Before we get into Part 3 of production manager Ralph Giordano‘s interview with A Voice for Lil Olive’s director Pete Schuermann — find Part 1 here, and Part 2 here — we first need to mention our Indiegogo campaign.
Today is the final day of this first phase of fundraising for the film. We’re super excited to announce that we’ve flown past our initial goal, and we’ve set a final-day goal of raising another $7,000 — to top our best day of the campaign so far.
Will you help us finish this day, and this campaign, out with a bang?
- If you’ve not yet given, will you drop by the page and make a contribution today? We added a new perk yesterday. Check it out, and all of our other perks, here.
- If you’ve already given, thank you! Will you find a friend or family member who hasn’t and ask them to support us at tinyurl.com/lilolivefilm before midnight, Pacific Time?
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming … Part 3 of our interview with Pete:
RG: Tell us about the crowdfunding campaign presently in place to raise funding for the film. How is it going and how will this change the progression of the film as you move forward?
PS: It’s pretty much a given these days to go the route of a crowdfunding campaign if you are making an independent film. For a couple of reasons. Number one: Why not? You need to raise funds to meet a large budget, and in this case there are many people passionate about the subject matter. If they can help you out financially and feel like they are a part of the film in doing so, great! Number two: It’s a wonderful way of getting the project on its way. Then you can approach potential investors with the fact you had launched a successful campaign, which raised such and such amount, and it shows the popularity of the project.
RG: Crowdfunding campaigns have a life of their own. Tell us about some of the milestones along the way.
PS: Well, first off, it is a lot of work. It’s not exactly classic filmmaking, but it’s a great way to raise money to support the budget for the project. And that’s the hardest part with any film. We as filmmakers would rather just be creative than have to go out and look for money.
The big myth with crowdfunding is that you will start a campaign and like magic, millions of people will see what you are doing and how great your project is … and start throwing money at you.
We were fortunate to choose Indiegogo as our fundraising platform, and they have been just great in helping us maintain a positive campaign. In fact, they were so interested in helping us be successful that they gave us a two-week extension to help us reach our final goal of $85,000.
Another great advantage for us is that we were able to reach out to the Lil Olive fan base, and we will be forever grateful to them. They are also helping us spread the word, which increases awareness that reflects in more dollars added to our campaign every day. It’s just constantly building awareness. We have created fun materials … videos that support the project. We have some really great incentives to supporters of the project.
The tipping point though was reaching out to celebrities who had an affinity for the project, and having them reach out to their followers on social media to help us boost the campaign. Plus, it adds legitimacy to our project. Once we had people such as Linda Blair, Patrick Fabian, and William B. Davis on board, it really took us to another level of building awareness for the film, and also giving the project some weight because these people took us seriously enough to attach their names to our film.
RG: Plus, these people are really very much involved with animal rights, not just token celebrities. That’s important for our supporters to know.
PS: Exactly.
RG: Now let’s jump forward a bit. Once the funding is in place and you are making this film, what will A Voice for Lil Olive look like … tell me about what we will see?
PS: The cool thing about it is that there are so many things we can talk about. We can jump from topic to topic, but do it in a very kinetic way to keep it as visually appealing and engaging as we can on many different levels. From images of the dogs, to the music we use, to celebrity appearances — but the story of Lil Olive and Pam will create an arc throughout the film. Which ties back to the point we are trying to make … that these dogs are not a product… they are meant to be companion animals. They are meant to love us and we are meant to love them back. It is really a reminder of what a dog is all about due to our selective breeding of them. They deserve to be treated better than how they are treated in puppy mill facilities.
You will also see what it is like to adopt a rescue dog. As in the case of Lil Olive, not only what this meant to Pam, but on a national level as well. It started a whole new movement and level of awareness not seen before. And that’s what a good documentary can and should do. That’s my goal with this project. I believe this film can and will make a difference.
Be a voice for Lil Olive. Today, March 31, is our final day of the Indiegogo campaign. You can contribute at tinyurl.com/lilolivefilm.