Celebrities aren’t stealing your crowdfunding dollars…they, and even unknown project creators, are simply doing a much better job of reaching fans and inspiring them to act with their credit cards.

Equal-Opportunity Crowdfunding

From the reactions of donors and critics alike, it’s pretty obvious that star-power isn’t the only energy source powering these campaigns’ machines.

While the support behind Braff’s film is apparent in the almost-immediate reaching of its goal, DARCI’S WALK OF SHAME is a case in point of campaigning gone wrong; not only did it not reach its initial goal, but several scathing reviews of the project proposal cropped up in response to its posting.

The specifics of what Takacs and Hart might have done wrong in their campaign (if, in fact, they did. Sometimes these things just come down to bad luck) are not necessarily important. What is important are the things that Braff and his team did right. The fact of the matter is that WISH I WAS HERE is creative, well prepared and set up for success from the get-go, which, when you think about it, is a familiar pattern for crowdfunding in general. In projects that don’t involve celebrities, that is to say, projects created by relatively unknown filmmakers, it all comes down to content when trying to get a project funded by the masses.

Even stardom can’t always get a flightless bird off the ground, and in that way, it seems that rather than being advantageous to celebrities, crowdfunding is actually leveling the playing field between famous and fledgling filmmakers. Both types have to put their mouths where the money is, so to speak, and actually put forth effort to see a project all the way to success.

Read the full article on the Lone Star Film Society page