Canadian award-winning independent filmmaker Casey Walker has launched www.mymilliondollarmovie.com, a first-of-its-kind website dedicated to raising $1 million to fund his feature film project, a romantic comedy titled, Free For All But You.
“Raising money to fund an indie film has become an incredibly difficult process in Canada. I decided that rather than going about doing this the conventional way, I wanted to create a new business model leveraging the Internet to raise capital to fund the film,” said Walker.
Mymilliondollarmovie.com offers investors the opportunity to purchase film frames for $10 a piece In exchange investors receive a screen credit as ‘Assistant Producer’ and are paid out on their investment upon completion of the film’s distribution.
To date, mymilliondollarmovie.com has sold over 17,000 frames and requires 126,000 more to complete the funding process.
According to Bill Foss, co-Founder of Netscape and www.milliondollarmovie.com investor, “This is a fantastic idea highlighting the true potential of Internet, namely, bringing opportunity directly to a widely diverse public. This methodology of funding a feature film has wide-reaching applications – I love it and am happy to be a producer!”
Since launching www.mymilliondollarmovie.com, it has generated a conversion ratio of 30%. For each 100 visitors to the site, 30 are buying frames.
“This is a statistic that I’m very proud of and if it continues at this pace, I should be shooting my film in the next 6-8 months,” said Walker.
Inspired by Alex Tew’s `Million Dollar Home Page’ website, Walker set out to create a website that would serve as the catalyst for funding his film projects. He has already secured the domain name for www.mytwomilliondollarmovie.com
“I wanted to leverage the power of social media networks including mySpace, YouTube and Facebook to draw attention to the initiative,” said Walker. “We have connected with so many people (who have purchased frames) globally through these portals that we would have never been able to connect with if I went about hunting for financing through conventional channels,” he added.
The site has attracted producers from around the globe including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom. Switzerland, Hungary, Brazil and Italy. Notable buyers include Netscape co-founder Bill Foss, Hollywood producer/director TJ Scott (Xena, Mutant X, The Black Donnelly’s, Flash Gordon), World Junior Karate Champion Will Bokan, Canadian opera singer Russel Braun, and Martin Beauvais, Executive Creative Director, Zig.
According to Martin Beauvais, Executive Creative Director, Zig, “This is a great idea from a really good guy. And I love the idea of helping new talent produce a film independently. Casey has amazing energy and a cool vision so I’m convinced he will do well with this movie.”
After launching www.mymilliondollarmovie.com, Walker was approached by Jeannie Vondjidis and Nicole Arthur, co-founders of the disposable panty company, Mytagalongs. The company is in early talks with Walker about product placement in his film. They even hired Walker to produce and direct a commercial for the company (which can be viewed at www.911panties.com ).
About the film
– Synopsis: Written by Casey Walker and Jon Tucker, Free For All But You is a romantic sex comedy in the vein of “There’s Something About Mary”, “Chasing Amy” and “Bottle Rocket”.
– Logline: A guy falls for his roommate, a girl who’s already committed to six other people. A comedy about being left out.
For more information, please visit www.mymilliondollarmovie.com
