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Pictured above: The Seed & Spark team
Seed&Spark, a film crowdfunding and distribution platform, just raised a $1 million seed round led by Manitou Ventures. Though filmmakers have been crowdfunding on sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter for years, Seed&Spark is seeking to build a site that, in addition to fundraising, also hosts films and helps with distribution and audience building.
The company, which started in May of 2012, has been bootstrapped by CEO Emily Best and is designed to help give traction to previously marginalized voices in film. “The first 100 years of movie picture content has largely taught us that white stories and men’s stories are universal and all other stories are niche stories,” said Best. Unfortunately, those biases have shut out a lot of voices.
With over 50 percent of independent films shown at festivals like Sundance, and Tribeca not getting picked up for distribution there is a huge need for a new independent film industry distribution model. Best said the company represents "the first time in history that a successful crowdfunding campaign guarantees a film meaningful distribution."
Successful fundraising campaigns get the privilege of having their films hosted on the website and are hooked up with Seed&Spark’s distribution network. The company just announced a distribution partnership with American Express - and Best said they have several other distribution deals in the pipeline.
To date, the crowdfunding website has had 70 successful funding campaigns and the average amount raised per film is $15,500. 65 films are available for viewing on the site currently.
The site also allows filmmakers to lean on the cinematic community: Seed&Spark doesn't just facilitate financial donations by also allowing supporters to lend items and labor needed for the shoot. Filmmakers create a wedding-like registry of what they need and supporters loan everything from their expert film editing services to sunscreen to filming equipment. The effect is help to Seed&Spark build a community of passionate backers.
By lending support to a successful film, supporters also get so-called Spark points which gain them access to the website’s library of movies. “We want people to experience being awarded for their contribution immediately,” said Best. "The strength of the filmmaking community is way more powerful than money.”
