experience. That is what I've learned being a part of all kinds of festival funky screening situations. Let me know if you have any questions and looking forward to possibility of having you on board, Arin
-
Arin Crumley
commented on a project updateThanks for all the feedback and comments guys. We'll post more images to consider for promo stills soon. Also, we are considering another round of donations for our pick up shoots at the end of october. Currently we've used the entire budget so as soon as we know what expenses will be associated with those shots, which means as soon as I review enough raw material to know what is missing, I think I know whats missing, but feel I have to list it all out to be positive, then I'll be able to lock that in and start a phase two kick starter. This will be called something like "Shooting Pick Up Scenes in New York & CT" or something to that effect and I'll post about it here so that all of you will be a able to be a part of that too. They'll also be some bonus perks for the double timer donators. Also, Salvatron & Clay, you both expressed interest in helping edit, if we exchanged some raw materials via SD card mailing would you guys be interested in editing a smaller subset of the larger project and then sending back? If so I can factor this into the workflow to try to share the load and make this all more collaborative for everyone.
Super Secret Stills for your eyes only - Seeking MAC PRO, assistant editor, brooklyn warehouse, extras
This post is exclusive to backers.
-
Arin Crumley
Posted project update #17Update to Backers Only: In SF, shooting tomorrow - also a neat photo for you
This post is exclusive to backers.
-
Arin Crumley
Posted project update #8Having trouble finding your reward email?
This post is exclusive to backers.
-
Arin Crumley
Posted project update #7It's time to say thank you!
Hello everyone,
My wife, Katie, has just sent out a number of mass emails to all of you who donated to OpenIndie phase one. She has kindly offered to help Arin and I fulfill the rewards for phase one as we are both incredibly busy getting the site ready for launch on March 1st.If you think you should have received an email today and you didn't, it may be that your email address slipped through the net or bounced for some unforeseen reason. If that's the case we're really sorry, please email: katie AT openindie DOT com with your name and the reward you claimed. She will then endeavour to put things right.
Thank you once again for your donations and support. Development is going extremely well and we're super excited about the designs that are in the works.
Follow all the latest development updates on Twitter at @openindie Check out what Arin's up to @arincrumley And find out what I'm having for lunch @kieranmasterton
Kieran Masterton
OpenIndie Co-Founder -
Arin Crumley
Posted project update #16Day 1 of Editing - 4 scenes rough cut!
Thanks to Sean & Paula for processing and organizing all of our footage so that editing can now begin. We have 3 workstations set up in Stafford Springs CT at Rogers house. One for Susan, one for Josh and one that Roger and I are working on together. We just got done screening the 4 scenes that we rough cut today and here is what was said by Josh, Susan & Roger:
JOSH: It feels like more of our story is there then we thought was there.
SUSAN: A couple scenes go a long way.
JOSH: I was concerned before we'd have a hard time coming up with 40 minutes to represent our story.
ROGER: Now it's like, wow, nope.
SUSAN: It felt like we had to shoot our entire half of the movie in one weekend, but now it feels like we really got something.
ROGER: It feels beefier then I expected. When people say something it resonates and it has layers.
SUSAN: Yeah, and the acting is not too bad.
This is all great news cause going through raw footage of a movie can make a director really have lots of regrets. I have felt a few times today like I messed up while shooting or didn't do a good enough job paying attention to details, but then by the end of today, the scenes are looking solid and like we don't need to reshoot them. So it's really going very well.
PERKS UPDATE:
Those who are getting a rough cut sneak peak as a perk, because the files took way longer to process then we anticipated, your rough cut preview material will come later then we said in our perks description. But keep an eye out for a special email at some point with some rough cut scenes. Also to those getting a Four Eyed Monsters poster and DVD, those are going out next week.
PS. Roger is here and says hello to all the backers.
-
Arin Crumley
Posted project update #6We did it!!!! And, an important question answered.
Thanks to everyone who donated, as of Thursday 29th October 2009, OpenIndie is officially happening. I handed in my notice at work the same day, so in four weeks time, OpenIndie will be my full time occupation. We couldn't have done it without you, so sincerely, thank you!Arin and I have been overwhelmed by the support and encouragement and are over the moon that we achieved 124% of our funding goal. The extra money will not go on booze and a slap up meal however, the 10k "bootstrap" for OpenIndie is far from the actual cost of running a website of this kind so we're incredibly grateful for the extra funds.
If you are one of the 21 backers who are in line to receive a Four Eyed Monsters Music CD then we will be in touch shortly to request your postal details. Likewise, if you are a filmmaker or site member we will be in touch so that we can gather some details and get you on the correct mailing lists etc.
Next, a question that a filmmaker recently asked us via email, that I think it is incredibly important to address. So here's what she asked, and I paraphrase, "is OpenIndie only for open source films, meaning films that are not seeking, or do not already have, any other form of theatrical distribution?" Now, I want to address this question because it's not only fundamental to everyone's understanding of what we're trying to do with OpenIndie but is also pivotal to what we're doing with Phase Two.
In short, no, OpenIndie is not just about films being free, or open source, or however else you want to put it. I have my own opinions about totally free film as I'm sure Arin does, and I personally think given the digital world in which we live that giving your film away for free is a perfectly reasonable enterprise. However, this is not the sole purpose of OpenIndie and in particular this is an issue that Phase Two addresses.
Phase Two is about developing a feature of OpenIndie called OpenLicense. The feature is a means by which to describe how members of the OpenIndie community can distribute your film. This means that you, as a filmmaker, will have control over the types of screenings that occur, where they occur and how the revenue from these screenings is divided. One of our primary motivations behind this feature is to allow filmmakers who already have distribution in a given territory or are in the process of seeking distribution in say, North America, to still be able to have their film screened anywhere else in the world via OpenIndie. If you land a traditional distribution deal in say, Sweden, you can alter your OpenLicense to prevent OpenIndie screenings in Sweden. The OpenLicense is, we believe, the beginning of a reliable revenue stream for OpenIndie filmmakers.
To find out more about OpenLicense or if you're a filmmaker and would like to join our second wave of films on OpenIndie, you should visit our Kickstarter campaign for Phase Two:
Finally, thank you again to everyone who put their hand in their pocket and have enabled Arin and I to make OpenIndie a reality.
Kieran Masterton
OpenIndie Co-Founder -
Arin Crumley
commented on a projectThanks Mike, Mark, Linda and everyone! We did it!!!!!
-
Arin Crumley
commented on a projectSusi Walsh, glad to have you on board. And I'm into coming to Boston. Check http://arincrumley.com/travel and you can see where I'm loosely anticipating being in the next few months and feel free to propose some dates. To those who have upgraded from 100 to 200, that is great, even better is getting another awesome filmmaker on board. So talk to your friends. Give them the pep talks they need to part ways with this money. The point is this, we are funding and building this together. We could let corporations fund the tools we need, but then we wouldn't really get what we need. So we have to all work together to build this so we can reap the rewards once it works. Arin
-
Arin Crumley
Posted project update #542 hours remain - Simple things you can do to help raise $1121
High five to those who are already backers.
We have 42 hours to get the word out to those you think should be coming along for the ride.
So we need your help spreading the word. Below are social media things you can do to get the word out very easily, just copy and paste and modify as needed.
TWITTER:
(number of hours) left but FIRST YOU'VE GOT TO GET MAD! http://bit.ly/3pVnUv Then helping fund OpenIndie will be easy http://bit.ly/752Dl
(check how many hours are actually left and change as needed.)
FACEBOOK:
42 hours left to fund OpenIndie and here is what is in it for you: 1 dollar gets early membership to the site. 15 dollars gets Four Eyed Monsters Music CD. 100 dollars gets your film as one of the first 100 pioneering films to get seen theatrically. Donate now: http://bit.ly/752Dl But first, GET MAD! http://bit.ly/3pVnUv
BLOG:
Go to http://arincrumley.com and http://kieranmasterton.com and you'll see ample quotes and videos to embed as well as tons of outgoing links you can also use for references to construct a blog that you feel sells people on why this is a good idea.
INTERVIEW: If you'd like to interview me or kieran for a blog, podcast or even off the record just one on one to ask about how OpenIndie.com works, no problem, just reach out to us, we are just our names as one word at gmail.com.
Good night and good luck!
Arin
-
Arin Crumley
Posted project update #4New Reward: Four Eyed Monsters Music CD
Hi everyone,
Yesterday we added a new reward for everyone who donates $15 or more. OpenIndie.com is being created based on the distribution strategies Arin and Susan implemented with Four Eyed Monsters, so in celebration of this, you will receive a Four Eyed Monsters Music CD for donations of $15 or more.TRACK LIST OF THE CD YOU'LL GET:
1. Paper Jones – (David Bowie I Love You) Since I Was Six
2. Gene Serene – All Over You
3. Spinto Band – Oh Mandy
4. Brian Jonestown Massacre – (David Bowie I Love You) Since I Was Six
5. Ben and Bruno – New Friend
6. Paper Jones – Collars Up
7. Heather Renee – Drifting
8. Apes & Androids – Hot Kathy
9. The Golden Pastime – In The Beginning
10. Paper Jones – Moriarti
11. National Eye – Bird and Sword
12. Parenthetical Girls – Love Connection, pt. II
13. Stone Jack Jones – Smile
14. Uncredited at request of Artist
15. Mansfields – Heard It Through Mom
16. Magdyn Osh – All of YouAlready donated?
Don't worry you can still get your hands on a CD. If you donated over $15 already simply click the big blue "MANAGE YOUR PLEDGE" button in the sidebar and choose the CD reward before clicking the "ADJUST YOUR PLEDGE" button at the bottom of the screen. Likewise, if you have donated under $15 but would like to take the opportunity to grab a Four Eyed Monsters Music CD then you can also click the "MANAGE YOUR PLEDGE" button, adjust the amount of your pledge to $15 or more, select the reward, then confirm by clicking "ADJUST YOUR PLEDGE"Please note: this reward is only available to those who live in the US, Canada or UK due to shipping costs
Kieran
OpenIndie Co-Founder -
Arin Crumley
commented on a projectHi Susi, Thank you so so much for your fantastically generous donation and we very much look forward to working with you too!! It's undoubtedly more practical for Arin to attend an event in the Boston area because he's on your side of the Atlantic :) However, I'm sure I'll find myself stateside during 2010 and would love to attend one of your events given the opportunity. Kieran Co-Founder OpenIndie
-
Arin Crumley
Posted project update #3Lets build OpenIndie.com Together (Half way to our Funding Goal)
We've past the half way mark towards our funding and I've been reading the amazing discussion taking place on our campaign comments and saw that already we are getting great input for how the site should function from our backers.
In addition to Kieran and I's direct responses I wanted to make a post to say that the point is this, the possibilities are endless. Kieran is a computer programmer with over 10 years of experience building similar infrastructures. So we can all bring our ideas to the table and make this thing do anything we want it too. Also I've been planning how this could all function for over 4 years by constantly envisioning this future system every time I made a new distribution move with Four Eyed Monsters. There are pages and pages of notes and ideas and sketches and drawings and concepts for how I see a new film industry functioning and OpenIndie.com is designed to be a huge part of the missing link.
But even with all of these ideas we have, it's the backers who will aid more then anybody the actual shape of this new service. First of all you guys bring money to the project which is huge. And secondly you are our base of filmmakers and users that will inform us how the system should be developed. The plan is to regularly update the backers with what the sites components are looking like as the get built. Comments about each update will play into the development and inform the direction we take phase 1. And then of course there will be phase 2 where we all get to try out the new system and learn what can improve.
So we are building the future together. What your donation means is that we are all going to make this happen together.
Of course this only happens if we fund. So please, spread the word. Reach out to a few fans of your work, see if they'll back even just 1 dollar. And if you know feature or short filmmakers, reach out to them as well. Share with them your reasons for backing this project and invite them to do the same.
Also, I've noticed many filmmakers pledging 20 dollars, I'd strongly encourage you to increase your pledge to 100 so that your film can actually be one of the 100 films that gets the free 1 hour of consulting and gets to use the service of the site. Kickstarter makes it very easy to increase your donation. Just hit the button and you can type in any number during the time frame that the campaign is live.
Thanks for supporting OpenIndie.com and have a wonderful day...
Arin Crumley
co-founder -
Arin Crumley
Posted project update #15You can be in our film Nov 20th, 21st or 22nd in NYC
This post is exclusive to backers.
-
Arin Crumley
commented on a projectZak & Jill, There were some very inspiring interactions I had one on one with filmmakers at the forum this weekend. It's true, there is a real shift towards community and learning all the benefits of what happens when filmmakers really unite in the common goal to bring stories to the surface for society to learn more about it's self. Whether it's a social doc or a personal exploration or a sic fi or horror, all of the genres share in common the same goal of landing the message with the audience that wants that message. To see us now past 1/3 of our funding goal with still 16 days to go has me very confident that if we all keep blogging, tweeting and even getting on the phone with other filmmakers then we'll really see this happen. Arin
-
Arin Crumley
commented on a projectVanesa, We had a very neat experience trying this method with the first film I co-Directed called Four Eyed Monsters. We asked people to request the film, then we booked it in the cities with the most demand. Similar to paranormal activity who has recently had huge success with this technique. Here is a full Four Eyed Monsters case study that details how we made the film for very little and then embarked in this distribution method: http://foureyedmonsters.com/four-eyed-monsters-diy-case-study/ Arin
-
Arin Crumley
commented on a projectDavid, I also wanted to thank you for your concerns and input. The important thing to emphasis is that we are deploying a mult-phase process to build OpenIndie.com. We are only making promises we are fairly certain we can keep. The function we are offering to these first 100 filmmakers is a function that was created for Four Eyed Monsters already and one way of looking at it is that we are porting it over to 99 additional films. This is a load we feel the servers can handle. And we've timed it out so that with this money, it will be tight, but we'll be able to build that functionality. Plus the ability for anyone to put on a screening. Part of our plan is that as soon as we achieve raising this 10,000, we'll immediately begin the process of raising another 10,000 to keep the site going and to introduce the next slate of site features. We really want the community that will be using this site to fund it so that we don't have outside investors with advertising ambitions or some other motive that could interfere with the site best serving it's community. We are very glad to have yours and others critical eyes on what we are doing to help guide this project to success. Arin
