Manchester Animation Festival: How to Make Friends & Animate People: The Art of Crowd Funding

When I picked up the ticket for this talk, I was under the impression that it would provide me with some useful tips and tricks on how to network with people and approach them in a professional manner. However, this was not the case at all, in fact, it was all about how to raise money for animation projects and the advantages and disadvantages of using certain platforms to do so.

Whilst it wasn't what I had in mind, I still found the talk quite insightful and it opened my eyes to what goes behind funding an animated project and what I would have to undertake if I were to ever do something such as this. The panel consisted of Emma Burch, Merlin Crossingham and Jon Turner. Emma kicked the talk off by discussing the pros and cons of using Kickstarter and IndieGoGo as a platform to raise money and gather supporters. She raised some very useful points about having to provide certain deals/ packages for supporters, which would all have to be created and sent off and she reminded us that it is important to remember that this is extra work and you will lose supporters if this isn't upheld. In the end, Emma told us why she had chosen Kickstarter over IndieGoGo to raise money for Simon's Cat: Off to the Vet.

From here Merlin took over. Merlin is a director at Aardman and he spoke about the Bring Back Morph Kickstarter that was created after Aardman received lots of positive encouragement to bring the lovable character back to our screens. Merlin told us the importance a video pitch has on a Kickstarter campaign, and how it can make or break a campaign. Once Aardman had released their pitch video, they managed to reach their goal in only 8 days, which gave them the idea to attempt to raise more money, so they could do more with program. Not only this, but it allowed them to give unique gifts to those that pledged including tours around the studios and old plasticine models.

Jon Turner from Kilogramme also used Kickstarter in a similar way to Aardman to raise money for a second part in the Tall Tales series (a series which depicts the white lies that parents tell their children to make them behave). Jon told us how, by taking the crowdfunding route, he was able to keep full creative control over the work rather than having to suite the needs of a client. This is something that has never actually occurred to me, that by funding a project through crowdfunding, you are able to keep full creative control over what you do. 

Overall it was an interesting talk and I feel that I have come away with knowledge that may one day prove useful. I am aware of the pros and cons of crowdfunding and when crowdfunding should and should not be used, for instance, if you don't have a lot of time on your hands, it is probably best to not use crowdfunding, as you may not be able to fulfill the promises you made for people making pledges.