Kickstarter: A Revolution in Art Funding
By Lindsay Comstock I Artwork courtsey of Cybelle Codish, Gail Mooney, Nadirah Zakariya
When the Smithsonian gave photographers Cybelle Codish, Idris Rheubottom and Tony Craig the opportunity to exhibit their film stills from a documentary about the Native American Grab Day, they were ecstatic. But when they learned the museum was unable to finance the show and they only had three weeks to raise money for the printing, framing and production costs of exhibiting forty-five images, they turned to Kickstarter for help. And in only twenty-one days, they raised $22,606 (well above their original $5,000 goal).
At the time of Kickstarter’s launch two years ago, “crowd funding” was a term yet to resonate in artistic circles. It was a time when the ‘Great Recession’ was deeply felt. As if making creative visions come to life wasn’t already a difficult task, the lagging economy posed an additional threat to artists. As traditional means of art financing began to dry up, organizations like Kickstarter entered the cyber domain at precisely the right moment. And in turn, revolutionized the way artists now think about funding.
The website offers a platform for individuals or groups (both professional and amateur) to finance their creative ideas, and bring “their projects, events, and dreams to life.” Co-founder Yancey Strickler did not anticipate the power that could be leveraged from an already active social network to build a democratized funding mechanism.
It all began in 2005, when Perry Chen—a sort of jack-of-all-trades, then working as a waiter—shared an idea for a conditional funding scheme with Strickler—a music journalist—at a restaurant in Brooklyn. They were stumped by the difficulty in funding a concert and were looking for another way to do things. In 2006, Charles Adler, the most tech-savvy of the bunch, joined the organization. And in 2009 the site went live. At that time, they weren’t paying themselves and according to Strickler, “made every mistake that could be made.” But within a week, two projects were fully funded.
After just over two years, the New York-based team (now twenty-two strong) has more than 7,500 successful projects under their belt and pledges of over $53 million. The most successful project thus far, with pledges just under $1 million, is a kit called the “Tik-Tok+LunaTik” that turns the iPod Nano into a multi-functional watch. According to Kickstarter, once projects reach thirty percent of their goal, they succeed ninety percent of the time. Kickstarter takes a five percent fee of the total amount raised from a successful project.
Adding a project to Kickstarter is an intuitive process for those accustomed to setting up profile pages on social networking sites. One must first submit an original creative idea to the team, who approves it based on outlined conditions. A project, according to the Kickstarter website, “is something finite with a clear beginning and end.” Donations cannot be solicited for “causes, charity, or general business expenses.” If the project is accepted, a campaign page must be set up, which can include a video or photo and project description. The project creator decides upon a funding timeline (from one to ninety days) and monetary goal (infinite) that cannot be changed once the page goes live. In return for backing a project, investors receive one or more rewards determined by the project creator. Because it is an ‘all-or-nothing’ funding model, a campaign must reach its proposed monetary goal in the time frame chosen or pledges do not become concrete, no money changes hands, and the project ‘fails.’
Image-makers quickly caught onto the craze, using this new platform not only for funding ideas but for experimenting with new media and avant-garde art projects that would not ordinarily receive funding through traditional venues. Some photographers fund book projects on the site. Others realize their potential as an activist for the first time. Photojournalists such as National Geographic contributor Gerd Ludwig tap into this resource to fund causes that print media can no longer support. He explains his decision to use Kickstarter to document the current state of contamination around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on his campaign page: “As traditional news outlets struggle financially, photojournalists must now turn to alternative funding methods for long-term projects close to their hearts.”
There is also the example of ‘curated’ pages such as the Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund—an initiative that gives support to individual photojournalists who are covering ongoing human rights stories in collaboration with non-profits throughout the world.
Some of the most profitable projects are inventions for photographic gear. One called the “C-Loop,” a device that relocates a camera’s strap position, raised more than $60,000. And the “Glif,” a tripod mount and stand for the iPhone 4, brought in $137, 417 (way more than its $10,000 goal). In the category of photography alone, there are more than 300 successful projects and over $1.75 million pledged to date.
Though there is no proven method for success, Strickler emphasizes the need for a campaign idea to be compelling and for the video to “have a narrative that produces a sense of wonder.” Although Kickstarter does not directly help to promote project, they do highlight some which are of interest to them on their homepage and/or blog. Because of the popularity of the site, many people are now going to Kickstarter just to look at projects and donate. But it is up to the project creators to market it. As is the case with any good marketing campaign, it is the story that sells. Because photography projects have the added bonus of being inherently visual, photographers have the unique opportunity to engage the audience through a compound strategy that can include the impetus for the campaign, the story behind the photo series, a video plea for funding, and still images.
The strategy behind Codish, Rheubottom, and Craigs’ approach to the Smithsonian exhibition campaign was minimal: they set a goal that was a quarter of the amount they needed and solicited donors with only a photo and a project description. They started out slowly, targeting clients and setting up a Facebook page. Codish says that because the team had not over-saturated their clients in the past with requests for funding, their plea felt authentic. “People were eager to donate as philanthropists,” she explains. Still, she was overwhelmed by the quick response, especially since she feels that many people place little monetary value on photography because of its mass-production capacity. “Photography is such a hard medium to propose,” Codish says. “It’s a bit of a bastard child of the art world, so I’m excited to have the support from the community for an exhibition.”
Gail Mooney, a photographer and filmmaker, embraced a world-view approach to Kickstarter. She and her daughter, Erin Kelly, collaborated on a ninety-nine-day project titled “Opening Our Eyes.” In this time, they traveled to six continents, documenting through still images and video individuals who are making a difference in their communities. When they returned, they had over 4,000 stills and 150 hours of video footage. At the suggestion of a colleague, Mooney turned to Kickstarter to fund the editing and post-production of the film, with the hope that the message of positive change would reach as many people as possible. In just sixty days she had more than 160 backers and a fully-funded project.
Although Mooney used typical avenues for promotion such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, she says that her campaign went viral after networking at a conference in Switzerland. She suggests a targeted marketing approach to people who believe in the project, emphasizing the need for authenticity. She warns that although financing a creative project with Kickstarter is much easier than through traditional methods, it still takes diligent research and effort.
The realization that Mooney gained from her experience was groundbreaking. She began to consider the idea that social media tools are a viable way in which activism is now taking shape because mainstream media outlets are no longer acting as ‘gatekeepers’ to news agendas. As witnessed during the recent North African uprisings, like-minded people are beginning to create swells, which in turn become the impetus for social change, she explains. “No longer do we have to validate our own ideas,” Mooney says. “People are fueling each other, thus leading to innovation.” She touts social networking as a “major vehicle for profound change.” She was recently invited to speak at Cal Poly’s “Distinguished Scholar Lecture Series” about the role of mass communication and media technology in the global economy, and has other lectures in the works. This is an exciting prospect for Mooney, who is now focusing on using her films for activism.
Though Strickler acknowledges that his company stems from the success of already-existing social networking sites, he points to other underlying societal trends that have made web-based commerce possible. Strickler attributes the success of Kickstarter to a burgeoning force of consumers who desire a greater connection to their purchases. Much like the local food and DIY movements, Kickstarter donors share the same need to feel personally vested in the online communities they support. Strickler explains that people enjoy being able to have their name associated with a positive cause. “There’s a kind of romance to it,” he says.
He suggests that when starting a project, individuals should consider submitting “a passion project”—an idea that is “number two on a list of things to do in five years.” He recommends not having overly ambitious expectations for a project that is not realistic.
Nadirah Zakariya is no stranger to astounding support. She is a photographer who will soon début as a cinematographer, thanks to the help of Kickstarter. Her short film, When You Leave This Earth, directed by Jessica Collins, will be made by an all-female cast and crew and is about two sisters who go to mourn their mother’s recent death at a house in the woods. Collins began spreading the word about the project through a heartfelt email to friends, family, and colleagues. They then pooled support from their networks on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr and used Kickstarter. In only sixteen days their $5,000 goal was met. Zakariya equates the project’s success with the fact that many could relate to a strong female figure in their lives. Their rewards included donor recognition in the credits, and even photomontages and songs made in honor of the main donor’s mother.
But with success came unanticipated pressure. “When people start putting in time to check out your work and then donate money… it becomes bigger than you,” Zakariya says. “You have no choice but to do a good job.” This is when she realized, whether ready or not, that she would be transitioning into film.
Like Mooney and Codish, Zakariyah was also awe-stricken by the outpour of help she received from unexpected sources. Even acquaintances from her native Malaysia whom she had not seen for years pitched in to help. “I felt so humbled because in Malaysia not a lot of people have credit cards, and people were donating large sums of money in comparison to the exchange rate,” she explains. “We were so speechless.”
This tie to a global network influenced other organizations to emulate similar funding models. And many have caught on like wildfire, beginning to demand the attention of the government. A recent Wall Street Journal article states that the Securities and Exchange Commission is now “looking at adapting its rules to encourage Internet-age techniques for small companies raising capital.” This includes relaxing regulations on the disclosure of investor shares for crowd funding small businesses.
Strickler takes pride in the fact that he now has the opportunity to meet so many creative individuals. He explains that the company has made him much less cynical about society. “There are things we want to do, but often we don’t feel empowered [to do them],” he says. The success of others has instilled in him a respect for ideas and for the individual who pursues their dreams. “I don’t see this type of energy as a fad.” Strickler says. “It’s rooted in society.” He is now the proud backer of over 400 projects on his site.
Photo by Nadirah Zakariya
Photo by Cybelle Codish
Photo by Idris+Tony
Photo by Gail Mooney
GET THE FULL SUMMER 2011 ISSUE HERE.
Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com Lindsay Comstock: www.lindsaycomstock.com Cybelle Codish: www.cybellecodish.com Gail Mooney: www.kellymooney.com Nadirah Zakariya: www.nadirah.net
