Today was the deadline for our fundraising campaign on Kickstarter.com. If you pledged money to the project, then you may already know that we were unsuccessful. So now what? Let's first discuss the campaign.
A HUGE debt of gratitude is owed to the numerous backers who pledged. Your support meant so much to me and the dancers involved. We had backers from all over the world, and that was truly amazing and inspiring.
Ultimately I think our inability to raise the whole amount of money came down to not getting the word out. Facebook pages, emails and phone calls only go so far, I think the major failure was in not getting out and meeting with key people in the community in person. Of the people that I did speak with in person and the people who came to meetings, the excitement was there. That excitement led to pledges. I just didn't reach enough people.
Another part of it may have been the amount. It was an ambitious goal, and I knew that going in. My ace in the hole was the dance community itself, and as mentioned before, I failed to get in front of the people who would be interested and would pledge.
So, now what?
I said from the very beginning that if the Kickstarter campaign failed, that it would not mean the end of the project. Too many people have put in too much work to let it go. So the short of it is: The project WILL GO ON!
The failure of the Kickstarter campaign was a bummer, but it in a sense it was a little bit freeing. No doubt if the campaign had succeeding, the project would have been much easier to complete. With that money we would have been able to rent studio space and shoot A LOT of dancers at one time. We were also planning on hiring a video editor to help with the video content, as well as print books and prints for all the dancers involved.
The other side of that coin is that if the campaign had succeeded, I would have spent a lot of time and effort on printing, packaging, and shipping rewards for the backers. Much of the final budget would have been dedicated to that as well.
So to boil it down, here are some key changes to the project:
1. The project will take longer to complete. Without the money to shoot in a large photography studio and the budget to hire some help, things will definitely be paced differently.
2. Once all the content is produced, the books will most likely be printed through an online print-on-demand service.
3. In order to help fund some of the costs of doing the project, prints and other items will be made available for purchase through Etsy.com and arts and craft shows. As of now you can buy a print of the shot titled "Victoria" at my wife's Etsy shop, Etheloo's.
Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/99905619/victoria-dancer-art-print
So that's that. Again, a huge thanks to those who backed the project. I hope you all will continue to be excited about this project and continue to support us.
-Daniel
