SeedandSpark.com Strives to Reshape Film and Entertainment Business through Crowdfunding Campaigns

Seed&Spark Hosts First Innovators’  Summit at LA Film Fest with Film Independent and Cinedigm to Connect Filmmakers and Potential Crowdfunding Campaign Donors and Investors

By Robert Hoskins

Seed&Spark, one of the world’s first crowdfunding and digital distribution platforms made specifically for independent films, launched two initiatives to help shape the future of independent film by strengthening the ties between filmmakers and film audiences.

Seed&Spark is building a truly independent filmmaking community where filmmakers and audiences come together for crowd-funding, production, and streaming distribution

During this month’s LA Film Fest, Seed&Spark hosted the first Innovators’ Summit together with Film Independent and Cinedigm. The Innovators’ Summit is a gathering of people from the film community to leverage the collective intelligence of innovators in film production, technology, finance and distribution. CEO Emily Best led a group of 50 participants through a series of exercises that painted various possible scenarios. The purpose was to imagine what could happen and examine the factors and forces that should demand the film industry’s attention, investment and action.

Earlier this month, Seed&Spark launched a $30,000 crowd-funding campaign on its own platform to enhance the company’s offerings and site usability. The Seed&Spark crowd-funding campaign WishList records specific needs for production, marketing, festivals, travel, crew and professional services. Supporters can opt to contribute with cash or to loan goods and services that are part of the Seed&Spark campaign WishList.

“We believe that in order to compete in a world of increasing fragmentation, creators’ success will depend on their connection to and relationship with their audience,” says Emily Best, Founder and CEO of Seed&Spark. “This is also true for our success with Seed&Spark as a whole. Our platform was specifically built to engage and connect independent filmmakers and audiences. We launched the Seed&Spark crowdfunding campaign to get feedback, support, and engagement from the very people we hope our improved platform will better serve.”

Best is touring film festivals around the world to educate filmmakers about the opportunities offered by crowd-funding and the advantage of an audience-centric approach to filmmaking – from pitch to premiere. Upcoming appearances include the Galway Film Fleadh, SXSW V2V Las Vegas and the Austin Film Festival.

To help Seed&Spark change the future of filmmaking, support the company’s crowd-funding campaign before June 29 by clicking here.

Seed&Spark is building a truly independent filmmaking community where filmmakers and audiences come together for crowd-funding, production, and streaming distribution. Every time an audience member supports the making of a moving picture project (funding, following, sharing) they earn “Sparks” which can be redeemed to watch movies on the streaming platform.

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New FilmFunder Crowdfunding Website Targets Hollywood Film & Entertainment Professionals

By Robert Hoskins

FilmFunder, created by active film producers, Jude Tucker and Stephen Fiske, is one of the first crowdfunding platforms geared specifically towards film professionals. The crowdfunding phenomenon has quickly taken on a prominent role in the vast landscape of film production and finance. Already this year, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has lauded two crowdfunded projects with filmmaking’s highest honor.

FilmFunder Crowdfunding Platform Targets Hollywood and Film Professionals

In addition, the “Veronica Mars” movie, based on the popular TV series, rose over $2 million dollars in just twelve hours on Kickstarter. Now, FilmFunder enters the scene to bring crowdfunding to professional educated investment in motion pictures to get the entertainment industry back to work for good.

Currently, the prerequisites for listing a project on a crowdfunding platform, such as Kickstarter, are minimal. As a consequence, the market has become crowded with projects of all types and quality seeking financing.

FilmFunder entered the crowdfunding space because motion picture investment is a prime target for crowdsourcing due to each film’s startup-like structure and relatively short exit period, typically 12-18 months. However, the number of motion pictures seeking funding in any given year is greater than the typical number of startups in other industries. Therefore, it’s to be expected that motion picture crowdfunding be fraught with overcrowding and unsuccessful campaigns.

FilmFunder brings to life the vision of a carefully curated crowdsourcing platform that would focus only on the most developed film projects. FilmFunder’s goal is to create a symbiotic relationship between investors and producers, allowing a higher project success rate and recurring participation by investors.

“Producers have been unsure of many crowdfunding platforms due to the ‘closed door’ nature of the film development industry,” said Jude Tucker, feature film producer and creator of FilmFunder. “We worked hard to create a platform that preserves the traditional fundraising methods, but streamlines the process for the future of motion picture finance.”

Each project is seen only by investors or investment firms, not by all members of the platform. This gives all producers a safe place to conduct business and get their projects into production, creating much needed jobs in the film industry. Additionally, producers often incur the costs of generating sales estimates or legal documentation during the fundraising process. FilmFunder can assist by providing forms and tools that producers can use as a starting point in creating these documents, allowing more time for creativity.

In another new crowdfunding advance, FilmFunder also mandates that each project supply certain documentation to enable investors to make educated decisions about their investments. Each project will include a significant amount of due diligence material so that potential investors can make their investment decision without a long due diligence process. The platform also includes a rights tracking tool to assist in accurate reporting and distribution of revenue to each investor involved with a FilmFunder project. Finally, all projects submitted through FilmFunder will be issued a completion bond and insurance to provide additional investor protection.

Investing in a film should be simple. FilmFunder automates the process to allowing for quick and painless investment transactions. To maintain a high level of quality, all project applications will be carefully reviewed and vetted by a team of two pre-qualified, bond-approved line producers, or “FilmFunder Ambassadors.”

Starting on April 16th, FilmFunder is accepting the first project applications from motion picture producers. In early May, accredited investors will be permitted to browse and review projects for investment. Once the SEC fully activates crowdfunding, FilmFunder projects will be open for investment to all individuals.

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Seed&Spark Partners with Film Independent and Big Vision Empty Wallet for Crowdfunding Platform Membership Rewards Program

By Robert Hoskins

Seed&Spark, the world’s first crowdfunding and digital distribution platform made just for independent films, announced a partnership with Film Independent, the nonprofit arts organization that produces the Film Independent Spirit Awards, Film Independent at LACMA film series and the Los Angeles Film Festival, and Big Vision Empty Wallet (BVEW), a curated membership community of artists and innovators.

Seed&Spark Partners with Film Independent and Big Vision Empty Wallet for Membership Rewards Program

As part of the partnership, Seed&Spark will offer discounts on crowd-funding campaigns and streaming distribution on the Seed&Spark site to Film Independent and BVEW members. In addition, the Seed&Spark team will provide individual consultations on how to develop audience-building campaigns to their community members. In return, Film Independent and BVEW will allow Seed&Spark users to redeem their Sparks for membership discounts. Sparks are rewards points that Seed&Spark users can obtain for following, supporting and sharing Seed&Spark Studio crowdfunding campaigns and Seed&Spark Cinema movies.

Josh Welsh, Co-President at Film Independent, commented on the collaboration: “We’re thrilled to be partnering with the folks at Seed&Spark. It’s not just a crowdfunding platform – it’s a very creative, smart set of tools for indie filmmakers to get their films made and get their films seen, and the focus is on building community rather than just raising cash. It’s very much in line with our mission and approach at Film Independent. Also, we’re excited to spread the word about our Filmmaker Pro membership to everyone on Seed&Spark. Whether you’re setting out to make your film or about to share it with the world, this is another tool you’ll want to use.”

BVEW’S Co-Founder & CEO Dani Faith Leonard stated: “BVEW is about creating avenues for our members to spark collaborations and showcase their talents, so this partnership with Seed&Spark is very natural.”

“I’m excited to partner with an innovative company like Seed&Spark. Big Vision Empty Wallet members are going to jump on the opportunity to crowdfund, build an audience, and monetize their projects all in one place,” added Alex Cirillo, Co-Founder and Director of Development at BVEW.

The partnerships are part of Seed&Spark’s plan to create and expand its new ecosystem for the independent film community.

“We’re excited to offer Film Independent and Big Vision Empty Wallet members further support, and we are honored to offer Seed&Spark users access to these two visionary film membership organizations that represent the best of what indie film has to offer: community support for creative endeavors in film,” praised Emily Best, Founder and CEO of Seed&Spark the new partnership.