Comments on: Crowdsourcing: Anatomy of a Kickstarter

By: Tony

Tony — Sun, 29 May 2011 16:41:15 +0000

When you start a Kickstarter campaign, you have to set a monetary goal. Usually, this is the minimum needed to get the project done. It does not mean that the project should not have more money, as art can be expansive with more money. I funded a film through Kickstarter last December, which had a 25,000 goal. That was met 1/2 way through the campaign, with the final amount over 35,000.00 I happen to know the Director and Producer, and know that this extra money allowed for one more Union-Actor, and a few more days of renting the green-screen facility. So, in this case, the extra money made the film all that much better. I hope it is the same with BM.

Report this comment

By: Bert

Bert — Sat, 28 May 2011 18:37:55 +0000

I had never heard about Kickstarter until I was exposed to it through our community. I was amazed at the ideas and found a really neat project on there and decided to help fund it. I donated $10 which to me is a lot of money. I followed the project as if I had a stake it its success, and I was very excited when it reached 100% funding! Then about a week later I received a mass email from the project creator saying although Kickstarter had reported they reached 100% funding, they still wanted more money. In all honesty, I wasn’t sure if I had been taken advantage of or not. It really felt like a “bait and switch.” We all know how BM always exceeds what we thought it would, budget included. But in the future, I will just donate my time and other forms of resources and avoid Kickstarter. Also, I’m with Jude. This seems like it could turn ugly.

Report this comment

By: Jude

Jude — Wed, 25 May 2011 03:13:02 +0000

I’m a kickstarter patron and I agree with the wrinkles you’re seeing, Some of the rewards feel borderline like presales. Like you get a free this or that when you come to the camp. In my experience, you’d get a free this or that anyway, and the idea of someone paying for that, and excluding others from seeing or using it seems counter-intuitive. I’m more than happy to help someone realise amazing art. Less happy to see this system used for commodifying the experience. The ones that offer to add your name to something, for example. What about my company logo? Would that be OK? What about if my company pays for your installation in full? Would you add it then? And can I have a photo for my records? For my website? For my TVC?

Report this comment