Filmmakers Have Earned $128 Million in Pledges on Kickstarter

Brian Anthony Hernandez2013-04-20 20:52:14 UTC

Film projects on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter have raised $127 million in pledges since April 2009, Kickstarter's Stephanie Pereira announced onstage at TFI Interactive. The $127 million figure has now increased to $128 million on Kickstarter's live stats page.

More than 1 million people have pledged money to help fund one of 9,700 independent films, features, documentaries, shorts, web series or other video projects, said Pereira, director of art programs at Kickstarter, on Saturday at the Tribeca Film Institute event in New York.

Several of the finished projects have earned accolades at awards shows, praise at film festivals and airtime on such networks as HBO, PBS and Showtime.

Inocente, for example, won Best Documentary (Short Subject) at this year's Oscars. Inocente had attracted 294 backers who collectively pledged $52,527 on its Kickstarter page in 2012.

"[Kickstarter] helped fund a bunch of the film and kept us going through post-production," Inocente co-director Sean Fine previously told Mashable backstage at the Oscars. "It's a great outlet for films especially for documentaries."

Two other Kickstarter-backed films received Oscar nominations this year: Kings Point in Best Documentary (Short Subject) and Buzkashi Boys in Short Film (Live Action). In previous years, Kickstarter-backed films Sun Come Up, Incident in New Baghdad and Barber of Birmingham also earned nominations.

In January, Kickstarter had announced it surpassed the $100 million mark in the film and rounded up these highlights about completed projects (details as of April 2013 weren't readily available at press time):

At least 86 Kickstarter-funded films have been released theatrically, screening in more than 1,500 North American theaters, according to Rentrak. Another 14 films have theatrical premieres slated for 2013.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, three of the 20 best-reviewed films of 2012 are Kickstarter-funded (The Waiting Room, Brooklyn Castle and Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry). Another Kickstarter-funded film, Pariah, was among the best-reviewed of 2011.

Kickstarter-funded films comprised 10% of Sundance's slate in 2012 and 2013. In total, 49 Kickstarter-funded films have been official selections at the prestigious festival.

Kickstarter-funded films comprised 10% of the 2012 slates at the SXSW Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival. In total, 57 Kickstarter-funded films have premiered at SXSW and 21 at Tribeca.

At least 16 Kickstarter-funded films have been picked up for national broadcast through HBO, PBS, Showtime, and other networks.

Kickstarter-funded films have won at least 21 awards at the Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, Cannes and Berlinale festivals.

Eight Kickstarter-funded films are nominated for Independent Spirit Awards this year.

Image via Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Topics: Entertainment, Film, fundraising, kickstarter, tribeca film festival, Tribeca Film Institute if(window.pageChanged) window.omni({"channel":"entertainment","content_type":"article","top_channel":"entertainment","content_source_type":"Internal","content_source_name":"Internal","author_name":"Brian Anthony Hernandez","age":"0","pub_day":20,"pub_month":4,"pub_year":2013,"pub_date":"04/20/2013","isPostView":true,"post_lead_type":"Default"}); metaData = {"link":[["canonical","http://mashable.com/2013/04/20/kickstarter-films/"],["image_src","http://rack.2.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA0LzIwLzc1L0tpY2tzdGFydGVyLjUyMTVlLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTcyMHg3MjAjCmUJanBn/2bd416ce/733/Kickstarter-Project-at-Oscars.jpg"]],"meta_property":[["og:url","http://mashable.com/2013/04/20/kickstarter-films/"],["og:title","Filmmakers Have Earned $128 Million in Pledges on Kickstarter"],["og:type","article"],["og:site_name","Mashable"],["og:image","http://rack.2.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA0LzIwLzc1L0tpY2tzdGFydGVyLjUyMTVlLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTcyMHg3MjAjCmUJanBn/2bd416ce/733/Kickstarter-Project-at-Oscars.jpg"],["og:article:published_time","2013-04-20T20:52:14Z"],["og:article:modified_time","2013-04-20T20:52:33Z"]],"meta_name":[["description","Film projects on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter have raked in $128 million in pledges since April 2009, Kickstarter revealed onstage at TFI Interactive."],["keywords",["films","entertainment","movies","fundraising","kickstarter","uncategorized","tribeca-film-festival","film","tribeca-film-institute"]],["twitter:title","Filmmakers Have Earned $128 Million in Pledges on Kickstarter"],["twitter:description","Film projects on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter have raised $127 million in pledges since April 2009, Kickstarter's Stephanie Pereira announced onstage at TFI Interactive. The $127 million figure h..."],["twitter:image","http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA0LzIwLzc1L0tpY2tzdGFydGVyLjUyMTVlLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTU2MHg3NTAKZQlqcGc/a00e5b8d/733/Kickstarter-Project-at-Oscars.jpg"],["twitter:site","@mashable"],["twitter:url","http://mashable.com/2013/04/20/kickstarter-films/"],["twitter:creator","@mashable"],["twitter:card","photo"],["twitter:image:width","560"],["twitter:image:height","750"]],"short_url":[["short_url","http://on.mash.to/ZAemaB"]]};

View the original article here