Whether or not you agree with Spike Lee and other celebrities using Kickstarter, they’re doing it and they’re making bank, so perhaps it’s time for everyone else to follow suit.
In the past year, Kickstarter cannonballed into Hollywood, becoming a high profile, valuable new source of fundraising for film projects, and what some are calling the way to “save the movie business.”
Lee’s of course capitalizing on it; Lady Gaga just got naked for a new campaign; Zach Braff, the producers behind Veronica Mars, actor Shemar Moore, even prolific author and screenwriter Bret Easton Ellis, they’re all cashing in too.
To techies, the crowdfunding resource is old news, but as co-founder Yancey Strickler tells theGrio, the well of good fortune has only barely been tapped.
“If you’re in certain circles, Kickstarter seems like a very old hat,” Strickler comments. “Four and a half million people have backed a Kickstarter project, which is an amazing number. To think, that many people have been down to support somebody else’s creativity is just awesome. It gives you faith in the community…To look at it another way though, that is a [small] percentage of the people on Facebook.”
From this latter perspective, Strickler seconds Lee’s notion that famous artists and their projects are bringing new faces and pockets to the platform, and likely attributing to the success of smaller artists.
He stresses it was created for every artist’s use, big or small.
“Ultimately, what you’re building is this economy of people doing things the way they want to do it,” Strickler adds. “It’s completely self-determined. Projects from these established names or established artists are helping further that…Spike Lee has three decades of fans that he’s bringing to Kickstarter, and they’re going to see a lot of stuff. Long term, that is definitely to the benefit of the film community.”
A new business model: the sort-of investment
While Kickstarter has certainly been making a splash in the movie world, the platform serves other artists too.
Established in 2009, Kickstarter offers creators an alternative source of financial support for their endeavors, allowing them a chance to receive money from contributors they know as well as strangers. It falls somewhere between arts patronage, commerce and investment, and millions of dollars have been raised in the four years that have passed.
The site follows an all-or-nothing model of fundraising, where a creator only gets to keep contributions if he meets his goal. Kickstarter retains five percent of dollars from all successfully funded projects.
So far, musicians, documentarians, and small business owners have utilized the site to finance their ideas, though games and movies see the greatest results.
According to Strickler, 10 percent of the films at Sundance over the past three years have raised money on Kickstarter. Additionally, 100 theatrical releases and six Academy-Award-nominated films have been supported by the platform.
Basically, it’s legit.
“The impact on the world of film has been huge,” Strickler comments. “It provides total freedom for artists and audiences to support the culture they want to see created. It puts so much power in everybody’s hands.”
Momentum in the African-American community
Though Kickstarter doesn’t measure demographics, Quantcast found only 6 percent of its users are African-American, compared to nine percent of overall Internet visitors.
A story for VentureBeat points out that even though African-Americans have proven to be twice as likely to begin creative endeavors as Caucasians, businesses owned by whites exist at more than twice the rate of those owned by blacks. This is likely due to a lack of funding, as historically, black people have been discriminated against in terms of resources.
Therefore, Kickstarter could serve as a viable new route of travel.
Lee professes he’s doing his part by introducing “a lot of people of color who’ve never heard of Kickstarter, who’ve never made a pledge on Kickstarter.”
In that respect, Strickler affirms that the attention of well-established names has been beneficial.
“We did an analysis of the new backers who came into support Veronica Mars and Zach Braff projects, and in the three months since those projects have gone live, new backers of those projects have pledged $1 million dollars to 6,000 other projects,” he notes. “Any argument that these projects are hurting other filmmakers is completely false. There’s no evidence whatsoever to support that. In fact, the arguments saying that could be what’s hurting other filmmakers because it’s discouraging people from using this platform.”
Furthermore, celebrity efforts establish new precedence, where all artists band together in one playing field.
“It’s like someone wanting to use the same camera as Spike Lee because he’s a hero and revered independent filmmaker,” Strickler says. “It ultimately produces more art and introduces more people to other folks’ creativity, whether you’re established or a total newbie.”
Other stars have spoken out about it too.
Kerry Washington became the latest celebrity to show support of Lee with a new YouTube video released Wednesday. She describes how big names have helped the director in the past so now fans can have a chance.
Lee’s campaign currently totals around $831,000.
In an interview with Complex, Questlove states he’s supported both “the entitled” and “the struggler” on Kickstarter, and like Washington, he believes the director practically invented the concept.
“If I recall correctly, Spike Lee was actually selling white tube socks to fund She’s Gotta Have It,” the DJ remarks. “When he ran out of money for Malcolm X, he Kickstarted to Magic Johnson, Prince, Janet Jackson, Tracy Chapman, Bill Cosby, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan. He asked all those individuals for a million dollars each. They gave it to him, no questions asked…I mostly Kickstarted films that I think are interesting, or at least documentaries that I would like to go see.”
Art for art’s sake
In a nutshell, that’s how Strickler describes Kickstarter’s purpose, and why he says the company will not be adding an equity component even when laws allow for it.
Profiting goes against the core values of the site, Strickler feels. Instead, they intend to stay focused not on what a project will earn, but more simply, that it will be.
“The goal is not to make money, the goal is to exist and say the things you want to say,” he explains. “The fact these things are looked at as a way to make money is the fact of their struggle in the first place.”
Nevertheless, the most successful campaigns do provide donors with small valuables along the way: insights into the creative process; free downloads and other merchandise; or, in Lee’s case, personalized updates on the film.
Ready to get Kickstarted?
Among other effective projects, Kickstarter lists gadgets, clothing and accessories, books and food products.
Fashion designers Flint & Tinder set out to raise $50,000 for production of their “10-Year Hoodie,” and ended up raking in over $1 million from about 9,000 backers.
Equally impressive, musician Amanda Palmer posted a goal of $100,000 for her first studio album without a major record label, and raised over $1.1 million from 24,000 backers.
Not everyone’s projects qualify, nonetheless. Kickstarter cannot be used for personal extravagance, wants or needs, or even humanitarian purposes.
Otherwise, anything and anyone goes.
“It takes a lot of work to make something that’s creative, and there are a lot of obstacles in your way,” Strickler says. “On Kickstarter, people are looking at it like, ‘Do I like this and want it to exist?’ It’s a much simpler question that allows a lot more things to happen.”
“The same is true of Spike Lee,” he continues. “He is able to go directly to his audience and say, ‘Hey do you guys want to be part of me making a new movie?’ And everyone gets to say yes or no. They’re answering that based on whether they like Spike Lee’s movies or not, not some complex business-marketing projection of how it’s going to play for audiences in Shanghai. It’s a fundamentally different way of looking at art that says art doesn’t need any justification for its existence other than people just want to enjoy it.”
Follow Courtney Garcia on Twitter at @CourtGarcia