Hi guys
I'm working with an award-winning film director towards securing funding for her next film, a 25-minute horror short to be made in Berlin.
We've decided to bypass traditional funding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo and see if we can raise the funds for the project entirely in Bitcoin instead. The content of the film has nothing to do with Bitcoin, but we feel that if the currency is ever to go mainstream, it should also be used for projects that aren't directly related to the currency.
Hopefully, through the crowdfunding campaign itself, we'll be able to help spread the word about Bitcoin. Next week, for example, we'll be premiering our pitch video at a popular club here in Berlin, and we've invited a number of local Bitcoin speakers to come along and give some introductory talks about how the currency works and answer any questions the guests might have. There'll also be live music from one of the film's composers and a reading from the novelist whose short story the film is based on. We're expecting quite a large turnout on top of the club's regulars.
There's a thriving Bitcoin community here in Berlin, so if we reach our goal, we plan to give back to the community by working wherever possible with suppliers who accept Bitcoin and by hiring freelance crew members who are happy to receive their payment in Bitcoin. Then, when the completed film is screened at film festivals worldwide, the very first thing audiences will see during the opening titles will be a "Funded with Bitcoin" credit. If the international filmmaking community sees that Bitcoin is a valid option for film financing, it could open the currency up to whole new userbase.
At this point, I'd like to pose a couple of questions for the community. Firstly, if you were to donate to a project like this, would you prefer to do so by donating anonymously through a QR code/Bitcoin address on the production company's website, which has been online since early 2011, or by way of a trusted third-party website like Bitpay, Swarm or Bitcoinstarter, where you'd be required to sign in? If we were to accept donations through the company website, we would probably use a widget like this one
https://bitcoinchipin.com/widgets/u/chris/your-title-here so that visitors can see how the campaign is going.
Secondly, most crowdfunding campaigns offer perks to their donors, and we'd like to do the same. Of course, any donors wishing to claim these perks would have to give up their anonymity and prove their ownership of the Bitcoin address from which the donation was sent. In this scenario, would you prefer to send a signed message with name and contact details from your Bitcoin wallet or use one of the third party websites mentioned above, where you would have to sign in?
Thirdly, as a potential donor, what kind of assurances would you need about where the money is going?
Fourthly, would you prefer to see the crowdfunding goal expressed in Bitcoin or fiat? Setting the goal in Bitcoin would be a strong show of confidence in the currency, although it is likely to fluctuate somewhat over the course of the campaign, whereas a Euro amount would be less risky and perhaps less confusing to newcomers.
Thank you for reading. Any thoughts/advice on the above or other concerns would be much appreciated and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.
