Crowdfunded Films Take Center Stage
Courtesy: Film Finance Awards
Every year, the Film Finance Awards take place, where, according to the official website, “governments organizations, the investment community and individuals working on behalf of and within the film industry and film finance communities will be recognized for their achievements in over twenty categories of investment.”
Yesterday, the Film Finance Awards announced a partnership with the National Crowdfunding Association, or NLCFA. This partnership will ultimately lead to the creation of the Film Crowdfunding Awards, where individuals who have sought funding for the independent film through crowdfunding platforms will be recognized.
Yet another indication of the proliferation of crowdfunding into even more industries. And, after quickly browsing the pages of Kickstarter and Indiegogo projects, it’s easy to see why the area of film is drawing much attention in the crowdfunding context.
David Marlett, Founder and Executive Director of the NLCFA, states, "The film industry is perfect for crowdfunding, and crowdfunding is perfect for it … Besides being a means for financing some or all of a film's budget, crowdfunding provides a brilliantly unique opportunity for 'putting a project up on its virtual feet', to get a sense for the appetite of the crowd (its future audience)."
Marlett adds, “with the advent of investment crowdfunding in 2013, we are about to see an enormous spike in film crowdfunding competition.  The Film Crowdfunding Awards will highlight the cream of those campaigns, and inspire others in perfecting their film crowdfunding campaigns."
This year’s Film Finance Awards are scheduled for December 5, 2012 in Poland, and will follow the traditional format, without recognizing crowdfunding. However, the 2013 Film Finance Awards will mark the beginning of the Film Crowdfunding Awards.
What are your thoughts? Do you think these awards will be able to bring even more focus to crowdfunded films? Will crowdfunded films ever attain such a large piece of the market that they require their own event? Let us know in the comments below.
