Those who are familiar with the work of Aurel Klimt, one of Czech Republic’s most respected animators and directors, know that there aren’t that many people who can – like himself – be considered true followers of the tradition of Czech puppetry and animation, established by Jiří Trnka and continued by the likes of Břetislav Pojar. Over the course of the last decade, he’s been working tirelessly on something truly remarkable – a 90-minute (!) hand-animated film about the adventures of Laika, the first space explorer. Out of all people, it’s creators like you who know best how difficult it is to secure proper funding for something as ambitious as an animated feature and Laika is no exception. Right now, it’s finally nearing completion, but with one last major obstacle in the way – after the arduous and lengthy production, there is not enough funds for post-production. Now you can support Aurel Klimt and help him finish his decade’s worth of hard work through his Kickstarter campaign that has just launched. And even if you don’t plan on supporting Laika, we urge you to take a look at the campaign. If nothing else, the sheer artistry and wit of Klimt’s […] ...
Despite the growth in popularity of community funding, only a few animated projects have appeared on Czech portals which obtained funds through crowd-funding to complete a film, digitise older ones or use the campaign to popularise an already finished project. Successful examples are The Tree by Lucie Sunková on Startovač and the DVD release of Old Czech Legends by Jiří Trnka on Everfund. Other projects have tried their luck with proven international portals, where they hope to attract the interest of a larger number of supporters, such as the computer game “I Hope” on Kickstarter, created during last year’s Anomalia courses in the Czech Republic, and the collection for the realisation of the latest film Insects by Jan Švankmajer on Indiegogo. The potential of crowd-funding to support the production of new films, animated games and post-production is far from negligible. There is interesting feedback from the audience the product is intended for, and a viral campaign can attract new viewers as well provide important publicity for projects. Also, investors and producers see a practical purpose of crowd-funding as being a sort of filter which predicts the future popularity of projects. Another positive effect is creating a community that feels a […] ...