We want the financial backers to know that we're not just teenagers making a movie, but filmmakers making a movie. –Emily Hagins
Teenage writer and director Emily Hagins already has 2 feature films and several shorts under her belt. Emily is also an IndieGoGo-Getter, having raised over $9,000 on her first campaign, and she has currently raised almost $6,000 on her current campaign.
According to Emily, both of her fundraising campaigns are testiment that age is just a number in the game of filmmaking. Take a good read and learn how she's spreading the word about her films by reaching out to film blogs and websites.
Q1. Tell us about your project… your inspiration and goals!
MY SUCKY TEEN ROMANCE is a teen horror comedy that takes place in a culture overrun with romanticized vampires, and four geeky teens must defend their beloved sci-fi convention from a group of real and very thirsty vampires.
The inspiration for the story came from a sci-fi convention I go to called CONvergence in Minnesota, combined with the idea that teen vampires are very popular with my age group and pop culture today. I wanted to tell a teen vampire story from a real teenager's perspective.
We raised funds over the summer for production, and have been raising money for post-production on IndieGoGo since last Sunday. The ultimate goal is to make a movie that will be entertaining and enjoyable!
My Sucky Teen Romance trailer
Q2. What's your funding campaign all about? Who should care and why?
Our funding campaign is about supporting young people (not just me) who show a combination of perseverance and talent in the arts. Most of the cast and crew were young adults or teenagers who have showed a lot of dedication to this project since the beginning.
Filmmaking is an industry that's very expensive, even in this digital age. It's hard to complete a project without some financial backing, which isn't easy to come by as a teenager. We want the financial backers to know that we're not just teenagers making a movie, but filmmakers making a movie. We're trying to make the most professional film we can with the microbudget we have to work with, and have a final product that everyone from the funders to the cast and crew can be proud of.
Q3. How are you reaching, engaging and involving others? Your DIWO tactics, please!
We've been using social media such as Twitter and Facebook as a couple of ways to get the internet community excited about the project. We created Facebook pages for each of the characters for anyone to "friend," which also helped the actors get to know their own characters.
Q4. You're rocking the fundraising on IndieGoGo. Congrats! What's working?
Our first round of fundraising, while still successful, did not reach the goal as fast as our second round. I think having something visual to show of your project helps tremendously in gaining more momentum. We also tried to offer perks that funders would like to own to show how grateful we are for their support.
Emily's pitch video for her first fundraising campaign
Q5. Any surprises or especially fun moments during your campaign that you'd like to share?
We premiered the trailer for the film at Austin Comic Con, and launched the fundraising page immediately after. In about two and a half days, we had raised the minimum goal of $5,500 thanks to movie website such as Ain't It Cool News posting about our fundraising and people passing along the link. It was surprising and exciting to have people following our campaign, and helping us achieve our goal!
Q6. Any tips/advice for other aspiring entrepreneurs, creators and project leaders like yourself?
Definitely don't be afraid of asking for help. I think it's important to find a balance between being confident in your project, and humble in showing how thankful you are for the support of your funders. You want to make everyone involved in your project feel valued. With some preparation, visuals, and belief in a project or cause, other people will want to help you achieve your goal!
Get the latest scoop from My Sucky Teen Romance:
