Kew Gardens Film Fest Launches Crowdfund To Become Annual Event

KEW GARDENS, QUEENS -- Organizers are taking to the internet to raise the funds their Kew Gardens film festival needs to become an annual staple in the community.

The Kew Gardens Festival of Cinema became Queens' first ever 10-day film festival when it debuted in August 2017, organizers said. Now they hope to create that event - which honors women, minority and LGBTQ independent filmmakers - for the second year in a row from Aug. 3-12.

To cover the costs, KGFC launched a campaign on Seed & Spark - a crowdfunding platform that focuses on film-related projects. They have less than a month to reach their $10,000 goal.

"Our goal is simple: To create a film festival that would allow the community to come together and offer attendees an authentic festival experience comparable to world-famous festivals that everyone knows and talks about," Jayson Simba, the festival's founder and executive director, said in a video for the crowdfund.

The festival's 2017 debut featured 157 feature and short films chosen from 400 submissions around the world, two of which later received a distribution deal, according to the crowdfund page. The 10-day event also included industry panels on independent filmmaking, network events, a comedy night and an outdoor movie screening, Simba said.

This year, his visions for the festival have grown even grander.

"It was such an incredible experience that naturally we all want to come back and do it again," Simba said. "Hopefully we can expand and grow from everything we learned last year."

That's where the crowdfund comes in. With state-funding and grants growing scarce New York City, the nonprofit is depending partly on supporters' cash to produce a film festival this year, Simba said.

KGFC is among more than 50 participants competing in "100 Days Of Optimism" - a Seed & Spark crowdfunding rally to get as many stories of "hope, change, redemption and inspiration" as possible. The online platform has partnered up with WeTransfer and Bow+Arrow Entertainment to award more than $250,000 in grants, marketing support and investment deals to the top projects.

WeTransfer will offer $50,000 in grants and hundreds of thousands of dollars in marketing support for up to 10 winning projects, while Bow + Arrow will invest $25,000 in up to three winning projects, according to the site.

KGFC aims to raise $10,000 and gain 1,000 followers to their campaign by April 19, and is offering rewards for donors who open their pocketbooks. Incentives range from a special social media shout-out for $5, to festival award dinner gala tickets for $500, to a festival red carpet backdrop stamped with your company's name on it for $5,000.

"Your funding will help us bring this incredible experience back to Kew Gardens in 2018," Simba told viewers of the festival's Seed & Spark page.

In addition to daily screenings and red carpet premiers, the 2018 festival will feature more panels with independent filmmakers, producers, distributors and sales agents, organizers said. It will also include activities such as karaoke, movie trivia, stand-up comedy, outdoor screenings and afterparties.

Winners of the festival's Audience Choice, Best Feature and Best Short awards will each get a distribution offer from IndiePix Films. Other awards include an InkTip Script Listing, a sales consultation with Soundview Media Partners, a subscription to iPitch.tv and a full writing software from WriterDuet.

Every filmmaker that submits a film will automatically receive a one-year subscription to Videomaker.com, which offers online tutorials and publications to independent filmmakers.

Lead photo via Shutterstock.