Top 4 Takeaways from VFF15's Crowdfunding Panel

A very warm VFF "Thank You" to our crowdfunding panelists, our hosts, Aaron Kaiser, Rick Shaw and Secret Rose Theatre, and all who attended. This was a very popular topic and there's no doubt we'll be hosting another soon. In the meantime, here's some key takeaways to get help get your project funded:

• Believe in the project. No matter what, you have to have passion (commercial or artistic) for the project that you’re asking others to support

Mindset is the first module – Alexia Anastasio

• It’s important to build a team and support for the campaign before it goes live.Thunderclap is a great tool to pool your resources (and it won’t cost your friends a penny)

Pre-launch campaign with an offline presence. Host a house party or a reading with the cast – Justin Zagri

• While it may seem like everyone is asking for money, they aren’t. It just feels that way because, well, we’re in L.A. and in the entertainment industry. The world is big and donors are everywhere. We all know the big players in the U.S. ( GoFundMe, IndieGoGo and KickStarter) but consider Europe, Asia, and Middle East

People will always support awesome projects – Lysandra Petersson

• Just because you’ve raised 25% of your goal, with three days to go, don’t think you’ve failed. And if you do fail, that’s OK, because you’ll learn what not to do the next time around

The last 2-3 days is when 50-75% of funding comes in – David Raiklen