Crowd-Funding Blogs – Page 21

THE ROMULAN WAR Indiegogo ends TOMORROW!

It’s been a long road getting from there to here…nearly sixty days! A month ago, having raised just under $6,000 of their $10,000 goal, show-runner MARK NACCARTO extended the Indiegogo for THE ROMULAN WAR for another 30 days. And it paid off. Now, with less than 48 hours left, The Romulan War is only $335 (3%) away from being FULLY funded. If you haven’t donated yet, then to quote Pavel Chekov: “Now vould be a good time!”

With a final push for donations, Mark has just posted the last of his Mission Briefing videos: “Final Countdown.” In it, he announces that the donation threshold for a contributor to appear in The Romulan War (as a voice-over) is now only $40 with the new “Comms Officer Access” perk. Perviously, it took a $100 “Captain Access” donation to get a speaking role. That perk is still available, but the $40 option is a less expensive alternative with fewer additional items. With either perk, your name will appear in the credits. Also, there are still 3 remaining “Commodore Access” perks for $250 each which allow you to be seen, not just heard, in the finished film.

Mark also shows off some of the ultra-cool posters that are available at multiple donation levels. So the reasons to contribute are many. If you haven’t donated already, or if you want to be the one to push them over the $10,000 goal …

CLLICK HERE TO DONATE!

And take a look at the “Final Countdown” video below…

THE ROMULAN WAR releases a GAME-CHANGER!

Yesterday I mentioned that the SKY FIGHTER Indiegogo only needed 10% more to reach their goal of $25,000. And—poof!—they had done it by late afternoon!

So now I’m mentioning the the Indiegogo for THE ROMULAN WAR, which is only $1,705 short of its $10,000 goal with just FOUR days left. Yeah, it would’ve been cooler to say $1,701 dollars short, but either way, they’re knocking on the door of being completely funded.

I asked show-runner MARK NACCARATO what this final $1,705 will cover. What if they don’t make it? What won’t be in the final version that otherwise would have if you (yeah, I’m talking to YOU, Mr./Ms. reader!) had just donated ten or twenty bucks.

Here’s what Mark told me…

That final amount is going to allow us to properly visualize the legendary BATTLE OF CHERON. Those of you who know your Trek history know that Cheron was the final battle of the war where Earth marshaled its forces for one last desperate assault to stave off complete annihilation by the Romulans. This sequence will be everything you think it should be. In a word, it will be EPIC!

So do it for Cheron, folks! Do it for jaw-dropping visual FX! Do it for Starfleet so we can win this war!

To give fans a taste of what this battle might look like, Mark just released a final trailer for the campaign, titled “Game Changer.” The video introduces fans to the character of Admiral Matthias Jefferies, who is an expert on the weapons and tactics used by Earth during the Romulan War of the 22nd century. Although the visual FX are still only early renderings and will look MUCH better in the finished fan production, they still look pretty darn awesome and also introduce the new Yorktown-class starship.

Take a look and then click here to donate while there’s still time!

It’s gonna be a NAIL-BITER for SKY FIGHTER!!!

I have to be honest with you guys: I didn’t think it was gonna happen. With many recent crowd-funding campaigns for Trek fan films clawing their way to $10K (if that!), how was a NON-Star Trek fan film by a first-time director gonna possibly take in $25,000??? And beyond that, SKY FIGHTER‘s writer/director LUKAS KENDALL had selected the all-or-nothing “Fixed Goal” option on Indiegogo, where if you don’t reach your goal, you get NOTHING (just like on Kickstarter).

I mean, who does that???? If you’re gonna use Indiegogo, at least choose the “Flex Goal” option and keep whatever you raise, regardless of how much or how little. But as Lukas told me in this interview, he was going all in…$25K or bust!!!

I was also curious about Lukas’ somewhat unorthodox approach, including posting his complete script for the Sky Fighter short film for anyone to read, using a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor to describe himself and his project, and including among his perks certain ones that seemed a bit (purposefully) outrageous.

Would this work? Could this work?

The answer may just turn out to be YES, but it’s gonna be SUPER-CLOSE! With just two days left (the campaign ends this Thursday at midnight Pacific Time), the Sky Fighter Indiegogo is nearly 90% of the way to its $25,000 goal.. at $22,248 as I type this.

Lukas, who gained a following producing CD collections of popular science fiction TV and movie scores, has been relying on those same followers for a lot of his donor support, and it’s certainly been working. Among his most popular perks are the “Best of Both Worlds” signed CD ($20 + shipping), the Return to Tomorrow – Making of ST:TMP book ($35 + shipping), and especially the Star Trek TOS CD box set & 50th Anniversary 4 CD set ($199, free shipping). That latter bundle saves people around $100.

There is eve a weekend on Martha’s Vinyard for $1,000 where you get to spend a Friday-Sunday in August with Lukas Kendall’s MOTHER! She’ll even take you out for dinner on Saturday night. (I told you there were some outrageous perks.) Donate $1,000 and you get to go through Lukas’ crap in the basement!

C’mon, folks! Let’s get this Indiegogo campaign across the finish line…

CLICK HERE TO DONATE!

YOU have FOUR CHANCES left to appear in THE ROMULAN WAR!

At the end of last month, the eagerly-anticipated new fan project THE ROMULAN WAR extended its Indiegogo campaign for an additional 30 days. The move seems to be working out quite well, as an additional $2,200 in donations have come in since then…leaving the production just $1,810 short of its $10,000 goal (as I type this) with two full weeks left to attract donations from fans.

By far the most exciting of the perks being offered was an opportunity for donors to actually APPEAR in this fan film! For a $100 donation, you have the option to record your voice, reading a line or two from the script, and having that recording be included in the finished film. That’s the perk level I donated for, by the way, and there’s still 38 of those voice-over options still available.

The other opportunity offered a few lucky fans (who wanted to donate $250) the choice APPEAR in the film if they so desired. Donors at this level would be asked to film themselves at home using a camera or smart phone according to instructions, possibly say a few lines, and upload the footage, which would then be edited into the film.

Initially, there were only five of these “Commodore Access” on-camera perks available…and they disappeared very quickly. By the time the Indiegogo was extended, they were long gone.

But last week, show-runner MARK NACCARATO added five more “Commodore Access” on-camera perks to the list. Already, one has been snatched up, leaving four. So HURRY if you want to be in an actual fan film!

Assuming each of these perks is snatched up, that’ll leave the campaign within spitting distance (just $810 away) from their $10,000 goal, which should be quite doable in 14 days.

To learn more or donate (and get this great perk!), click here.

And now, please enjoy the latest video offering from THE ROMULAN WAR featuring some behind-the-scenes photos from last summer’s shoot in Nashville, Tennessee…

THE ROMULAN WAR releases NEW VIDEO showing CGI model tests!

As you’ve probably noticed over the past five weeks, I’ve been very prolific in my support of THE ROMULAN WAR and its current Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign. A week ago, show-runner MARK NACCARATO announced that he was extending out the campaign for an additional 30 days because they had not yet reached their $10,000 goal. (Yes, Indiegogo lets you do that now. Really!)

The extension has proven to be a real blessing, as the total raised has increased by nearly $2,000 in just six days to (as I write this) $7,785 from 66 backers…just 22% away from being fully funded.

To increase excitement and antici…

…pation for the fan production—and of course, to encourage more donations—I suggested to Mark that he “liberate” some of the special features that had, up until now, been hidden in a donor-only section. I joked to him, “That’s like showing a commercial for your restaurant only to people who are already seated at your tables eating their dinner!”

Mark agreed, and the first special feature was posted to the public earlier this week. It shows some CGI model tests for a few of the NX-era starships, Roumlan ships, Federation vessels, and space stations that will be appearing in this fan film. It also shows the mysterious Stormbird-class flying by…looking very much like a Klingon D-7. How did the Romulans and Klingons come to use such similar designs a century before Romulans started using Klingon designs? Mark actually answered that question in this awesome chat/interview we had a few weeks ago. Take a listen if you haven’t already.

Mark has also been on not one but TWO podcasts in the last two weeks:

CONTINUING MISSION: http://trek.fm/continuing-mission/46

THE FINAL FRONTIER: http://www.podcasts.com/the-final-frontier-b29b64d07/episode/The-Final-Frontier-Podcast-18-Interview-with-Mark-Naccarato-0e1a

Meanwhile, the video of the fly-bys looks AMAZING (see below). And what blows my mind most of all is that these aren’t even close to final sequences…they’re just test renderings! The finished VFX are, I’m told, going to look even better…incredibly better, in fact.

I don’t know—these look pretty awesome…

Click here to learn more and (if you can) to donate.

(And if you can’t donate, then please share the link with your friends.)

Get on board the SKY FIGHTER Indiegogo! (interview with LUKAS KENDALL)

I get a lot of requests to cover crowd-funding campaigns for fan films here on this blog. Many of those requests I politely decline because the projects have no connection to Star Trek, which is where I focus most of my attention.

So why did I decide to feature a non-Star Trek fan project like SKY FIGHTER? Well, there actually is a connection to both Star Trek and Trek fan films. First, show-runner LUKAS KENDALL produced many of the Star Trek music compilations on CD over the years. And second, Lukas is a close friend of ROBERT MEYER BURNETT and tapped him to edit the final Sky Fighter short film. Rob, as many of you know, was the editor of the highly popular Prelude to Axanar fan film and was, until recently, slated to direct the remaining two episodes of the Axanar trilogy.

But that wasn’t the only thing that intrigued me enough to want to bring this new Indiegogo campaign to your attention.

The first thing I noticed about the campaign was the tongue-in-cheek humor. While some projects take a somewhat light tone here and there, this one is going all-in with comedy. Lukas even calls himself “a highly qualified un-qualified person” and makes sure to mention that “I am not stupid!” He even included an illustration to hammer home that point…

Also really funny were some of the perks. Most of them are serious items of some value, but a few were eye-popping in their obvious outrageousness…

But it wasn’t just the humor that got my attention. Lukas also made the unusual decision to post his entire script for the short film for all to read (rather than keeping it secret, as most productions to). And it’s definitely worth reading, folks—I was very impressed.

Also, the short film is a “proof-of-concept” that will apparently lead to a full-length feature…and there is already an offer on the table!

And last but not least, this $25,000 Indiegogo is an all-or-nothing Fixed Goal campaign…meaning it either makes the goal or the production gets nothing (which is usually the caae for Kickstarter).

Fortunately, Lukas has managed to generate almost $9,000 (as I type this) from nearly 100 backers with 23 days still to go. Needless to say, I asked him about that early success straight away when we chatted…

Continue reading “Get on board the SKY FIGHTER Indiegogo! (interview with LUKAS KENDALL)”

It’s a MIRACLE as THE HOLY CORE finds an ANGEL DONOR!

This is turning out to be a week of VERY good news for Star Trek fan-funded projects! As I reported yesterday, the Star Trek rock band, The Roddenberries, managed to just reach their $9,500 Kickstarter goal with less than an hour left! The Romulan War was able to extend their Indiegogo campaign an extra 30 days, and now they’re now nearly 75% of the way to their $10,000 goal.

But by far the most shocking (in a VERY good way!) news came yesterday when writer/director GARY O’BRIEN announced that his newest fan film project, THE HOLY CORE, has been fully funded by a single donor!

At the end of March, the situation wasn’t nearly as rosy for The Holy Core, as their $12,000 Kickstarter (about £8,700) didn’t even reach the half-way point and received nothing. That was surprising for many of us, as Gary’s previous fan film, Chance Encounter, is considered one of the best ever low-budget Trek fan films.

I spoke to a very disappointed Gary after the failed Kickstarter, asking if he might try an Indiegogo instead (or multiple campaigns) and perhaps make the film in smaller installments. Gary wasn’t sure what he would do next, and I didn’t want to press him. Then, a week or so later, Gary told me privately that he might have found funding, but to please keep it under wraps until he knew for certain.

As the weeks went by, things sounded increasingly hopeful. But I was still asked to hold off sharing anything until the money was “in the bank.” After all, Murphy’s Law is still a thing.

And then yesterday, it all became official as Gary posted this video…

I asked Gary if this donor had requested to remain anonymous, as the video seems to go to great lengths not to provide a name. Gary replied…

Actually he hadn’t confirmed either way when I shot the video, so I played it safe and didn’t mention him. However, literally 10 minutes ago, he got back to me and says he’s happy for me to tell people. So…

He’s ALEXANDER MAYER, and he was the single largest backer of Chance Encounter. He’s about my age and hails from Germany. He’s a big TNG and Voyager fan and likes to back projects he thinks look good. Among others, he has funded Tommy Krafts’ sci-fi film about the Runaway androids (not sure if he funded it all or not though). Other than that, I don’t really have much info.

Well, I for one would like to personally THANK Herr Mayer for his super-generous support of these three fan films! Hopefully, when fans see the quality of The Holy Core, perhaps they will realize that Star Trek fan films are still a thing worthy of their support and donations.

THE RODDENBERRIES make it to their KICKSTARTER goal at the LAST MOMENT!

If you’ve popped on to the Fan Film Factor “CROWDFUNDING NOW” page over the past two months, you probably noticed the link to the $9,500 Kickstarter for The Roddenberries Star Trek Band Boldly Goes to Album II.

I admit to having been pretty nervous about this one. After 9 weeks, with only a few days left to go until the final day of May 4, they hadn’t even gotten to the 50% mark. I saw The Roddenberries in Las Vegas at the 50th Anniversary Star Trek convention, and I thought they were awesome. I even have a copy of their first album CD sitting right here on my desk.

I felt slightly guilty for having not pushed theur Kickstarter more here on Fan Film Factor. But I was also trying to spotlight the campaigns for The Holy Core (in March) and then The Romulan War (in April…and still going on). And with another new Indiegogo being spotlighted later this week, well, I don’t want it to seem like all I do is ask you guys to donate your money!

Anyway, with the clock ticking down, the galaxy’s premiere Star Trekkified, multi-media sci-fi rock cabaret seemed in danger of falling short of their Kickstarter goal and getting zero, zip, zilch, nada. And having been away from my computer most of the day on their final day Friday and Saturday, I didn’t check their campaign page until Sunday. I suppose on some subconscious level, I didn’t want to face the frustrating news that they’d failed to reach their goal and got nothing.

When I did finally visit their Kickstarter page last night, I was shocked to find their project successfully FUNDED with $9,745 from 109 backers! Apparently, according to updates, they reached 60% with just 17 hours left and crossed the 70% mark with just over an hour to go. Where that final $3,000 came from isn’t clear, but it doesn’t really matter. The fact is that The Roddenberries made their goal, they get their money, and best of all, fans will soon hear a new album and see a new music video.

And speaking of music videos, let’s all raise a glass of scotch with the band to celebrate this great news. No pressure…

Visit The Roddenberries website for even more of their great music!

THE ROMULAN WAR extends its INDIEGOGO another 30 DAYS!

With only ONE day left to go on its $10,000 Indiegogo campaign, the new fan project THE ROMULAN WAR has been essentially stuck just under $6,000. I had featured a text interview with show-runner MARK NACCARTO when the project first kicked off. At that point, the campaign had jumped out to an impressive start. And within the first 10 days, they’d generated over $4,000 in contributions.

But then things slowed down and nearly screeched to a halt! The needle barely moved at all during their third week when I published an audio interview with Mark trying to figure out what was going on. Why were the donations drying up? Was it the hit of Tax Day in the U.S.? Was it the guidelines or the lawsuit from 2016? Was it just that Mark wasn’t campaigning enough? Or have fans simply hit donating a wall?

It wasn’t just the normal mid-campaign slowdown. Even now, with only one day left, donations are almost nonexistent. I’d even e-mailed Mark to suggest that he might want to publicly release some of the special features (videos, ship dossiers, character background info, etc.) that had been reserved only for donors…just to excite and encourage more contributions. But time was running out!

Well, apparently, time is a luxury that we once again DO have…thanks to the folks at Indiegogo! Apparently, the crowd-funding service will now let a project team extend the duration of a 30-day campaign by an ADDITIONAL 30 days…even if they haven’t reached their goal yet!

So guess what Mark just did? Aw, why don’t I let him tell you himself…

Continue reading “THE ROMULAN WAR extends its INDIEGOGO another 30 DAYS!”

New TRAILER posted for THE ROMULAN WAR!

For the past three weeks, I’ve been spotlighting the Indiegogo campaign for THE ROMULAN WAR. I published a text interview with show-runner MARK NACCARATO shortly after the campaign launched, and later an audio chat with Mark discussing the current state of crowd-funding campaigns in general and his in particular.

The reason I’m pushing this project so much is not only because I’m really excited by it and want to see it completed, but also because I think this is a really critical time for Star Trek fan films.

Fan donors have gotten used to the flash and sizzle of the quality productions like Star Trek Continues, New Voyages, Prelude to Axanar, Horizon, and Renegades. And for a while, it seemed like there were simply two “extremes” of Trek fan films: the six-figure professional-quality productions that were nearly as good as “the real thing” (some arguably better)…and the low-budget, bargain basement fan films with amateur actors, rubenesque fans doing cosplay, cheap costumes, bad lighting, horrible sound, mediocre VFX, slow pacing, etc. While I believe many of these less ambitious projects are still worth checking out, a lot of them don’t attract much in donations through crowd-funding campaigns (and few of them even ask for money).

With the advent of the guidelines, fans lamented that the days of the six-figure “blockbusters” were over, and I think that’s one of the reasons that donations to recent Kickstarters and Indiegogos have been so anemic.

But while the top-level “professional” fan productions might mostly be history, and the low-budget fan films not really justifying more than modest donations, to quote Yoda: “There is another…”

Continue reading “New TRAILER posted for THE ROMULAN WAR!”