Could Kickstarter Be Better Than Government Grants for Artists?

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By Jolie O'Dell

"Artist Molly Crabapple has just been given $17,000 to lock herself in a paper-covered room for five days and make art until the walls are covered.

But that sum didn’t come from the National Endowment for the Arts or a wealthy patron; Crabapple, like many in her subversive art-making shoes, turned to Kickstarter to find funding for the stunt.

In her Kickstarter proposal, she outlined the basic premise of the project, dubbed “Molly Crabapple’s Week in Hell.” Anyone who donated a dollar to the effort would get to watch a live stream of the whole five-day shebang. Anyone who pledged $10 or more would get to name an animal for inclusion in the artwork; donations of $20 or more would get an actual piece of the ink-filled paper sent to them. And backers who fronted $1,000 or more would get an absinthe-infused lunch with the artist.

Crabapple set a $4,500 fundraising goal; so far, the total raised is $17,000 — enough to make a short film about the project, which Crabapple says will debut online shortly after Crabapple’s Week in Hell wraps...."

How Kickstarter Became a Lab for Daring Prototypes and Ingenious Products | Magazine

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Excerpt from original article by Carlye Adler:

"Ivan Wong struggled with his camera strap. It would whip through the air when he turned his lens, occasionally flapping into the frame and destroying the composition. It’s a common issue, but for Wong it was more than an annoyance—as a professional sports photographer, he depended on his ability to capture the perfect moment. A wayward strap could kill an entire assignment. Wong talked to some fellow photographers—his brother, Ben, and his friend Anne Bui, a product developer at Fox Racing. They agreed it was a problem. So they did what any modern maker would: They designed their own solution. The idea was to connect the strap to one point on the bottom of the camera—the threaded tripod mount—instead of two points on the top. That should keep the strap out of the shot and reduce tangling. They grabbed some nuts and bolts from a local workshop and hit Ivan and Ben’s parents’ garage. Their prototype wasn’t pretty, but it worked. They called it the C-Loop and began to think it might have commercial potential.

The team had some manufacturing experience, but they had no idea how to bring a product to market. And money? They didn’t have that either, and it would cost $15,000 to produce a minimum run of 500 C-Loops. They considered pooling their savings (including Ben’s college money) and taking out a loan, but nobody relished that idea.

Then they found Kickstarter, a website where people post descriptions of their projects and anyone can chip in to help fund them. Ben had discovered the site after hearing about a couple of guys who wanted to manufacture a tripod mount for the iPhone 4. Ivan pledged $20—in effect preordering one of the gizmos. “I thought, that could be us,” Ivan says. Using Kickstarter was an appealingly offbeat approach, and there was no risk. Even if they couldn’t raise the full amount, they’d build a following and win some free publicity...."

Read the excellent long article on Wired.com

Nearly 1/2 Kickstarter Funds Up in One Day! The Future of Facebook Project by Venessa Miemis

About this project

With over 600 million users and a valuation of over $70 billion, Facebook is the world's dominant social networking platform. What are the challenges a social media company of this size will face? What are the strategic moves it should make? How can Facebook users take advantage of the platform and its increasingly rich social graph?

These are the questions we are addressing with the Future of Facebook video series. Using the STEEP forecasting methodology, we’ll be viewing the challenges and opportunities for this company through the lenses of Society, Technology, Environment, Economics, and Politics. Each of these five categories will become a short focus video that fleshes out that topic area. The final video will be a big picture overview of the potential pathways for the evolution of Facebook.

Interviews are still underway, but here’s a look at who we’ve talked to so far: 

David Armano - SVP, Edelman Digital

Stowe Boyd - futurist, social technologies blogger

Jamais Cascio - ethical futurist, Senior Fellow of the IEET

Amber Case - co-founder Geoloqi

check the site for the full description & video - great line-up of interviewees! can't wait!

Nearly 1/2 Kickstarter Funds Up in TWO Days! The Future of Facebook Project by Venessa Miemis

About this project

 

With over 600 million users and a valuation of over $70 billion, Facebook is the world's dominant social networking platform. What are the challenges a social media company of this size will face? What are the strategic moves it should make? How can Facebook users take advantage of the platform and its increasingly rich social graph?

These are the questions we are addressing with the Future of Facebook video series. Using the STEEP forecasting methodology, we’ll be viewing the challenges and opportunities for this company through the lenses of Society, Technology, Environment, Economics, and Politics. Each of these five categories will become a short focus video that fleshes out that topic area. The final video will be a big picture overview of the potential pathways for the evolution of Facebook.

Interviews are still underway, but here’s a look at who we’ve talked to so far: 

David Armano - SVP, Edelman Digital

Stowe Boyd - futurist, social technologies blogger

Jamais Cascio - ethical futurist, Senior Fellow of the IEET

Amber Case - co-founder Geoloqi

check the site for the full description & video - great line-up of interviewees! can't wait!

Napoleon Dynamite Star Turns to Kickstarter to Finance Film

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Jon Heder of Napoleon Dynamite fame is working on a new project with writer and director Nick Peterson. The short film, tentatively titled 'Drained,' will combine live actors and stop-motion animation, and sounds like it's about how men are dirty, rotten bastards. (Either that or it's about sewage.) What's interesting here, though, is that Heder and Peterson have turned to the Internet to help fund the film. The duo took their pitch to Kickstarter -- a place for people to post the ideas and projects they just don't have the money to complete, and beg for donations. Anyone can contribute as little as $1 to 'Drained,' but donating more earns you certain perks. For example, at $10 you get your name in the credits, and $250 gets you an associate producer credit. Cough up $5,000 and you get a full producer credit and a private screening of the film in L.A. with Heder and Peterson...

This is a Great List: The Kickstarter Blog - Kickstarter Awards: By the Numbers

Most… Everything?: TikTok+LunaTik Multi-Touch Watch

Kickstarter 2010 Statistics:

Total Successfully Funded Projects: 3,910
Total Dollars Pledged: $27,638,318
Total Pledges: 386,373
Total Rewards Selected: 322,526
Total Pageviews: 50,234,521
Total Visits: 15,766,248
Total Visitors: 8,294,183

read the full awesome list on Kickstarter's blog:

http://blog.kickstarter.com/post/2686751109/kickstarter-awards-by-the-numbers

"Finding Vivian Maier" - a feature length documentary film by Toneloof — Kickstarter funding complete

About this project

Update: Here is a wonderful segment that Chicago Tonight just aired: http://www.wttw.com/chicagotonight/video/A1hO97qcWo7ViDL_rWniVH2LakYxNa7J/

About the Film
Finding Vivian Maier
- a feature-length documentary

Vivian Maier’s photographs were seemingly destined for obscurity, lost among the clutter of the countless objects she’d collected throughout her life. Instead these images have shocked the world of street photography and irrevocably changed the life of the man who brought them to the public eye. This film brings to life the improbable saga of John Maloof’s discovery of Vivian Maier. Along with her documentary films, photographs, odd collections, and accounts from people who knew her, we take you on the journey of 'Finding Vivian Maier'.

What started as a blog to show her work quickly became a viral sensation in the photography world. Photos destined for the trash heap now line gallery exhibitions, a forthcoming book, and this documentary film. The world wants to know more about Vivian. In order for us to deliver the quality documentary film that we would like to produce, we need funding.

The Status
The film is currently in the pre-production stage. We have recently joined forces with an award-winning Danish filmmaker, Lars Oxfeldt Mortensen (www.mortensenfilm.dk). Once we have pre-production financing, we can move forward with the promotional trailer to seek broadcaster financing for the feature-length film we are set out to create.

Funds
Monies raised will go to the pre-production budget for the film. This includes equipment, research, trips to conduct interviews and collect footage, editing costs for promotional trailer, and miscellaneous financing. All funds will be used for the film. If we exceed our pre-production budget goal, then all proceeds will go toward the production budget. With your funding help through Kickstarter, we'll be able to move forward on this film with less of a funding hurdle.

It all started here:

http://www.vivianmaier.com

...and here:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/onthestreet/discuss/72157622552378986/

Press
Vivian's work has received a considerable amount of press and much more are to come. Here is a list of links to some of the more notable recognition available online:

New York Times LENS:
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/new-street-photography-60-years-old/

Chicago Magazine:
http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/January-2011/Vivian-Maier-Street-Photographer/

Chicago Sun-Times:
http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/2973223-421/maier-maloof-vivian-chicago-negatives.html

NPR's Kitchen Sisters:
http://www.kitchensisters.org/girlstories/the-lost-found-photographs-of-vivian-maier/

MIR Appraisals:
http://chicagoappraisers.blogspot.com/2010/05/vivian-maier-tribute-part-iv-interview.html

The Design Observer:
http://observatory.designobserver.com/entry.html...

The Independent (New Review) in the U.K.:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/little-miss-big-shot-fifties-america-exposed-ndash-by-a-french-nanny-1811040.html

Repubblica (Italy):
http://static.repubblica.it/repubblica/gallerie/gente/foto_america/index.html

Clarin (Argentina):
http://www.clarin.com/diario/2009/10/22/um/m-02024494.htm

Clarin also (neat slideshow):
http://www.revistaenie.clarin.com/notas/2010/02/03/_-02132908.htm

Danish news:
http://kpn.dk/article1871460.ece

Thank you for your time. Your generous contributions will aid in our efforts to assure a lasting appreciation of Vivian Maier's art, and presenting this story to the world.

Kind regards,

John Maloof
Anthony Rydzon


Project location: Chicago, IL

Amazing story.

Excellent Post on 'Rise of the Micro-Medici'

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From : Change Observer: Design Observer

By Maria Popova

Excerpt:

"...Crowdsourcing, however, has become valuable for creative projects in a different way. While efforts to tap the wisdom of crowds may fall flat in bringing creative visions to life, tapping the wallets of crowds has been incredibly successful. Microfunding platforms like Kickstarter, alongside a handful of copycats and competitors, are liberating innovators everywhere from film to industrial design to programming. Just this month, Scott Wilson funded his TikTok+LunaTik Multi-Touch Watch Kit concept on Kickstarter, raising a staggering $941,718. His idea — a snap-in design that transforms the iPod Nano into a multifunctional timepiece — had so much merit in the eyes of the microfunding community that it raised 6,827 percent more than the original goal of $15,000. LoudSauce allows supporters of causes and nonprofits to buy media space to help their message reach a wider audience and facilitate mainstream awareness. ProFounder enables entrepreneurs to microfund small business ventures; IndieGoGo does the same for independent filmmakers. ArtistsShare and PledgeMusic give artists the means to subsidize tours, shows and installations by sourcing donations directly from fans. Founded by a pair of World Bank and UN Development Fund alums, Kopernik uses the model to connect innovative humanitarian designs and technologies with the communities that would benefit from them, allowing local organizations to take the fulfillment of their needs into their own hands.

This new kind of patronage is essentially a return to the Medici, only in fragmented form via micropayments. An intelligent evolution of crowdsourcing, it preserves the nucleus of a creative endeavor – its singular point of view – while harnessing collective power to bring it to fruition...."