Documentary filmmaker, hat in hand

We came across this site today, and this post does not serve as either a negative or positive endorsement. But it is interesting – the makers of the doc “Born and Bred” are holding up a sign that essentially says, “Will give screen credit for money.”

Two elements of this are worth consideration. First, they cannot sell shares of the film as investment chunks without doing an SEC filing, as it would be a stock offering. There’s a useful post on this subject, called “How not to use the internet to get investors for your film or theatre project,” by attorney Gordon Firemark.

So they are looking for charitable donations for something not apparently a charity. The benefit is the credit, which doesn’t apparently strike the SEC as a meaningful dividend. They have $100 toward $50,000. The filmmakers do point out that they won’t cash any donations unless the full amount is reached.

The term is called “Crowdfunding,” and that tactic generally is most effective when a film has a message or information donors want put out. The filmmakers cite the film “The Age of Stupid,” but that’s a very different case. “The Age of Stupid” was about climate change, so a donation was probably as much for the cause as for the film. And “The Age of Stupid” did cut in larger donors as investors, with all the contractual stuff that goes with that.

What’s the $50,000 for? Apparently, copyright footage of the subjects, young boxers. ESPN and HBO presumably have footage of bouts they had broadcast rights for. Is that an absolute for this film? The trailer, with interviews and gym footage, looks quite nice, and that leads to the second point of discussion.

How much footage does $50,000 even buy from these media giants, and does a film such as this really need to play that high-cost game? While it’s nice to have that kind of footage if you can get it, the website of this film strongly suggests the film can’t be completed without it. Is that really true? It seems that they’ve entered into a premise that sounds good – young boxers – but with a plan that can’t be executed without people donating $50,000 that could to the poor, to a scholarship fund, or a local youth program. Are people that interested? Will the film really fail without that crazy-expensive ESPN and HBO footage?

We’re curious how this will develop…