Bradford based writer and broadcaster Kieron Casey, @Remember_Film, shares with us how to make it big in the movies.
I think I can confidently state it is not often one can reply “I became a Korean film producer” when asked what events had occurred over the weekend. Yet that is exactly what I did this Monday morning at work; my reply certainly made a change from a stock answer of “I watched Take Me Out”.
My only previous brush with the film industry, outside of that as a customer, was my appearance as an extra in the all conquering King’s Speech. Alas the experience of standing around almost motionless at Elland Road, semi-clueless, as people rushed by me orchestrating events beyond my control seemed less like a glamorous Hollywood experience and more like the fate of Leeds United’s defence on a Saturday afternoon. So how exactly did I end up becoming a film producer? For a Korean independent feature at that?
In the last few years alternative financial models have been sought after, new ideas away from the mainstream model, to help raise funds for artistic projects including films and plays. One of these new models is known as crowd sourcing – the idea of a large number of people contributing a small amount of money each so as to help individuals and groups complete their goals. Whilst formerly it would be up to large studios and corporations to put up money, the process has now been democratised and allows fans and interested parties to not only feel like they have helped through their donations, in creating a project they would love to see or hear, but also, usually, contributors receive something in return for their donations. More often than not when crowd funding sites like Kickstarter or IndieGoGo list artists’ projects on them, the projects will feature incentives to convince the public to part with their money – these range from simple “thanks” through to advance copies of the DVDs all the way up to producer credits on the finished film’s title.
The great thing about this model is that before investing in a project it is possible to not only know what is being gotten in return for your money but, for the more successful products, to have a bit of a taster or to catch a glimpse of exactly where your cash is going. The project I got involved in, called Remember O Goddess, very cannily could boast a number of things that were appealing to me and convinced me to part with my money and get on board the project. Firstly, and perhaps most crucially, the first 25 minutes of the film had been shot – this is a great way for a director to prove their talent as a film maker rather than a snake oils salesman or someone with a great mouth for pitching but no real artistic flair. The short version of Remember O Goddess turned out to be quite the treat and I found its premise – a man loses his memory but realises he is more disturbed by the fact that no one can remember him – intriguing and decided to read more into the film and the calibre of the cast and crew really shone. The star of the film Kim Jung-tae is a name that may not mean a lot to many not familiar with Korean films but those with knowledge of the industry will have been impressed with his presence in the lead role. Similarly the director, Lee Yoon-Jung, had worked on a truly delightful South Korean film called The Good, The Bad, The Weird – I liked the way she talked passionately, proudly and intelligently about her new project and, as such, decided that as I spend more than enough of my time complaining about bad films I should really put my money where my mouth is and support what looked like it could be a fantastic and exciting project. Which is how I became a Korean film producer.
It is hard to believe that up until 2012 crowd-sourcing was actually illegal in the United States but it is impossible to see it being anything other than a growth model in the coming years particularly as individuals take more and more to social networking and online forums such as Linkedin to find like minded individuals. Due to the growth of crowd funding it is possible for anyone to get involved in making a film or funding a book or an album; becoming a producer in the course of a weekend isn’t something that seems ridiculous any more. It’s unlikely but wouldn’t it be great if, in the next few years, “I became a Korean film producer” became more of a stock greeting at work on a Monday morning than a declaration of what we saw on ITV over the weekend?
Kieron Casey is a Bradford based writer and broadcaster. You can follow his English language tweets for Remember O Goddess here.
To get involved in crowd-funding (for as little as $1) the project please check out the film’s Kickstarter page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/21269065/remember-o-goddess-film-noir-adventure-and-love
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