Filmmakers, musicians, artists and all those who want to start a creative venture are resorting to crowd funding to collect money. The youngsters tell Divya Kaushik how to get started and promote the project in a way that guarantees profits and recognition
Have a dream, share it with the world and you never know you will be next in the list of well-known people. Most would say that it is easier said than done, after all, it is not easy to record an album, shoot a film or publish one’s own book without any sponsor. But if you know the right sources, it is not a Herculean task to gather money to make your dream project come to life.
As per reports, last year close to 25 per cent IITians voluntarily chose not to participate in campus placements. They all had plans to start up their own ventures. After studying from the US, Vasuda Sharma did not want to pursue a job, rather her dream was to come up with her own album with 11 songs featuring 30 musicians from different parts of the world. In the latter case, she did not have any source to collect over five lakh rupees which she needed to record her album independently. But she had heard of Kickstarter, one of the largest crowd funding websites. She started looking for a crowd funding platform in India and got to know about Wishberry, a crowd funding platform in India that help Vasuda and many like her collect funds from multiple sources. Crowd funding is a process where people help an individual, a cause, start up through collectively contributing money, showing support to the project. In return they are promised a certain reward or recognition or in some cases, a stake in the venture. The phenomenon, which so far was only popular in the West is now spreading wings in India. It is reportedly estimated that in 2014, crowd funding shall add more than 2,70,000 employment opportunities in the market globally. This industry is all set to grow at the rate of 92 per cent in the current year and a study reveals that over the period of five years it has grown in leaps and bounds already.
Get started
In India, the most famous crowd funding website is Wishberry. It was founded by Anshulika Dubey and Priyanka Aggarwal in 2012. Anshulika was working as a consultant and while preparing a report on crowd funding in social sector, she got to know about crowd funding websites that help people realise their dream projects. “I thought it was edgy and thus started it here. In the last two years it has been a huge success, we have raised approximately Rs3 crore for 600 projects and have helped over 8,000 people. Youngsters from arts, performing arts and other creative fields are the ones who come mostly to us for help. The age group ranges between 25 to 40,” shared the 27-year-old. She explained, “Crowd funding is inviting friends, family and public to contribute to your project. The amount can range from Rs50 to 50,000 or even more, depending on the project. But it is no charity. A person who is collecting funds has to promise some rewards to the contributor. People who come to us have to go through a selection procedure. If their project is selected, they need to register with us with the fee of Rs2,500. Then they have to prepare a write-up, list of rewards — explaining what they will be giving in return — and a pitch video to promote their project. They are given a time frame within which they will have to collect money. If not so, one has to withdraw the project. If the campaign is successful we keep 10 per cent of the money raised.”
Success stories
Shilpa Jain, a self-proclaimed foodie was upset after her bad dining experience in Delhi. She first thought she will write a blog but later decided to come up with a food networking site called Plattershare. “It is for chefs, bloggers and everybody who is passionate about food. My friend Ankush and me decided to start Plattershare and we have seven people working on the designing and development of the website. To make it popular and collect funds we went for crowd funding. We have so far collected over Rs1,50,000, which is 22 per cent of our target and looking forward to complete it soon,” she shared. Creative ventures are most successful examples of crowd funding. Filmmaker Vanshaj Kapoor collected money for his debut film, He Who Chased The Train, in just four days. “The film is about how morality is perceived in our society. I was surprised that the idea was an instant hit. I offered people rewards like giving their names as executive producers and I also gave some contributors’ names to the characters of my film,” shared Vanshaj.
Added advantages
Apart from money, crowd funding can be a promotional tool. Vasuda says that music composers like Vishal Dadlani contributed for her album after they saw the pitch video online and Vanshaj says he was able to get in touch with more people who can support him in future. “The platform it offers is so extensive that one gets the right exposure. Also people come up with interesting ideas and suggestions that can help you expand the project in future,” said Shilpa. Vasuda added that it gives you the experience and offers liberty to shape project the way you want.