For an indie film producer, photographer, or novelist, every little bit can help a project turn from a simple dream into reality. And really, more images of LGBT life couldn't hurt. Kickstarter and Indie Gogo are two major outfits that are helping artists get funding for their projects with the help of donors through the magic of the internet. The artists set up a page to pitch their idea to the public. Supporters can then give a donation for as little as $1 in some cases. They then have a certain number of days to reach a goal amount. If you use Kickstarter and you don't meet the goal in 90 days, you get none of the cash. On Indiegogo, you keep your earnings no matter what.
Recent successes include the popular I'm From Driftwood series, and recent Outfest winner Wise Kids.
On the following pages feature interesting projects that we suspect you may like. Feel free to share your own Kickstarter or Indiegogo projects below:
The Bklyn Boihood CalendarThe Goal: $3,000
The Deadline: July 19 at 7:18 p.m. Eastern
Cool Perk for Contributions: Those who pledge $50 get a signed calendar.
Bklyn Boihood is a collective that seeks to promote the visibility and empowerment of AGs/Studs/butches/BOIS of color worldwide. The group produced a calendar of gorgeous bois in 2010, with great response. Now they're looking forward to taking full use of the summer sunlight by shooting their next calendar.
Watch their pitch below, and visit their Kickstarter page here.
Who's Afraid of Vagina Woolf?
The Goal: $25,000
The Deadline: July 24
Cool Perk for Contributions: Those who pledge $1,000 can hang out with Tammy Lynn Michaels or Guinevere Turner for an hour.
Director Anna Margarita Albelo guides the ship on her first feature starring Guinevere Turner, Whitney Mixter or Tammy Lynn Michaels. Albelo said she was influenced as a child by the film Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. She admits that her proposed film is semi-autobiographical:
"The day after her 40th birthday, Anna, a filmmaker who's sacrificed her love life for her film career, realizes she has neither and so decides to embark on filming an all-female parody of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? This last-ditch effort becomes a massive undertaking filled with the highs and lows of a bitter-sweet life."
Watch her pitch below, and visit her Indie Gogo page here.
Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks SameThe Goal: $7,000
The Deadline: Aug. 23 at 2:23 p.m. Eastern
Cool Perk for Contributions: Those who pledge $10 get a Lesbian Space Alien ringtone.
Madeleine Olnek's first feature film, Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same, premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, but now to get it out to a theater near you, the playwright and filmmaker needs to put a few more finishing touches on the project. The film follows three lesbian aliens who have been sent to Earth. Their mission? To have their hearts broken by earthlings so their overactive emotions won't destroy the ozone of their planet. As the fetching extraterrestrials search for romance on the New York lesbian dating scene, one finds love with Jane, an eager stationery store clerk who is oblivious to the fact that she, to dating an alien.
Watch a clip of the film below, and visit her Kickstarter page here.
More Than a Village - A Tale of ProcreationThe Goal: $25,000
The Deadline: Aug. 8 at 8:22 a.m. Eastern
Cool Perk for Contributions: Those who pledge $100 or more will get a photo postcard with pregnancy updates.
Ian is a West Point graduate and Iraq War veteran, and his partner Troy is a successful kidney doctor. They're a couple living in Denver, Colo. who want children but they don't want to adopt, so they're turning to modern science: Their sisters LeAndra and Kelli plan to donate their time and bodies as an egg donor and surrogate (respectively) for Ian and Troy's offspring.
Filmmaker Edward McDonald is looking for $25,000 to fund a documentary about their experience.
Watch his pitch below, and visit his Kickstarter page here.
Choosing to be Chosen
The Goal: $15,000
The Deadline: Sept. 3, at 3:18 a.m. Eastern
Cool Perk for Contributions: Those who pledge $1,000 get a private screening for 15 of their friends.
The film makers behind Choosing to be Chosen are looking for more LGBTQ people who have embarked on the journey of converting to Judaism. Sofar, they have interviews with six people, but they need cash to interview more people, not only in their home base in the San Francisco Bay area, but beyond as well, including overseas. The money will also help the film makers finish the scoring and editing.
Watch their pitch below, and visit their Kickstarter page here
An Awkward Situation
The Goal: $2,200
The Deadline: July 31
Cool Perk for Contributions: Those who pledge $25 get a handwritten letter from the production team.
Writer/director Shaun Lynch and Producer/Actor Hayes Mercure are working on their second short film together, working under the SAG New Media agreement, meaning they have to abide by the rules of one of the biggest, most powerful guilds in entertainment. The short is about a guy who has to face facts when one of his photos ends up on a gay porn website.
Watch their pitch below, and visit their Indie Gogo page here.Hollywood to Dollywood
The Goal: $20,000
The Deadline: Sept. 11, 12:33 p.m. Eastern
Cool Perk for Contributions: Those who pledge $5,000 get a replica of Dolly Parton's Tennessee mountain home from bowenbirdhouses.com.
A group of Dolly Parton fans embarked on a cross-country road trip from, well, Hollywood to Dollywood -- otherwise known as Mecca to hardcore Dolly fans. While they have completed a 79-minute documentary of their journey, the group needs more money for color-correction and to clear the very expensive music rights.
Watch the trailer below, and visit her Kickstarter page here.
Butch: A Novel LifeThe Goal: $8,000
The Deadline: Aug. 2 at 12:59 a.m. Eastern
Cool Perk for Contributions: Those who pledge $200 or more get a cookbook.
Kim Antieau has written extensively about a character she created named Butch McShane, a troublesome, rough and tumble woman who drinks hard and loves to please a woman. Antieau wants to do go to Taos, N.M., where Butch's origins lie.
Watch her pitch below, and visit her Kickstarter page here.
LadyboyThe Goal: $5,000
The Deadline:
Cool Perk for Contributions: Those who pledge $25 receive a signed 4"x6" photo from the project.
Photographer Ekkarat Punyatara is looking to dispel myths and fantasies of what it means to be a "ladyboy" in Thailand.
The donations will help Punyatara travel from New York to Thailand to capture more images of ladyboys and beauty contests, a developing phenomenon in which ladyboys in the northern Thailand try to participate in as many beauty contests as they can with hopes that they'll win a monetary award or plastic surgery.
Punyatara's goal is to have his photos exhibited in shows and in publications.
Watch the pitch below, and visit their Kickstarter page here.
Out and Around The Goal: $6,000
The Deadline: Aug. 1
Cool Perk for Contributions: Those who pledge $25 will receive Jenni and Lisa's e-book,
How to Take a Break From Your Life and Follow Your Dreams NOW.
Out and Around is a collection of conversations with gay people around the world who are creating change for the LGBT community. Jenni and Lisa need help to fund their global trip interviewing "supergays" like John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney, a lawyer couple who tirelessly campaigns for marriage equality, and Maria Caruana, a pastor whose mission it is to reach gay people who have been hurt by the church. To record 50 interviews across 15 countries for their 10,000 website visitors, the duo needs donations to cover marketing, website, and production costs, as well as new gear.
Watch their pitch below, and visit their Indie Gogo page here.
Out and Around: Our journey from Jennifer Chang on Vimeo.
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