Engaging the power of community

So I told you last week I would reveal the “plan” I have up my sleeve for getting this doc produced. Well, ideally I would still love a broadcast partner to come on board. That’s the best case scenario because then we have a place to show the film once finished, and we could produce it under a more realistic budget. As I go to the Banff Media Festival next month, the Dorothy film will be one of the projects I bring to pitch, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

But my other plan – because dang it! we’re going to make a film about Dorothy, aren’t we??!! – involves partnering directly to our audience to make the film. In this day and age of indie filmmaking, the practice of crowdfunding through sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter has become immensely popular. Instead of relying on one or two big funders, we have potentially 1,000s of “little” funders who can contribute whatever they feel able towards the film. It all depends on outreach and building community, but thankfully that has become easier with the advent of social media.

Some call this age the democratization of media because as slots for independent films on television become fewer, the cost of actually making films also continues to decrease. In some ways, filmmaking is actually getting a lot simpler: instead of going through 3rd party channels like expensive studios and distributors, we can partner directly with the people who want to see the film made. Producers are beginning to turn more and more to regular people to fund production in exchange for “perks” – everything from a merchandise and film-related swag, to an executive producer credit in the film.

Some big studios are even catching on to this. You might have heard in the news lately about the producers of The Veronica Mars movie, who aimed to raise $2 million and instead pulled in $5.7 million. The highest proportion of backers (23,227 people) put in just $50 to get a host of swag, including a DVD of the movie with a behind-the-scenes documentary and special bonus features. Another example: Zach Braff’s recent campaign for his indie feature “Wish I was Here” garnered $2.5 million with 36,000 backers. Now, these projects both have high profile actors and a cult following, so it’s easy to see how they could be successful.

But I would argue that Dorothy has an equally strong following – albeit local, and a relatively niche group – of passionate watercraft lovers who want to see her restored and celebrated as she should be. And it just takes a few of us – a few dedicated “super fans” who are willing to spread the word – to pull in a wider community of people. And before you know it, we have a collective force that can do a lot more together than a few of us can accomplish alone.

My approach to filmmaking is that I don’t have all the answers, and I like to work with a community to source out the answers I don’t have. I also have only limited resources. I work hard to do a good job telling the stories that come my way and honour them with my talents and a lot of energy. But if we go the unconventional indie route, we need more than just “Tobi and Kate”. We need a whole community to make this happen.

Our immediate need is to cover 3 essential shoots this summer and fall – one of which is coming up very soon in June when two of Dorothy’s previous owners (David Baker and Angus Matthews) visit her and go over her history with Tony. Another shoot will take place in Victoria as we catalogue the archives and conduct interviews with the Maritime Museum of British Columbia, as well as some interviews at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club where she was berthed for so long. And a 3rd this fall at the Victoria Classic Boat festival where we hope to capture the vibe of the classic boat community.

To cover these, I plan to launch a small fundraising campaign at the Ladysmith Maritime Festival on June 8th, to run through the summer and culminate with the Victoria Classic Boat festival Aug 30/31-Sept 1. We have a few ideas up our sleeves (silkscreened “I Love the Dorothy” T-shirts, anyone?) of merch to sell as fundraisers and gifts, and we welcome all suggestions. If you are associated with a company that produces something we’d be able to resell, please get in touch.

That’s all for now! Hope you’re all enjoying the beautiful west coast weather and getting out on the water as much as possible.

Happy Sailing!

Tobi Elliott, Producer BETWEEN WOOD AND WATER