Friends of "Dog"

Any of you who are tied into any of my social networks, or my email lists, or know me even a little, have probably been bombarded by requests for money over the past few months.  In case anyone has forgotten, in late June, we launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a short film I wrote and am currently producing.

In a pleasant case of surprise, we wound up (initially) raising $7999.50 (rounded up to $8k by the website).  After fees and a handful of rejected contributions, we had $7050 in the bank with which to make "Dog."  So we started doing just that...

And, on September 7th, principal photography began on the film.  Almost immediately, cost overruns began cropping up (partially do to a poorly prepared, disturbingly under-budgeted preliminary budget), and I soon found myself fronting a lot of my own money to keep the momentum going on the shoot.

Stupid?  Probably.  Worth it?  See for yourself: Production Value Teaser.

As you no doubt noticed, because of these overruns, we had to launch a new Kickstarter campaign to recoup the money I had already spent.  In another pleasant case of surprise, we wound up raising $4198, which ultimately added another $3860 to the account for "Dog."

A grand total of $10910 to spend on the film.  And spend it, we have.  (Well, not all of it... yet).

What's my point?

My point is that I'm absolutely flabbergasted by and in awe of the 101 people who contributed funds to the project.  Like... in awe of.

Here's some factoids concerning the backers:

• I have no idea who roughly half of them are.  Not only did complete strangers to me give money... complete strangers to EVERYONE INVOLVED in the film gave money.
• A great deal of support came from the blogging community.  People I know via their words on a computer screen, but probably don't know by face, voice, or even real name.
• Some support even came from bulletin boards (remember those?).  I used to hang out on science fiction bboards back in the day - much to the chagrin of my ex-girlfriend, who would claim that I was wasting my time - so I tossed a Hail Mary just to see what happened.  So what happened?  A plethora of Facebook likes, shares, and even some cash.
• As I'm a veteran, I expected a decent amount of contributions from fellow soldiers... I was completely taken aback by how much they actually gave.  If there's ever a reason to join the military... it's the friends you make.
• Quite a few contributors gave to BOTH campaigns.  Generosity rampant, indeed.

Anyway, given that this is a blog, I'm going to give an extra shout-out to the bloggers who supported my short film.  Do them the honor of giving them a visit.

• Baino at Baino's Banter and Creative Infanticide.
• Harnett-Hargrove at Harnett-Hargrove.
• PattiKen at PattiKen and the Muses and Home Away From Home.
• Lorenzo at The Alchemist's Pillow.
• Siobhan at Siobhan's Random Ramblings.
• Tina at Life is Good.
• Caffeinated Joe at Caffeinated Joe.
• Janice at JanBlog.
• Karen Sagovac at Kazart Gallery.
• kj at .OPTIONS for a Better World.
• Tom at Half-Moose with a Twist.
• Amanda at Travels with Persephone.
• She Writes at Something About Nothing in Particular and She Writes.
• Mim at Auntie Mim's.
• Joanny at Live Dream Love.

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