IndieGoGo’s Slava Rubin: What fan empowerment means for indie filmmakers

IndieGoGo sponsored three film events this week: a Q&A and screening of Pressure Cooker at IFC, a panel covering “where film and Internet collide” and a filmmaker’s cocktail mixer where I caught up with Slava Rubin, one of the company’s founders.

It’s natural for independent filmmakers, musicians or any artists to put business on hold while they focus solely on content creation, but resistance won’t help with distribution. IndieGoGo aims to help filmmakers raise money and awareness, find cast and crew, and gain credibility for their film through the help of fans. On the flip side, fans get the opportunity to be a part of the creative process while receiving insider access and VIP perks for their contribution.

“If you have content you can engage your audience with than they will take part,” Rubin said, adding that the key is to identify and cultivate the right audience.

“There’s been a lot of success stories (on IndieGogo)” Rubin said. “From people raising $5 to over $22,000, people winning awards like SXSW and all the social media integration is free for them to use, so it’s not by accident that its starting to catch on.”

For more on film crowdsourcing, check out my interview with Rubin below.

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