2011 was a banner year. I launched Arouet, and with the support of friends produced two plays that I longed to direct. I got to work with fantastic people, received good notices, and am as inspired as ever to move forward with the company, this time producing the Spanish masterpiece The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico García Lorca.
Unfortunately, the cash that remained after The Gene Pool does not cover the expenses to produce another play, and I had to figure out a way to raise the remaining balance. With the broader appeal of the show and following in the footsteps of other recent productions, I thought it would be great to invite you to be a backer, with contributions starting at $1 anyone can be a producer! I heard about Kickstarter from other companies that had just run successful campaigns, and after doing some research, it truly is the most appealing way to raise funds. People can contribute any amount, it makes it very easy to communicate with the backers, and the finances are quite easy to manage on our end. Plus we tie some fun rewards to your contributions.
Creating the campaign was interesting and fun. It’s a completely different fundraising model, very different from anything I had done before. The one thing they strongly recommend is creating a video, which was by far the most challenging part of the process, and by far the most fun. I am very self-conscious and not particularly clever, so I recruited my partner (in life and in crime) to help me come up with something fun. After spending an entire evening working on the first version, I was suddenly inspired and went on a totally different direction. There are still a couple of things I would like to fix, but overall I am quite happy with it. Make sure to check it out.
How it works: we set a funding goal of $3,250 and a deadline of December 23, 2011. You can pledge any amount, staring with $1. There are rewards attached to the incremental value of your pledge, from a thank you email to having your name above the title as a producer. If we meet or surpass the goal by the deadline, you get charged, we get the money, and we move forward with the production. If we don’t meet the goal, you don’t get charged. It’s an all or nothing deal.
So click on over to Kickstarter, take a look, and become a backer. Bernarda Alba and her daughters have been absent from the Seattle stage for too long.