Money @ Film Annex: Beg for it? Or Earn it?
I've been thinking about the main difference between Film Annex and the rest of the online platforms out there.
I'm a little tired of all the hipster platforms that are only useful for filmmakers who want to pamper each other. OK, Vimeo has great graphics, but it's only a showroom. YouTube is YouTube. It's a giant peach, a vast ocean, a labyrinth easy to get lost in. KickStarter is a funding platform, but what kind of a funding platform is it? It's basically a place where people beg other people for money. When you think about it, it's a little weird. You ask people to donate to your project so you can include their names in the credits or give them a poster or invite them to your party. Who cares? OK, maybe you do, but to what extent? Sure, I'll take all the money anyone will give me, but how many times can I ask for it? I'll make one project happen like that, but will people continue to just give me money?
Film Annex is the only company out there that pays filmmakers through a successful business model. Yes, it's nice to be hip and cute, but at the end of the day, we want to give the message that when you come to Film Annex, you're in business. And as long as you make good movies, we pay you good money.
The last filmmaker we featured on our homepage has made more than $2000 through advertising revenues in a week and a half. And he's actually earned it. The money wasn't donated. The point is that Film Annex encourages filmmakers to actively promote their work and pay them for their efforts. Some of the other platforms out there make filmmakers lazy. We know our filmmakers' efforts always pay off.