I’ve filmed about 4 hours worth of footage for my documentary on parrots, which I’ve decided to call FreeFlight. As I mentioned to Dana, the parrot rescuer I’m following, I’m not at all a parrot expert – just an animal lover who wants to see better lives for these beautiful creatures. It just breaks my heart that humans treat them so cruelly. We have decimated their populations in the wild and then trapped them in cages where they are often abused.I just finished putting together a trailer for the project and have posted it to Indiegogo, a site that helps filmmakers with donations, in the hope of raising some money to allow me to keep shooting. I’ve already gotten a $50 donation and can only hope they keep coming. In the meantime, I get to learn more about these amazing birds.
An added bonus to making this doc is that I get to pet Dana’s rescued parrots. I was afraid at first that I would hurt them. Accustomed to petting dogs who are a lot more substantial, the birds little bodies felt too delicate to pet. Dana encouraged me though, and I found they really like it. One cockatiel, Pinky, kept grabbing my finger in his beak and bringing it back to him in order to encourage me to keep up the good work, I guess. Another one, Alex, kept raising his wings a little and looking at me. Dana told me that he like to be petted under the winds (I just wasn’t listening again!) I tried it and he blissed out, then kept raising those wings again every time I came near.
I have to say that I think the bald spot the cockatiels have under their topknot is too funny. Until I saw Pinky’s and Alex’s, I had no idea they were bald under there. Much to my surprise, they seem to like being petted there also.
1 comment:
Hi Katrina,
Welcome to IndieGoGo. Just thought you'd be interested in knowing what makes a project successful with crowdfunding on IndieGoGo:
1. Great Pitch Clip: people contribute to people they know, so provide a peek into the people behind a project and what you're trying to do. Great example is:http://www.indiegogo.com/howwouldyoufeel
2. Creative & Unique Perks: beyond pre-sales of your novel of credits at the end, offer your fans fun stuff that only they can get by funding your project at different levels ($10, $100 or $1,000). See Want Ideas for VIP perks.
http://www.indiegogo.com/blog/2009/02/want-ideas-for-vip-perks-listen-to-nine-inch-nails-former-drummer.html
3. A Specific Use of Funds: Crowdfunding tends to work better when there's a finite result associated with a campaign. Tell people where their money is going exactly. See The Value of Transparency & Specificity in Fundraising for Art.
http://www.indiegogo.com/blog/2009/03/catriona-reynolds-the-head-of-fund-raising-for-scottish-opera-said-the-scheme-made-us-realise-that-people-like-to-get-invo.html
4. Fun and frequent updates: Projects who aren't afraid of revealing stills, sharing progress and using tools like twitter and facebook do the best job of building an engaged fanbase of funders. See Audience-Building 101.
http://www.indiegogo.com/blog/2009/06/audiencebuilding-101-stepbystep-guide-from-indiegogo.html
5. Outreach to influencers like bloggers, leaders of linkedin/facebook groups, organzations or forums. See How to market to Bloggers.
http://www.indiegogo.com/blog/2008/11/audience-building-tip-how-to-market-to-bloggers.html
Go get 'em!
Let me know if you have any questions.
Cheers!
GoGoDanae
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