Caffeinated Clint
Google crowdfunding and chances are you’ll come upon at least a couple of articles mentioning the amazing success Broken Lizard had last week with their IndieGoGo campaign for “Super Troopers 2”.
With a studio (Fox bankrolled the original) unwilling to back the comedy sequel, the comedy troupe went the ‘Veronica Mars’ route on the follow-up. Hoping to garner 2 million in a month, instead the gents pocketed that entire amount in two or so days. Amazing stuff, really.
Still, the question on most of our lips is ‘why the heck would Broken Lizard need to finance a sequel to their big hit?’
In a terrific essay posted on The Daily Beast, director and star Jay Chandrasekhar explained why IndieGoGo was their best bet to get the movie made.
Here’s the question everyone asks: If the first film did so well, why do we need to crowdfund the sequel? Let me tell you a little story that sums up the current state of the film business.
Two years ago, my friend was the president of a major Hollywood studio. When I sat down with him to talk about what movies we might make together, he said, “We need $100 million comedies starring Johnny Depp, Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, or Vince Vaughn. That’s it. That’s the list. That’s what we want.” I smiled, “People resent $100 million comedies. They feel bloated and not of the underground. What if, instead, we made a few $20 million comedies?” (Low budget for a studio). He shrugged, and what he said shocked me. “The most a $20 million film will make is, what? A $100 million?” I nodded. He shook his head, “That’s a double. I need grand slams. I need movies that can gross $250-$400 million worldwide. I need movies that can move the stock price.”
OK look, I get it. I’m not naïve. It’s a business, and every studio has a corporate strategy. And for my friend’s company, making huge movies with huge movie stars was their strategy; and it was a strategy that was really paying off. So, I had a choice: I could either try to convince him to go against his company’s mandate, I could buckle and make the big budget comedies he wanted, or we could agree not to work together right now, and move on. I chose the latter.
Two years later, the trend of going for grand slams has affected the whole town. Every major studio now has a development slate chock full of high-budgeted, high-effects superhero movies, which has left the medium-sized and small-sized movies shit out of luck—or at least, shit out of financing (capes and tights are apparently very expensive). So, when it came to our film, unless we were willing to write a sequel where the Super Troopers turn into superheroes, we weren’t going to get any studio’s money. But that’s OK, because Fox Searchlight has offered us an enormous gift: distribution. If we can raise the money to make the sequel, Searchlight will release the film in theaters, wide. And when it comes to releasing movies, there’s no better outfit in the business than Fox Searchlight. This is a huge deal.
This arrangement is much more common than you think. Many films you see in theaters are financed through outside sources. With big films, the studio will pay, hoping to reap the reward of their big bet. But with medium and small-sized films, outside production companies and financiers often foot the bill. And now, thanks to platforms like Indiegogo and Kickstarter, fans are getting a chance to help get films made that otherwise wouldn’t.
So, why IndieGoGo though?
When we sat down with Slava Rubin, the co-founder of Indiegogo, we told him we needed to raise all of the financing for the sequel—both production and marketing/advertising. He said that based on the success of the first film, this felt like the perfect crowdfunding project. I wasn’t so sure. Yes, we had a rabid, motivated fan base, which we could ask for funding, but this relationship was precious to us. Integrity matters. What our fans think matters. How could we avoid the backlash from the perception that we we’re just celebrities soaking our fans for money? Here’s the thing; if we could pay for Super Troopers 2 ourselves, we would. We’ve written 16 drafts of the script and we really believe in the film. And we’re investing every cent we can, but none of us are millionaires. Not even close. We don’t have the money needed to make this film a reality. We need help, and that’s why we went to Indiegogo. .
At our meeting, I vented to Slava about my perception of crowdfunding. I told him I wished people could invest in the movie and then own an equity piece of the backend. He said, “I totally agree.” That’s when we hit it off. He said that there is legislation in Washington, as we speak, that if signed, will make equity-based crowdfunding a reality. Think about that. In the very near future, when the major studios won’t finance anything but superhero origin stories, I’ll be able to come to the fans for investment, not donation. If the film makes money, they’ll all get paid back plus a profit. How cool will that be? We’re talking about the true democratization of film funding. So, instead of someone grousing about Hollywood (“Who the hell green-lit that piece of shit?”), they’ll be able to choose which films are financed, themselves. In fact, two days ago in Washington D.C., a crucial step was taken toward this type of financing becoming a reality when the SEC issued rules on Regulation A+. But until Regulation A + is finalized, the current system of crowdfunding, which allows fans to voluntarily donate and receive rewards in exchange, is still very cool
And according to the filmmaker, he wants to reward punters with something worthwhile – even if they only donate the lowest amount possible.
We formed a partnership with the movie ticket service Fandango. So now, for the first time ever, a fan can buy a package called, “The Fandango Bango” (priced at $35) and get a movie ticket to Super Troopers 2, which they can use at their local theater. They’ll also get a signed script, which we’ve annotated with hand-written jokes, and a shout out on Twitter. Is that worth $35? In the first few days of the campaign, over 2000 fans have signed on to buy tickets, so it appears fans are feeling good about our solution. Yes, I’m aware that the average movie ticket is $12 dollars, but we’re using the markup to make the film. That’s how crowdfunding works.
We really want to make this feel worth it for our fans, so we’ve committed to making the Super Troopers 2 experience last a lot longer than the typical 90-minute film. We’ve shot 19 funny campaign videos, we’ll be updating you from the set with candid videos and photos, and we’ll give you special rewards while we’re in post. You’re going to get your $35 worth, I promise.
