If you have not heard, Spike Lee created a Kickstarter campaign. While there is a lot of chatter about this on both sides, I would like to offer an argument as to why this approach is a stellar one. It's a creative spark in a new industry that ultimately rewards creativity and pioneering filmmaking.
The Network Effect which is a backbone to the many of the concepts that work in technology and business today is the first reason why Spike Lee's Kickstarter Campaign is a pioneering idea. This concept which is outlined by a Harvard Business Review article named "Strategies for Two-Sided Markets" by Eisenmann, Parker and Alstyne, states that the value of a business (in this case, the business of making Kickstarted films) is directly related to the the number of others using it. Therefore, Spike's Kickstarter campaign will no doubt inspire every level of creative around the globe to use Crowd Funding or Kickstarter and thus, overnight, increase the value of the platform of Crowd Funding creativity. For that reason alone, Spike Lee's project helps grows the platform.
Many argue; "why should we pay for a film that Spike Lee makes? Doesn't he have his own money to make a film?" This is a very narrow opinion. Every director in the world goes to "investors" to get a film made and distributed. For that matter, every "Content Producer" goes to a "investor" to get content made. They go to film companies, television networks, online companies, brands, or some other type of investor. Those "investors" ask for something in return and the transaction is made. The content gets produced and sometimes they work, sometimes they don't and sometimes something creative gets made. There is not a content creator out there who doesn't sell something in exchange for getting creative content made and developed. 3 direct examples;
1) A film director asks a film distributor to distribute their film. The director gets the money for the film, the distributor gets the rights to sell it, the story gets told.
2) A creative advertising team comes up with an idea to make a creative song / music video collaboration. A brand helps fund it and asks in exchange to help sell their product and makes a deal with the artist and record label in exchange, the brand agrees to help distribute the work. The story gets told.
3) An artistic violist has a story to be told, without the funding to do so, he reaches out to his network to ask for a favor, his family and friends make it happen. The story gets told.
The Crowd Funding / Crowd Sourcing model is a new model. Capitalism takes new models, chews them up and spits them out better, and tighter their users increase. Moves like A list directors getting on board with Kickstarting, are going to improve the crowd-funding model, make it more efficient and ultimately more successful because more people will use it.
The second reason Spike's bold move is a creative inspiration around the world, is because Spike is a Director who tells stories that are more difficult to get made than the average. There are of course other routes for these projects and they all come with drawbacks. The route that Spike has chosen is ultimately one that is going to work or not work based on whether there is the minimum amount of demand to see a film made by Spike Lee, the man who tells stories that have and will continue to change our world and our perspective. I am one of those people.
While every Spike Lee movie hasn't been the perspective-changing art that you seek every time you sit down to watch a film, a lot of them have changed the world. This man has and will continue to tell stories that change the world and in the process helping to fuel a change in how the world does business and tells our stories. I support the crowd approach. I support this film getting made and I encourage everyone who has a creative story to tell or wants to be involved in making a creative story see the light of day to turn to Kickstarter or other crowd models to make it happen.
Ian Crystal
The Network Effect which is a backbone to the many of the concepts that work in technology and business today is the first reason why Spike Lee's Kickstarter Campaign is a pioneering idea. This concept which is outlined by a Harvard Business Review article named "Strategies for Two-Sided Markets" by Eisenmann, Parker and Alstyne, states that the value of a business (in this case, the business of making Kickstarted films) is directly related to the the number of others using it. Therefore, Spike's Kickstarter campaign will no doubt inspire every level of creative around the globe to use Crowd Funding or Kickstarter and thus, overnight, increase the value of the platform of Crowd Funding creativity. For that reason alone, Spike Lee's project helps grows the platform.
Many argue; "why should we pay for a film that Spike Lee makes? Doesn't he have his own money to make a film?" This is a very narrow opinion. Every director in the world goes to "investors" to get a film made and distributed. For that matter, every "Content Producer" goes to a "investor" to get content made. They go to film companies, television networks, online companies, brands, or some other type of investor. Those "investors" ask for something in return and the transaction is made. The content gets produced and sometimes they work, sometimes they don't and sometimes something creative gets made. There is not a content creator out there who doesn't sell something in exchange for getting creative content made and developed. 3 direct examples;
1) A film director asks a film distributor to distribute their film. The director gets the money for the film, the distributor gets the rights to sell it, the story gets told.
2) A creative advertising team comes up with an idea to make a creative song / music video collaboration. A brand helps fund it and asks in exchange to help sell their product and makes a deal with the artist and record label in exchange, the brand agrees to help distribute the work. The story gets told.
3) An artistic violist has a story to be told, without the funding to do so, he reaches out to his network to ask for a favor, his family and friends make it happen. The story gets told.
The Crowd Funding / Crowd Sourcing model is a new model. Capitalism takes new models, chews them up and spits them out better, and tighter their users increase. Moves like A list directors getting on board with Kickstarting, are going to improve the crowd-funding model, make it more efficient and ultimately more successful because more people will use it.
The second reason Spike's bold move is a creative inspiration around the world, is because Spike is a Director who tells stories that are more difficult to get made than the average. There are of course other routes for these projects and they all come with drawbacks. The route that Spike has chosen is ultimately one that is going to work or not work based on whether there is the minimum amount of demand to see a film made by Spike Lee, the man who tells stories that have and will continue to change our world and our perspective. I am one of those people.
While every Spike Lee movie hasn't been the perspective-changing art that you seek every time you sit down to watch a film, a lot of them have changed the world. This man has and will continue to tell stories that change the world and in the process helping to fuel a change in how the world does business and tells our stories. I support the crowd approach. I support this film getting made and I encourage everyone who has a creative story to tell or wants to be involved in making a creative story see the light of day to turn to Kickstarter or other crowd models to make it happen.
Ian Crystal
