Indie GoGo

One part audience engagement, one part marketing, and with a few techniques from Barack Obama’s online outreach team’s playbook thrown in, Indie GoGo could be a Godsend for independent filmmakers. After filtering by location and topic, the social marketplace invites film fans to learn more about projects currently being developed (not to mention throw a few dollars their way). Not only do films generate an early fan base before release, but the site creates a simple way for producers to know who their audiences are and the kinds of perks they’re interested in, whether it be widgets or visits to the set. IndieGoGo opened shop earlier this year but has already helped a Polish film about a Jewish dwarf who hid in garbage cans to survive the Holocaust and a mockumentary web series about 1970s rockers achieve their fundraising goals.

Danae Ringelmann, one of three co-founders who spearheads film finance efforts, calls the network’s Do It With Others (DIWO, a collaborative approach with DIY spirit) outlook a good way to be proactive since distributors aren’t solely responsible for generating fans anymore. While people who liked a film could previously only support it by buying a physical copy, this model encourages transparency to create a more inclusive relationship between filmmakers and open source-familiar fans. Consider it mini patronage at its finest.