You know what they say about “magic” happening outside of your comfort zone? I used to sneer at those motivational pictures. Now, I’m humbled to accept it’s absolutely true.
Right now, I’m so far outside of my comfort zone, I can’t even see it from here. It’s terrifying. It’s cold-terror-inducing. But it’s also incredibly exciting and I’ve never been happier and more grateful.
Having just completed the second successful crowdfunding campaign within one year, the biggest lesson I learned is: do not listen to shame.
Crowdfunding is an extreme sport. It makes you feel like like want to take a shower all the time. It’s soliciting strangers (awkward) and friends (even more awkward) for money. It ruffles feathers. People will ask you not to contact them again, or give out you didn’t help them enough to deserve their support. (Yup, that happened.) It will make you feel awful. When the campaign goes quiet for days or weeks at a time, you will feel like the loneliest person in the world, and a total loser at that.
But then you will come across people who will tell you:
The glimpse into the film touched a part of me only I know and I look forward to seeing the product of your passion and effort.
I am so proud of your art and your cause!
Hiya, I’ve donated €20. It’s all I can afford unfortunately at the moment but I hope you reach your goal.
I just want to say that meeting you changed something for me. (…) Thank you for being in my life.
Words like these take all the pain and stress away in an instant. They will give you the energy to crawl out of the dark hole and start again. It’s thanks to people like these you will have the energy to keep going.
I remember asking myself “What would Richard Branson do?” in moments of doubt or fear. No joke. It helped! I imagined he wouldn’t be stopped just because it felt difficult, or exhausting and embarrassing at that.
And while I have no plans to crowdfund again (time to start applying for those grants…), I’m so grateful to all of you who supported me and the campaign. Can’t wait to share The Betrayal with you when it’s ready.
Thanks for reading! You can follow The Betrayal’s journey through post-production and the global festival circuit on our Facebook Page or Twitter.