The future of Hollywood: Make fans do it

The most enigmatic role in Hollywood is that of a movie producer, whose contributions to filmmaking are important and undefinable.

But you don’t really need to know what they do to become one.

Hooray for crowdfunding

Twelve years ago, Veronica Mars became the most-backed campaign in Kickstarter’s history, surpassing its goal of $2m to reach a $5.7m budget.

But today’s filmmakers are moving away from Kickstarter’s “give us money” model.

Instead, they’re giving fans a say in a project’s development and even equity in its success.

• That’s how production company Legion M works, with crowdfund contributors getting a cut if a film does well at the box office or gets bought by a distributor.
• Contributors can also peek behind the scenes, potentially getting more invested in a project’s success (pun intended).

Investment platform Republic and filmmaker Robert Rodriguez (of Sin City and Spy Kids) are launching something similar with Brass Knuckle Films, a studio dedicated to fan-backed action movies, per Fast Company.

• Rodriguez says there’s an insatiable appetite for action movies, no matter who makes them.
• Why not let fans fund the movies, profit from them, get involved in the production, and even pitch their ideas?

The key gimmick…

… with Brass Knuckle is that every investor can submit a movie idea.

• Rodriguez will pick the top 10.
• The finalists will pitch their movies, “Shark Tank”-style, and Rodriguez will pick one to actually make.
• In theory, everyone involved will then be invested (pun intended, again) in the film being a hit.

Financial specifics, including whether the original creator gets a larger cut or whether unchosen creators retain the rights to their pitches, remain to be seen.

Maybe check on that before submitting your dream idea about a retired assassin who comes back for one last job.