We rounded out a crazy-busy-inspiring week 1 of our #gogoCA tour in Canada’s largest city, Toronto. Keep on scrolling to see some of our favourite spots in the city, plus stories on campaigns The Sgt. Pepper Album (Music) from the Art of Time Ensemble, Shadeism: Digger Deeper (Film) from filmmaker Nayani Thiyagarajah, Cosmopolis Toronto – A Portrait Project (Photography) from photographer Colin Boyd Shafer, LINES from actress Amy Jo Johnson (Film), Pure Pwnage: Teh Movie (Film), and MUSE: The brain-sensing headband that lets you control things with your mind from the InteraXon team (Technology).
SGT PEPPER ALBUM
The Art of Time knows how to gogo! The not-for-profit performing arts company raised over $20,000 in their first 24 hours for their Sgt Pepper Album campaign. Thanks to the support of their community, we’ll soon be hearing a live album of their concert Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. We caught up with David Abel at the Enwave Theatre at Toronto’s Harbourfront to hear more about their magic.
Why is this important for your community?
We’re a not-for-profit performing arts company. Everything we do is aimed squarely at creating music for our city. The record is just one more way to bring great culture to Toronto, and it’s a “gateway” experience, in the positive sense, to let people know that they’ll likely enjoy what we do.
Why did you choose to crowdfund with Indiegogo?
In our research, everyone told us Indiegogo was the best. And I had personally contributed to Indiegogo campaigns before, and found the user interface friendly and easy to navigate.
Biggest campaign victory?
This will sound schmaltzy, but it’s true. We’re amazed that, by the time we’re done, over 100 people will consider art and music important enough to make a contribution.
Most memorable comment from a contributor?
“Hello Andrew: I am sure you will do it!” from Margaret Atwood!!
Best thing your Indiegogo campaign made happen?
SHADEISM: DIGGING DEEPER
We’ve got a rich history of documentary in Canada, and a great roster of Indiegogo-powered docs, including filmmaker Nayani Thiyagarajah’s upcoming feature documentary, Shadeism: Digging Deeper. A follow-up to their original short Shadeism (2010), the film focuses on discrimination based on skin tone that takes place in communities of colour across the world. It’s a film by young women, about young women, which speaks to their stories through their own voices. We caught up with Nayani (and got a sneak peek of the film!) in Toronto’s west end.
Why is it important for your community?
For too many of us, this issue had been silenced for too long. We believe that by building on our original short doc through this feature project, we can continue to collectively share what so many of us have been holding inside and keep with our process of healing. We know that through an extended feature documentary, we will be able to dig deeper, exploring a multitude of stories, of experiences, of feelings, of thoughts on how to effectively engage in healthy dialogue and a praxis of healing.
Most popular perk?
A credit in the film, which is only fitting, given the fact that this film would never get done the way we intend for it to, without the support of each individual donor. They deserve those credits without a doubt. They are part of the making of this film!
What’s next?
Finally completing the film (!), translating it into the multiple languages spoken by the women featured in the film, submitting it to film festivals so that we can find accessible ways to distribute it worldwide, and finally sharing it with our communities through every means possible.
What do you love about Toronto?
We are the world in one city.
Best thing your Indiegogo campaign made happen?
COSMOPOLIS TORONTO: A PORTRAIT PROJECT
When we asked our next campaigner where we should meet, the answer was easy. Photographer Colin Boyd Shafer invited us to for tea at his English Grandma’s home, the inspiration behind his new Cosmopolis Project. Cosmopolis Toronto will showcase a portrait of someone born in every single country of the world who now calls Toronto home, sharing it in an interactive website, photobook, and exhibited in a local gallery.
Why is this important for your community?
People are aware of Toronto’s diversity, but rarely take the time to concentrate on individual stories within this diversity. Cosmopolis Toronto will hopefully provide an honest portrait of Toronto, 2013.
Biggest fear before launching?
That I wouldn’t be able to convey the importance of the project through the campaign page. Obviously this fear was overcome.
What’s next for you?
Lots of portraits!
Best thing your Indiegogo campaign made happen?
LINES
We started Friday bright and early at the Boardwalk in the Beaches neighbourhood, right where the magic happened for actress Amy Jo Johnson. LINES is a follow up to Amy Jo’s previous film BENT… with almost 500 contributors behind both films, she proves crowdfunding is definitely a team sport!
What’s your campaign / project about?
Lines is a story about a woman’s trip to the dermatologist’s office to remove a mole only to find herself accosted by her doctor about Botulinum toxin and lip fillers. My goal with this short is to inspire confidence in the beauty of who we are naturally. To not let the pressures of today’s youth obsessed society manipulate us into unnatural external augmentation.
Why is this important for your community?
Lines is an important project because hopefully it will inspire someone to embrace their wrinkles and grow older gracefully.
Most popular perk?
Song Sang for you. I have 90 songs to sing for people! FUN and a lot of work. Check them out on YouTube!
Best thing your Indiegogo campaign made happen?
PURE PWNAGE
Continuing our creative tour of Toronto, we met with Jarett Cale, also known as Jeremy, the greatest video game player on Earth in Pure Pwnage. With a webseries, TV series, and many a superfan behind them, Jarett and his team took the biggest, boldest step yet for Pure Pwnage: launching a campaign for a feature film.
Most surprising campaign moment?
The very first day. We were in shock, just constantly refreshing the page and watching the contributions pour in. We cracked our initial goal of $75,000 in just under 20 hours, alleviating all of our fears and fuelling us with an unprecedented energy for the project.
Anything else you want to share with the world?
Crowd-sourcing is the future of independent media financing. Don’t complain about the gatekeepers; build a great campaign and fund it yourself!
Best thing your Indiegogo campaign made happen?
MUSE: THE BRAIN-SENSING HEADBAND
Moving things with your brainwaves? It’s a reality thanks to the Indiegogo-powered Muse! We went to InteraXon’s King West office to chat with co-founder Trevor Coleman, and demo the brain-sensing headband that lets you control things with your mind. InteraXon launched a campaign to introduce and help raise funds for their first round of production of Muse. They raised over $280,000, confirming that the world is ready for this new technology category.
Where are you now?
We’ve been busy growing our team, fine-tuning our design, working with manufacturing, and gearing up for our consumer launch. We’ve also recently announced closing our Series A, where we raised $6M – from investors Horizons Ventures, OMERS Ventures, A-Grade Investments, Felicis Ventures, ff Venture Capital, and Bridge Builders Collaborative.
Biggest campaign victory?
Really, our biggest victory was having a large community emerge supporting our campaign and technology. Having supporters that are passionate and engaged and care about us is far more valuable than the dollars raised. Though almost doubling our goal was pretty great, too.
Most memorable comment from a contributor?
Gotta support my Canadian futurist visionaries. Wish there was crowdfunding when I was raising my early money.
Best thing your Indiegogo campaign made happen?
WRAP-UP
We wrapped up our Toronto stop with an bustling meetup at Extreme Startups on Queen West, hosted with our friends at Shoplocket, the go-to place for setting up shop to take pre-orders once you finish your crowdfunding campaign. Campaigners past and present swapped stories and tips for success… Home to some of our largest Canadian Indiegogo campaigns, it’s clear Toronto has more in store for us all 🙂 Prairies – you’re up next!
Get involved and follow the journey @IndiegogoCA and #gogoCA.
