Is it harder for two comedians to survive an apocalypse or Hollywood? Diani & Devine spent five months making their initial video (below) & release 1 or 3 new ones every day. You also may just see a familiar face in #Apocatips #14 .
It’s a big, bright time in fund-raising & crowd-funding.
As always, today brings a new edition of The Crowd Crowd on Turnstyle News. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or on iTunes. Join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #TheCrowdCrowd.
Every week on The Crowd Crowd, we choose our Latte Fund picks: campaigns we think deserve your $5. I take suggestions in comments or via @CindyMarieJ . Here’s my pick for this week:
I am a Contributor to Bitter Lemons, and their conversation opening, standards breaking, standards creating, and passion for the local independent theatre scene have done so much for our community in the past five years. For the first time, they ask for your monetary assistance. Everyone writes and edits for free, and no two people put in more time than Enci and Colin.
Let the voices of the audiences actively assist audience development for intimate theatre!
Last but not at all least is not a crowd-funding campaign, and a very worthy cause:
Playwright Steve Julian (you may recognize his voice from early morning KPCC) launched an incredibly ambitious project that begins with What Kind of God? which opens Sept. 14th.
Steve and his producing partner Robert Keasler fronted their own funds and credit to produce a show that gives voice to the silenced, tackling such difficult and thought-provoking topics as abuse of power, sexual abuse, coming out as a teen, being gay and Catholic, and body image.
Full Disclosure: I’m Outreach Director for this play, the first in a trilogy under the banner Silence No One. I do not take projects like this onto my plate lightly; their mission means a lot to me. Steve plans for the second play to tackle silencing rape victims in the military.
Watch the videos (first is below) and see some of our great incentives to give. The most important, as always, is to give voice to those who are silenced by people with power over them. Steve does not mean for this play to be a condemnation of the Catholic Church by any stretch; merely a conversation starter, a place for people to feel open to discussing what may have happened to them or their friends.
Ask questions at #WhatGodPlay and follow our efforts through these social media channels:
Most importantly, please see the play and support the silenced.
Here are some of my picks for #FindingFriday ! Check their campaigns out and let me know if you donate.
Just for fun: Squatch Watchers. I am not sure how to explain this without ruining it. Just watch.
I’ve mentioned Storyteller Antonio Sacre before, and here he is asking for the public to help fund free multicultural experiences for the children of LA. You really have to see it:
More cool projects mentioned during The Latte Fund portion of The CrowdCrowd podcast (listen via RSSor on iTunes or watch below)
Thanks to a grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation, I’m consulting for an exciting new Fringe show Gracie and Rose. Today we launched our IndieGogo campaign!
Check out the video and campaign details. Every dollar and share helps make this show of an even higher quality than if presented on passion and credit cards alone.
Michael Kass is an award winning storyteller, writer and actor whose experience ranges from work with folks like Tony Award winning director Mary Zimmerman to telling naughty tales for five drunk guys in a bar. He’s a regular at storytelling venues around Los Angeles like The Moth, Taboo Tales, Spark Off Rose, Storyworthy and others. Ceremony, premiering at the Hollywood Fringe Festival this year, is his first stab at a full length solo performance.
In addition to his creative work, Michael also works with nonprofits to develop strategies for sustainable growth, fundraising and communications. He has been privileged to work with clients including Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre Company, Pasadena Playhouse and up ‘n coming LA companies like Theatre Dybbuk and Lower Depth Theater Ensemble.
We are the explorers: a movie trailer for our space program H/T Jay O’Balles “Since the sequester is anticipated, NASA is getting their funding cut for education, marketing, and awareness. Without this, they can’t appeal to the public to tell their congress critters to leave more in the budget for NASA.”
The past few months have been an experiment with G+ Broadcasts. Their purpose is to connect new audience with indie artists, but the same old methods of interviews aren’t doing the trick.
Imagine that. So I’m changing it up!
Out of all of the broadcasts I tried, here is what has survived – all in a slightly new form:
*Be sure to follow this new series, which has its own site/channel. Co-hort Patty Jean Robinson & I dig deeply into the web series world & bring you our picks!
I know Allegra from 24th STreet Theatre and she is a phenomenal soul. Take a look at her campaign and see if you have a few dollars to help with chemo and healthy foods.
As some of you know, after an initial exploratory procedure it was discovered that I have Clear Cell Cancer which can be aggressive and I will be undergoing treatment that may involve chemotherapy and radiation depending on the pathology results from the second procedure I just underwent. I am going to need help in whatever capacity possible, not just financially but moral support. There are the obvious medical expenses and living costs associated with my path to recovery. Feel free to help in which ever way you can and are able to. Even if it’s just a hug, a phone call or a smile.
Then a new friend passed along Jared’s Story – losing $20,000 of his film equipment while hosting friends for Thanksgiving. His equipment along with his talent makes him hire-able, but it’s somewhat of a vicious circle without the tools of his trade.
Take a look – he deserves some help for all of his goodwill – and just plain bad luck.
Coeurage Theater Company announced they’re bringing back their hit musical The Trouble With Words – bigger,better and brighter – but they need your help. Read through to see where the money’s going and how you can take part.
Find a discount code at the bottom to a cool How-To Kickstarter Video Workshop.
CMJ: Why are you bringing TTWW back?
Jeremy Lelliot, Artistic Director of Coeurage:
We feel like we haven’t really done the show yet, not the way it deserves to be done. It’s hard to conceive, since the workshop production was such a runaway success for us, but this is the world premiere as far as we’re concerned. So much is new: new songs, new set, new creative team, major revisions to the script and score… this is the fully realized version that we’re ready to share with Los Angeles.
Greg Nabours, Composer/Lyricist TTWW:
The original production of The Trouble With Words was actually a workshop production. Songs were still being written up until (and into) the week before we opened. We managed to cram six actors and six musicians onto a stage no larger than most people’s kitchen, and we did what we could with a piggy bank budget. Somehow, we ended up attracting all the right attention and winning multiple awards, but it was always meant to be a workshop. This production is the real thing. All of the weaker elements from the first production have been cut or reimagined, and the new material that is taking its place really launches the show into new territory. On top of better material, we are adding a choreographer, a set designer, a costume designer, a sound designer, a live mixer, and a publicist. We don’t consider this as “bringing TTWW back.” We actually think of this as the world premiere of a new musical!
CMJ:What will the Kickstarter funds benefit and why is that important to the production?
Jeremy:
The Kickstarter funds represent about half of our budget, so we’re doubling our resources for designers and production values. We have a lot of top notch folks working on this one that we wouldn’t have been able to afford on our own.
Greg:
The Kickstarter campaign is essentially our backbone right now. We pulled in the best talent we could find, and that kind of knowledge and skill doesn’t come cheap. We want to see how far we can get with this show, but we can’t do it alone. We believe that a successful Kickstarter campaign will actually allow this show a pathway to New York and beyond.
CMJ:What are your coolest perks?
Jeremy:
For 30.00 you get an autographed cd, digital download, Coeurage tote bag, and TTWW pin. That’s more like a good deal on a purchase than a reward for a donation. For 10,000.00 we’ll do a live reenactment of Indecent Proposal starring Greg as Demi Moore. Plus you get every other incentive we’re offering.
Greg:
Clearly, the coolest perk is the $1,000 mark. At that point, on top of getting all the merch that we have to offer and drinks with the cast, you also get a personalized song written by me (and a live performance of said song). I’ve been paid more from people who were looking for the perfect proposal or an anniversary gift, so I actually think a grand for a song (and I can write a great song in any genre of music) is a fair trade. Our show did win LA’s highest theatre award (the Ovation) for best original music and lyrics, after all.
Clearly the WORST perk (not that you asked) is the $10,000 mark. At that point, our company has agreed to do a live reenactment of the film Indecent Proposal, with myself as the female lead. I don’t actually remember agreeing to this, but I will follow through with it if someone actually pays that amount.
CMJ:What was your favorite audience reaction during the first production?
Jeremy:
Nicki, our general manager, came to almost every performance and bawled. A lot of the time it was tears of pride and joy for Greg. She was genuinely concerned about being a distraction (she never was). She often hid herself in the back row.
Greg:
This is a hard one, as many stories come to mind. As the run progressed, we started seeing more and more industry professionals in the audience. After one particular performance, Jason Alexander walked up onstage after the show and asked if he could take me out to lunch. After another performance, a Disney representative took my info for future projects.
BUT my favorite was during a song near the end of the show, Raincloud. Apparently an audience member connected a little too much with the song. He started crying early in the song, and he gradually reached hysterics by the end. In a tiny theater, this is very difficult to ignore. Eventually his sobs were louder than the actors and the band, and other audience members were having a hard time not laughing at the situation. I took it as a compliment…though I do wish he had waited ’til after the show to give it.
—
Ovation Award Winning
The Trouble With Words by Gregory Nabours
March 1st – March 31st
A song cycle that explores the relationships people have with words and how language affects our everyday life.
Michael Nixon of Geek Crash Course guested on Funding Fridays before the new year, and here is an update on hisKickstarter success. This is also a very cool way to interact with your supporters and nurture new fans. I can’t make it because ironically I’m attending a How to Run A Successful Kickstarter Campaign at LA Makerspace (expect live blogging), but enjoy!
From an email:
Hello faithful Geek Crash Coursicans (Too much? Too much…),
Tonight, Diana and I will do battle with the forces of the Google Hangout on Air to bring you a LIVE answering of Kickstarter backer questions at 10pm ET tonight.
If you haven’t already answered your survey, do that before 9pm ET tonight and we’ll answer your Geek Crash Question live tonight!
Check out our Twitter and/or Facebook for the link when we go live. In case you miss it or can’t make it, the show will be archived forever on the glorious servers that we call home on YouTube (and then subsequently on Blip when I get done downloading it from YT and uploading it there).
Thanks again for all of your support and we hope you join us tonight.
They ran 2 successful Kickstarter campaigns which resulted in publishing Huck Finn: The Robotic Edition as well as screenings of their film festival hit “The Selling” in major cities nationwide. Currently they’re creating fundraising videos making a nonprofit theatre company stand out from the holiday crowd and their web series Mary Olson is not to be missed.
What does it take to make your Kickstarter goals? How to prepare? What to expect? Find out!
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