Rachael Turk

A Quick Guide to Crowdfunding

Alan Crabbe, with yours truly and husband Ben Cooper just behind him :)

The inaugural Creative Mornings Sydney kicked off this morning with a talk by Pozible co-founder Alan Crabbe on the reality of crowdfunding and the benefits of his particular platform, the largest in Australia.

Crowdfunding was loosely quoted as meaning “to get heaps of people to chip in to do something epic”!

In a nutshell, the benefits of crowdfunding (apart from the much-needed cash) include:
• an engaged audience
• proof of concept
• social media integration (Vimeo, bookmarking and blogging functions)
• leverage (for brands and further investment)

See Kevin Kelly’s concept of the ‘1000 True Fans’ (“a circle of diehard fans which can provide you with a living”) and how they are so crucial in the ongoing success of your efforts. And so need to be supported as such.

Tips for the kinds of things that work on Pozible are:
• having an existing fanbase (Facebook, Twitter)
• word of mouth
• local organisations and communities
• influential people and recognition (make those who have helped you known on your project)
• visual appeal
• the personal and real
• unique offerings in return
• video

Stuart Bowen, behind the short, stop motion animation project Woody, raised over $12K (from an $11K goal) in first batch on Pozible and almost $6K (from a $5,500 goal) in a followup call for finishing funds. His video is testament to how a well-produced video can work well within a great pitch. At the same time, he went for (and got) Emerging Filmmaker funding from Screen NSW.

His advice is to budget properly first and ask for it all in one hit, with even a little slush factored in.

Given his aim is for a large festival release for Woody after completion, he offers a “Supporter and Crew Screening” online with an HD download after the festival shelf-life.

Whilst the size of Pozible’s project base is smaller than Kickstarter’s – currently numbering 230 projects versus 2,500 – and even IndieGogo, the benefits of Pozible were described as:
• hands-on support and advice
• smaller cut taken by the platform (5-7.5%)
• contributions made in AUD
• building awareness amongst your Australian home base, much like the release of a film on home soil first.

Stay tuned for Scratch, our own Pozible pitch in coming days!

Still from Woody

Pozible co-founder Alan Crabbe with Creative Sydney founders Marie and Flyn

Photos by Liz Laughton @pixelchickenAus

My latest story for The Sydney Morning Herald:

Maiden Voyages
Eat Pray Love is the latest in a string of movies to examine the feminine drive for love. My own sordid tale is no exception…

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Czechs & balances: Monika Charvátová reports new Czech film rebate

Czech producer Monika Charvátová, formerly of Film Studio Gatteo and now partner of US producer Steven North of Iskra Productions (Vukovar, The Last Butterfly), is in Sydney this week.

She reports that this month the Czech government has finally fallen into line with the rest of Europe by launching a 20 percent tax rebate for productions shooting in the country (Hungary had a similar incentive as early as 2004; Germany 2008 and France 2009.)

Films seeking to access the scheme must have 75 percent of their budget secured from other sources and must pass a broad test for Czech and/or European “culture point scale” – as required by the European Commission – that includes factors such as make-up of crews, script and local partners.

Locals are hoping it will help put the Czech Republic back on the map after the industry was seriously hit by a drop in ad production.

North is currently developing a project with Australian TV producer Paul Barron (Parallax), with Peter Andrikidis (East West 101, BlackJack) likely to direct.

Window of opportunity: Mia Bays in Sydney

From small budgets, great things can come.

It worked for Kieslowski, who believed that technical and budgetary constraints always forced a simple and often more ingenious type of creativity.

Mia Bays, the marketing consultant for micro-studio Film London Microwave, agrees, giving here an anecdote about how budgetary limitations on the £100,000 Shifty forced even better solutions:

“There’s a great scene where Shifty is doing a regular drop to an older woman. As written, the woman has lots of cats. In pre-production, the production designer and producers said ‘we can’t afford real cats, and there’s a risk they won’t behave and you won’t get the shot.’ They pushed the director Eran Creevy to think about stuffed cats instead, to show her obsession. Soon, the flat became filled with cat trinkets; it followed right through the production design. Then one of the lead actors reacted spontaneously to the stuffed cat. Now it’s now a really, really funny scene.

“That’s happened several times on Shifty and on Freestyle, which is coming out in UK cinemas in February.”

Mia Bays will present the keynote address at 9.30am this Saturday at SPAA Fringe. Curious Film’s Michael Wrenn will talk about the Australian release strategy on Friday, 5-6pm at Friday On My Mind.

My latest story for Screen Hub:

The Tree to blossom with Gainsbourg

Australian/French co-production project The Tree has secured acclaimed French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg (The Science of Sleep, Lemming), its executive producer Rosemary Blight announced today.

To read in full (and subscription-free!), click here.

Friday’s story for Screen Hub:

Boutique Euro business bodes well for Aust film sales

While specialty divisions such as Fox Searchlight and Focus Features shift their focus from foreign film acquisitions to highly packaged movies with major talent and a marketable pitch, this has paved the way for new players – and therefore new opportunities for independent Australian film.

To read in full (and subscription-free!), click here.

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Peter Weir makes his way back to Australia for post

It has been confirmed that Australian director Peter Weir will complete his next film The Way Back in New South Wales through a substantial post-production and digital visual effects component.

EFilm and Stage One Sound will conduct the sound mix and the DI (digital intermediate), having had their senior colorist Olivier Fontenay working alongside DOP Russell Boyd on the shoot in Bulgaria.

Rising Sun Pictures is the sole provider of the film’s 81 visual effects shots. It was through this clustering of work that the $5m threshold for the 15% PDV rebate was triggered.

To read in full (and subscription-free!), click here.

My latest story for Screen Hub:

FTO hangs out Green Lantern

After a tough four years that saw the state’s production levels flag, it’s all systems go for New South Wales film industry after yesterday’s announcement that big-budget Hollywood film Green Lantern will be shot in the state, creating around 500 jobs and providing a major boost for the state’s film industry…

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NBCal flies high (if solo) in Aust

Independent American community bank the National Bank of California (NBCal) is taking its “remote services” to a new level with a lend offering to the Australian film industry.

A much needed source of lending capability in this country, NBCal is offering film and television production loans (including discounting pre-sales, cash flow of domestic and international tax incentives, and gap financing), corporate lines of credit and acquisition financing…

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My story for Screen Hub today:

Branded Entertainment: Call for cross-platform savvy contracts

A forum exploring the future of branded entertainment held by the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA) on February 24 has revealed an urgent need for industrial policies to get up to speed with the changing nature and requirements of branded entertainment…

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