Funding The DreamRiders Theatrical Release
Goal • What you get • Why we’re doing this • Questions/Comments (bottom of page)
The Campaign Goal
We are raising funds to finish our film and pay for a successful theatrical distribution. You can read more about the reasons for this below.
What’s in it for you?
We know if you’re reading this that you’ve been touched by DreamRiders and you want to return the favor in order to complete the circle. We can’t give you a tax deduction for your contribution, but we can give you some special goodies to keep the gratitude circle going.
How to Contribute
You can contribute any amount safely and securely via Paypal. You don’t have to have a Paypal account, just a credit card or checking account.
Here are perks for various contributions. We've tried to make them fun and interesting.
$12 |
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$20 |
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$30 |
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$50 |
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$75 |
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$100 |
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$250 |
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$500 |
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$1000 |
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$5000 |
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$10,000 |
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If you have questions about any of these perks, please email us at perks@dreamridersmovie.com. Want to see us offer another perk? Write and ask. Or write something in our comments section at the bottom of this page.
Why We Are Doing This
Funny thing, this interplay between trying to do good and trying to make money. You can’t have one without the other.
We made a film in order to touch people’s hearts and to inspire them. Mission accomplished. But our audience has been small and we want to expand it. There are a lot of hurting hearts out there. DreamRiders isn’t the cure for every one of them, but we’ve all experienced turning point moments in our lives when circumstances and thoughts and feelings all come together and we have an “Ah-ha!” moment. You can probably think of movies that have done that for you.
Nico and I are committed to giving as many people as possible that chance to see new possibilities in their lives. We would even show DreamRiders for free in every theater in the country if that would mean everyone would see it.
You probably realize that’s not realistic. But maybe not for the reason you think.
I do hope I’m rewarded financially for all of the blood, debt and tears of the last five years. I’d be crazy not to want that. But the longer I’ve worked on this film, the less important making money has become compared to the importance of inspiring individuals to go the distance for their dreams and for love. So that’s not why free theatrical screenings aren’t realistic.
The real reason is that it costs money to show the film in theaters. Movie studios spend millions in P&A (copies of the film and advertising). That’s how they get the film in the theaters and then get people to come watch it. Without that upfront investment, there’s no theatrical release. Or there's an undersupported release that books some theaters, but without advertising, no one hears about it and the film dies at the box office and fades away.
So as good as our intentions may be to just get this film out there, we can’t afford to do it the traditional way.
An independent film like ours can start with as little as $125,000 to $250,000 in P&A and bootstrap its way up if it's good. You show it in a small geographic area and use the revenues from ticket sales to pay for releasing it in other areas.
We don’t have that much money, so we’re trying something creative. We’re pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps by doing this tour of small towns in Connecticut. By going to small towns, we can be a big fish in a small pond and get a lot of attention. We can get a lot of people to watch the film—our primary goal. But with the money they pay to buy tickets and DVD’s and soundtracks, we are earning the P&A money we need to start a theatrical run or go on bigger tours.
We’re trying to do this tour so we EARN everything. I am particularly unfond of asking for help. Just ask Nico.
But the irony is that it costs money for us to be self-sufficient. The equipment is expensive, the DVD manufacturing is expensive, renting the halls is expensive, service costs are… you get the idea. Total cost is around $10,000 and we haven’t finished paying for everything.
Your contribution will be HUGELY helpful right now since we’re in a cash flow crisis and are running on fumes. Once we start making revenue on the road, we’ll be OK.
But in the bigger picture, your contributions allow us to keep more of the revenue we earn and then expand to theaters or a larger tour more quickly.
Thanks for considering becoming a partner with us to help and inspire others and heal lives. We’ve given everything we can in terms of our own finances, our creativity and our time. Your financial contribution will combine with our efforts and make a difference for more people. That is true synergy: combining energies to produce something more powerful than is possible from the original sources alone.
Gratefully,
William S Roulston
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