Last year, I had the privilege of speaking at TEDxJerseyCity about the wonders of crowdfunding and how it’s creating a “Brave New World” with every technology product that is launched, every film funded and produced that otherwise might never have gotten off the page, and with every good cause bringing we, the people, closer together than ever before.

For me, crowdfunding started out not as a way to get a film funded, since I had personally financed one short film a year for about twelve years, but as a way to see if I could get a crowd of people interested enough in my latest short film at the time, Cerise, to add to the $10,000 I had saved up half that amount so I could make a better movie. Through a rigorous campaign, I discovered the power of the crowd to make things happen, if you can engage that crowd of people in such a way that makes them feel personally invested in the project.

This led me to writing a very popular blog post about how to crowdfund an indie film called “Three Ps for a Successful Indie Film Campaign,” which became the basis for my first published book Crowdfunding for Filmmakers: The Way to a Successful Film Campaign.

And a couple years after that, I found myself on a stage giving my first ever TEDx talk.
Throughout “Crowdfunding Today, Tomorrow, Together,” I discuss some of Indiegogo’s most historic campaigns like Solar Roadways, JIBO, “Let’s Give Karen – The bus monitor – H Klein A Vacation!” and a couple film campaigns like Twenty Million People and my very own Indiegogo for Cerise, which initially launched me into quite a different world than then one from where I got my humble start.

Oh, and I also spend some time talking about social media, vampires, and my love of a particular Chilean red wine to help illustrate my all new “Three INs” of crowdfunding –– Invitation, Incentives, and Interactions –– all to help you do today what many others have already done, and to bring your very own brave new worlds to life.

Enjoy!