"I love that you've brought this to attention. An extensive database of uncommon but resistant and hardy plants/foods could be developed and organized by climate. Ease of growth and processing should also be taken in to account. I will try to…"
A crash course in changing the world.
ACT 1 : SoKap - crowdfunding indie film
Okay, I know SoKap isn't a groundbreakingly "worthy" choice compared to social entrepreneurs working to solve poverty etc, but I believe in the importance of indie film, this is my area of expertise, and it is increasingly under threat from big budget power brokers - so please bear with me.
What's the issue?
Storytelling is an important part of any country's culture: It informs, create's empathy, shapes and reinforces our values, reminds us who we are, it can make you laugh, make you cry, make you believe, and give you hope. It's more than just entertainment.
It's important for the people of every country to have the ability to tell their stories. This is closely linked to culture, self identity, and happiness.
That doesn't mean we can't enjoy the films from other countries - I love films from all over the world. But monopolisation of the global film industry by just one country drowns out all the other many varied voices. Further, when it's not the one country, but rather a powerful contingent within that one country, even citizens of that country can feel unheard at times.
Ever looked at the cinema listings and been disappointed that all the films on show seem like big budget empty headed fairy floss? Ever thought that those movies cost way more money than they should? Ever wondered why more movies aren't being made that talk to you?
The problems with the current film industry are too many to go into here, but in short (and at the risk of generalising a wee bit) you've got two main types of films:
1) Big budget Hollywood films. The people who decide what gets made, what gets shown at cinemas, what is released in a country, only care about the bottom line. They do not take creative risks. If a movie doesn't have a big star in it, or a huge amount of hype about it (which usually comes from a big budget), if they aren't 100% sure it will make profit, the film will more often than not simply disappear without you having any chance of seeing it.
2) Indie filmmakers are passionate about the stories they have to tell, and often suffer financially trying to tell them. Because they are not financially motivated, they have trouble getting money from investors, trouble convincing a distributor to market the film, trouble getting exhibitors to screen the movie, and thus - trouble making their films available to you.
In both the above scenarios there are some good movies and some bad movies. The important thing to note is that the majority of the films we have access to are the first type, and they drown out all the other voices. Because they make lots of money (because they always go for "mass market" profit, even if it means dumbing down), they have no problem flooding the market with their content - while indie filmmakers are constantly at risk of extinction.
A potential solution
SoKap is a crowdfunding / crowdsourcing platform to allow indie filmmakers and their fans to work together to get projects up - bypassing the normal industry gatekeepers.
SoKap stands for "Social Kapitalism" - many people pulling their resources together to support indie film, but each of those people also being valued in return for their involvement.
- The budget for an indie film is raised by a "crowd" of people each paying a small membership fee (from $25), which in effect is a pre-order for the film on dvd.
- Members gain a referral code, so when someone they've referred joins up, the member gets a commission from the 'sale'.
- Members are part of a community around the film that has close access to the filmmakers, behind the scenes, and input into various aspects of the film, in the form of votes, polling, or completing challenges (for example, a poster design). When a member participates in these ways, they earn a virtual currency that, after the film has been released and profits returned, they can use to either purchase film merchandise or reinvest into a new film project on the SoKap platform.
The idea is that indie filmmakers can begin working directly with the audiences who want their films, instead of having to deal with the gatekeepers who prefer to support big budget Hollywood films. Better access to more voices. More segmentation of films, which means a better chance one will be made that speaks right to you.
SoKap is currently testing their system with the first film project "Biracy" - a sci-fi film. They hope to gain one million members to prove that the system works, but will make the movie as long as they can raise at least $500,000 as a minimum budget by January 2011.
Once Biracy has been completed, if the system works, the SoKap platform will be made available for other indie filmmakers to use to also develop a relationship with an audience who wants to fund their film.
The SoKap platform is much more sophisticated than other crowdfunding tools currently available (e.g. Kickstarter, IndieGoGo) because those other tools cannot raise enough to make a proper feature film, don't have thesocial features to encourage ongoing collaboration between the audience and the filmmakers, and don't give the same incentives for audience participation and referral.
If the SoKap platform pulls it off with Biracy, it will be a new dawn for indie filmmakers. This might not seem like a big deal compared to all the problems in other parts of the world, however it is more often than not the indie artists who seek out stories of the underprivileged and make them available to the rest of the world when they would otherwise not have a voice.
And while SoKap is headquartered in Canada, it is operating on an international level, so indie filmmakers anywhere in the world can use it. Perhaps this will help create a more viable film industry in poor nations too.
What I've done to interact
- I've become a member of Biracy, and interacted on their website.
- I've been in email conversation with David Geertz (from Sokap)
- I'm following both Biracy and David Geertz on twitter
- Friended David Geertz on facebook and am a fan on Biracy's facebook page.
- I have written two posts on my normal blog about Biracy
- Tweeted about Biracy
- Posted on my Facebook wall about Biracy
If you want to join and need a referral code, many people have posted theirs on the facebook page, or you can use mine: jibarmprojection87
Views: 99
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Comment by Michael Andersen on March 7, 2010 at 11:55pm
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I know this isn't a very insightful response, but I LOVE the sound effects in the Biracy video.
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Comment by Fiacre on March 8, 2010 at 12:29am
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Wow! Thanks so much for sharing this, very, very interesting.
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Comment by Chris Breslin on March 8, 2010 at 1:00am
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I like the idea of crowdfunding for a film. I believe the increased interaction between the fans and the artists is a win-win situation. There is a similar trend in the music industry with bands selling directly to consumers through the internet, bypassing many of the middlemen.
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Comment by Luci Temple on March 10, 2010 at 3:00am
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Thanks for your comments :)
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Comment by James Ream on March 11, 2010 at 6:22am
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Quality post. Maybe a film should be made about Evoke. Apparently there are a few sites similar to Biracy. http://www.indiegogo.com/ , http://www.sellaband.com/ , http://www.kickstarter.com/ , http://twitter.com/aswarmofangels . If you end up using one, some of these sites to fundraise for a project, I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to hear about your results.
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