It started with the plate down the pews or the hat passed around by street performers. Speak to a crowd, impress them with your passion, convince them of your motives, persuade them of a likely windfall, and the money clinks into your piggybank. With technology multiplying the crowds ad infinitum, shouldn’t raising money from so many become easier? Welcome to the world of crowdfunding, which uses the time-tested principles of fund-raising, enhanced by the internet.
Filmmaker Onir most recently reaped the benefits of crowdfunding. He used social networking sites to raise a third of the money for his Rs 3-crore budget film I Am, releasing this Friday. He says, “As a filmmaker, you are told by studios that people aren’t interested in your themes. I hate to sulk that no one is helping to make my film. I can’t panic. I need to find ways.” This “Dreamseller” (as he calls himself on Facebook) put up a pitch on Twitter and Facebook explaining the movie in May 2009, and within a month and a half he’d raised enough money, from 400 individuals in 35 cities — from Mumbai to Boston, Chennai to Nigeria — to start shooting. The amount varied from Rs 1,000 to more than Rs 1 lakh. The list of co-producers and co-owners of I Am scrolls long, as every contributor is recognised. People also donated their talent and time — from cooking lunches to driving cars to setting up shots. Onir says, “For many, it was the first time on the sets, it wasn’t always easy for us, but their energy brought something to the film.”
To read the full, original article click on this link: Show Me the Money
Author: Nandini Nair
