Without the same support large organisations receive, it can be difficult for some producers to make their films economically sustainable. News ways of funding is changing the film production landscape – making space for independent filmmakers.
The Creative industries are recognised worldwide for both their cultural and economic importance. In the UK, there is a dedicated department known as the DCMS (The Department of Culture, Media and Sport) whose aim is to support the Creative Industries position within society. The DCMS officially recognises nine subsections of the creative industries such as advertising, publishing, film and museums.
According to the British Council, one role of the DCMS is to provide funding for the Arts within the UK, for example by providing an annual grant to organisations such as the British Film Institute. However, these funds are limited and can be difficult for smaller, independent or localised artists/projects to access/be accepted to.
Massimo Salvato, an Italian film director and producer, experienced these funding issues while making one of his films. The ‘Shaman of Rust‘ is a documentary-style film which follows Jonathon Sherwood and a group of fellow artists as they are forced to move around different empty shops in Newport, Wales, in order to make space for the council’s new shopping centre development. The film was produced on a minimal budget, with the majority of filming completed by Salvato himself and some footage, for example, the controversial destruction of the Chartist mural wall in Newport’s John Frost Square, being filmed opportunistically on a mobile phone by a friend of the director.
When unable sustain the economic stability required to finish the production and, unfortunately, with little interest from major production companies, Salvato, feeling that the documentary was of social importance and the urgency to bring these issues to public light, turned to newer methods of crowdfunding available through the internet. Salvato started a Kickstarter campaign, in order to raise money for editing equipment – therefore allowing him to finish the post-production work needed before ‘The Shaman of Rust’ could be distributed. Kickstarter campaigns allow funds to be raised for various projects through a pledge and rewards system. This means that individuals can pledge an amount of money affordable to them and receive a reward from the project manager once the campaign has succeeded in its financial goal. For example, Salvato had pledges ranging from a simple £1 all the way up to £2,000 with rewards such as an email-exclusive clip of the film or a one-of-a-kind artwork produced by one of the artists starring in the film.
With this crowd-sourced funding, Salvato was able to reach his financial goal, therefore being able to edit the film and eventually release and distribute it to the public. The new source of funding for film production provided by the internet allows a greater chance of projects maintaining economic sustainability and provides a possibility for anybody to express themselves that the media of film as well as exploring personal or localised issues that may not otherwise by funded by large, organisational bodies who produce for profit, rather than social awareness.
So… has internet crowdfunding actually allowed everyone to become a film producer?
Despite Salvato’s success, ultimately sites such as Kickstarter are a road less travelled. Crowd sourcing via the internet is still a reasonably new phenomenon. In a way it is a symbiotic relationship – films are made in the view of public scrutiny with the benefit of crowd input, while the filmmaker gains funding with allows for freedom in aspects such as inception, production and distribution.
It is part of a wider shift in culture since the development of the Internet age. It signifies the change in the audiences’ position in relation to the product. Rather than being passive consumers, the digital era’s ability to allow us to interact and engage in the creation of product, for example, contributing financially to a film, transforms our position into the of a ‘produser’. Elizabeth Bird suggests that this new interactive environment changes the way an audience should be viewed and valued.
However, while the Internet’s interactive interface allows both filmmakers as well as film supporters access to crowdfunding platforms, this doesn’t mean that every filmmaker has an equal chance of their crowdfunding campaign being successful.
The production of crowdfunding campaigns is often described as a story-telling process – selling the story of you, your product and the journey beyond, flowing naturally, but vastly engaging the audience . The necessary time and resources required to successfully manage this story-telling process are simply not available to all the smaller production companies or independent artists attempting to crowdfund leading to many failed campaigns. Similarly, films are an intangible concept that, without footage already filmed, is difficult to envisioned and therefore less likely to gain investment from audiences.
Ultimately, the internet’s crowdfunding platforms can enable independent filmmakers access to funding that they would otherwise be unable to gain. However, the success of this access is unequally distributed between those with the resources to entice backers and those without.
All media and images are used with fair usage for educational purposes.
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