The Crowd Goes Wild: First Annual Film Crowdfunding Awards Announced

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With the sources of film finance changing as rapidly as the weather in the Gulf, crowdfunding has appeared on the scene with great promise and long-term staying power.  As a result, the Film Finance Awards (www.FilmFinanceAwards.com) and Premier Media today announced their new partnership with the National Crowdfunding Association (www.NLCFA.org) in producing the first Film Crowdfunding Awards as part of the 2013 Film Finance Awards.  

"This is a perfect combination for the Film Finance Awards," said its Event Director, Craig Smith. "Crowdfunding is the future of indie film finance, and we definitely want to be honoring those who best utilize this incredible tool."  The 2012 Film Finance Awards are being held in Warsaw this November.  Smith said that next year they will return to the United States.  He added, "this Thursday, September 6th, is our premier event at the Luxe Hotel Beverly Hills, and we are happy David Marlett will be speaking on crowdfunding for filmmakers."

"There are certainly no set road maps through the forest that is film finance," said David Marlett, Founder and Executive Director of the National Crowdfunding Association (NLCFA), as well as a film finance consultant through his company, BlueRun Crowdfund (www.BlueRunCrowdfund.com).  "Just as in the creation of good film itself," Marlett continued, "innovation is king...and a great story."  Founded when investment crowdfunding was legalized in the United States, the NLCFA is the oldest and fastest growing crowdfunding trade association in the world.  

The Great Recession's arrival on top of the digital revolution has knocked a massive hole in the center of independent film finance, causing confusion, frustration and in many cases dashed prospects for a film career.  In fact, traditional financing has shrunk to the point of practically disappearing.  Thus the timing could scarcely be better for the indie film industry for the advent of reward-based, and the soon-coming investment-based, crowdfunding.

Smith and Marlett see the Film Crowdfunding Awards as a great opportunity to highlight the power of crowdfunding for indie films.  "We've seen a precipitous fall of 46% of on-lot production financing deals since 2000," said Smith, "and since the mid-2000s height in indie financing via hedge funds and other Wall Street methods, financing for the lower budget films has collapsed."  "The film industry is perfect for crowdfunding, and crowdfunding is perfect for it," said Marlett.  He added, "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)."

Donation or reward-based crowdfunding has been exploding over the past few years, raising over $1.5B in 2011, and is expected to top $3B in 2012.  The legitimacy and staying-power have been decided, with film finance leading the number of successful closures on both Kickstarter and Indiegogo (the largest two reward-based crowdfunding sites).  Marlett said, "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."

Contact:
Craig Smith
FILM FINANCE AWARDS, Producer
www.FilmFinanceAwards.com
[email protected]
310-498-6280

David Marlett
NATIONAL CROWDFUNDING ASSOCIATION, Executive Director
www.NLCFA.org
BLUERUN CROWDFUND, Director
www.BlueRunCrowdfund.com 
[email protected]
310-957-2077

For more information on David Marlett:   www.bluerunmedia.com/about.html

BlueRun Crowdfund Logos and Press Images:   www.blueruncrowdfund.com/press-images.html

National Crowdfunding Association Logos and Press Images:   www.nlcfa.org/logos.html

SOURCE National Crowdfunding Association

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