Pushing The Envelope

Budding filmmakers from the city have formed an association to make a Marathi film titled TALUKA SHANGHAI. The makers of the film are seeking funds from individuals through the medium of CROWD FUNDING. Citadel finds out about the concept of crowd funding and more...

- Akash Gulankar

In the business of filmmaking, crowd funding is gathering steam at lightning speed. Apparently, it is the most financially viable option for budding filmmakers. The new breed of filmmakers today is facing the hurdle of raising funds for their films. With the advent of the crowd funding trend, the issue of film financing in India may just see a resolution soon.

According to statistics, crowd funding has raised a whopping amount of three billion dollars globally in the previous year. So it is apparent that the filmmakers are making use of the crowd funding concept more often. Closer home, we have more than 10 such platforms where one can raise funds to finance one’s film. To be precise, one can make use of platforms like Wishberry, Ketto, Dreamwallets, to name some.

Although crowd funding is gaining popularity now, it came into being way back in the 70s, when renowned film director Shyam Benegal made Manthan in 1976, wherein a lot of farmers contributed ` 2 each in order to produce the film. The film was applauded by audiences and it went on to win the National Award in 1977. After the stupendous success of the film, Pawan Kumar, one of the leading Kannada film directors, produced Lucia by collecting funds amounting to ` 51 lakhs from around 600 people within a short span of time.

Crowd funding is the technique of raising funds from a large number of people for a particular project, with the help of social media or crowd funding platforms that are available on the internet. Nowadays, this technique is being adopted globally to raise funds, thereby supporting new and fresh business ideas. Filmmakers from around the world are making use of the crowd funding concept to turn their dreams into realities.