Crowdfunding platform Wishberry offering Indie films a new shot at funding their films

Crowdfunding platform Wishberry offering Indie films a new shot at funding their films
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Mumbai based crowdfunding platform Wishberry, also commonly referred to as the 'Kickstarter' of India, is offering indie filmmakers an innovative shot at raising funds for their films through crowdfunding, a concept that has gained substantial traction in the west.

Currently, Kaushik Iyer's film Red Legacy which traces the psychology and philosophy of a serial killer and Poorva Production's Poorva Volume 1- Arunagiri Perumale, a musical documentary about mystic saint and troubadour Arunagiri are up for crowdfunding on Wishberry.

"One of the most important things for a filmmaker is independence and in today's world, it's almost impossible to make a film without external interference and constrictions in terms of expressing one's creativity," said Kaushik Iyer. "That being said, through crowdfunding, Wishberry being one of the best, we have a way to get creative independence and freedom with respect to our ideas. It's also nice because we get responses and suggestions from the audiences today who are extremely aware and intelligent and want to be a part of the process of filmmaking."

Around 50 films have successfully crowdfunded Rs. 1 Crore on Wishberry, including Srinivas Sunderrajan's Greater Elephant, Rishi Verma's The Invisibles, Prathamesh KriSang's One Last Question, Vivek Chaudhary's Goonga Pehelwan, Payal Sethi's Leeches. Bhaskar Hazarika's Assamese film Kothanodi also raised Rs. 22 lakhs last year, becoming one of Wishberry's most successful campaigns.

Wishberry has a community of 9,000+ funders across 50+ countries and a campaign success rate of 75%. Creative projects account for 70% of funds raised on Wishberry so far, of which music and film alone account for 50%.

chr('8206')"It's great to have a funding pipeline for independent filmmakers", added critically acclaimed director and producer Vikramaditya Motwane, who is one of Wishberry's strategic investors.

A filmmaker on Wishberry runs a crowdfunding campaign by creating a project profile. The profile carries a compelling pitch video and rewards that funders get in exchange for their contribution such as VIP passes to the film premier, cool merchandize etc. Once a campaign goes live on Wishberry, the filmmaker has to reach his/her target amount within 60 days, failing which, all the money is refunded back to the funders making it an “all-or-nothing” platform, ensuring transparency and trust. Wishberry provides a consulting service to filmmakers to help them prepare their campaign's pitch video, rewards and a marketing plan.

Wishberry charges a non-refundable fee of Rs. 2,500 for campaign consulting and 10% a commission on the funds raised by successful projects.