For the last few weeks I’ve been following – with great excitement – the efforts of Arin Crumley (of Four Eyed Monsters fame) and his business partner, Kieran Masterton, as they try to raise money for their new venture. It’s called OpenIndie, and if successful, will open a world of possibilities for independent filmmakers desperate to get their films in the hands of their audience.

Arin is an interesting guy to begin with, but what’s really cool about OpenIndie is their dogged devotion to democratizing access to film product and their belief in the conviction of their supporters. To raise the $10,000 they need to get the website up and running they’ve turned to Kickstarter, a “funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors, explorers…”. They have until October 29th to raise their target, and if they don’t hit 10k then they get nothing! A little harsh perhaps, but Arin is very humble (as if we needed another reason to like this guy) in saying that if they don’t reach the goal, then perhaps it’s because there’s not really a need for something like OpenIndie. I think we all know there is, and with a little under 36 hours to go, they have only $202.69 to go, so it’s looking good!

What Arin and Kieran are trying to do is brave, necessary and close to our hearts here at SocialNotions. Starting in early January, we’ll be contributing to a Strategic Management Research project at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management that aims to map the entire marketing, distribution and exhibition landscape of Independent Film. As part of this effort, the team will be developing strategic recommendations for filmmakers who want to know how they can locate and access their film-loving audience in a more cost-effective and compelling way, given the current state of the industry. We’re really excited about this effort and will keep you posted as it gets underway….

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with Arin as he explains what it is they’re trying to do with OpenIndie. All I can say is…. Bravo!

What do you guys think? Is there something here, or are they clutching at straws? Love to know what you think, as always.

-d

Tags: arin crumley, Four Eyed Monsters, Independent Film, kickstarter, kieran masterton, openindie, UCLA Anderson

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 7:39 am and is filed under Featured, Hollywood 3.0, Murketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.