As the contributions started to come in ($875 so far!) I started to wonder how, besides by giving credit, I could repay my investors.
I could not, by SEC rules, promise a financial return (nor is it feasible to keep track of paying back thousands of people.) However, I did not want to simply be asking for charitable contributions.
Here is my solution: Assuming the film makes back the money it cost to make it (of course making a film is a risky enterprise,) I will repay the money you invested into a fund that will then be used to finance another film. This time, you, the producers and investors, will choose the film, with a vote weighted proportionally to the money you have put in.
LAFCO (our production company) will accept submissions by aspiring directors in the form of scripts. We will choose the top 10 projects. We will then post those projects on a web site and you will vote on which film you think we should make. If you invested one dollar, you have one vote. If you invested 50 dollars you will have 50 votes, and so forth. The film project that gets the most votes will get green lighted. This way, you continue to be involved producers, and we will keep doing this as long as the films make money.
If my film, Fix, actually makes a profit, I will invest a proportional amount of that profit into this fund (percentages to be determined by the final budget and money raised.)
For more information, visit
http://www.fixthemovie.com
For information about LAFCO, visit
http://www.lafco.tv
And, for my work, visit
http://www.ruspoli.com
All love,
Tao