Latino Filmmakers Use Social Media To Fund Projects

Latino filmmakers who find themselves outside of the mainstream industry have taken to social media to get their films made. Two young Latino filmmakers, Fanny Véliz and Ralph Lopez (who we wrote about previously), are currently running projects on the website Kickstarter, which allows filmmakers to take fundraising pledges and fund their film if they reach a particular dollar amount goal.

Véliz is working to make a film called “Homebound” about a family in the small town of El Campo, Texas and plans to involve the entire community in the production when it begins. Shooting is set for March 2011 and the budget is set at $150,000; to see the Kickstarter page for this production click here.

“Kickstarter is a perfect way to raise funds for this particular project because the goal is to give the American Latinos and those who appreciate diversity a say in the way they are portrayed in the media,” Véliz said.

Another Texas filmmaker, Ralph Lopez, has found that using Kickstarter in conjunction with social media like Facebook and Twitter has allowed him not only to fundraise his goal of $3,500 to produce the short film “Lilia,” but he’s surpassed his goal and is almost up to $4,000. To see his Kickstarter page click here.

“We did it for a couple of reasons,” Lopez said. “One, because we wanted to fund our film.  And two, social media is now, social media is here and social media is here to stay. These sites are free so why should we not utilize them if they’re here for us?  We use it for everything else, why not use it to make a film?”

I think it’s excellent that these young filmmakers are not letting money be a barrier to the accomplishment of their projects. If you are able, please consider donating, otherwise, let us know what you think about these filmmakers’ projects, and their inventive use of social media to get their projects done.