The Cosmonaut

Are you planning to get all the money just through crowdfunding?

No. We have planned 4 channels:

Crowdfunding. From 2 euros, anyone can become a producer in this film. In exchange, this person will receive presents and other benefits.

Capitalization.The people and companies involved in the team are also investors. They contribute, the equivalent to their salaries or resources and, in exchange, they receive in exchange a proportional percentage based on the total budget.

Advertising and sponsorship.We are looking for companies which want to join their name and brand to our project as sponsors; with a careful presence through the different stages of the film. Always from a non-invasive, non-annoying approach.

Investors.Instead of getting gifts and special offers, you can invest in a percentage of the film. From €1000 and with a joint venture agreement, they can receive part of the benefits the project may produce. (Ask how at hello@elcosmonauta.es).

Do you think this is a viable model?

Yes. We propose a hyper-horizontal production structure which makes this possible. We are also going to offer a carefully planned merchandising for those people who want to become producers and who may want to support the film once it's finished because they like it: ranging from the typical t-shirts to different original products, on sale for a reasonable price and tastefully designed.

And if we get to prove this system works, there are infinite alternatives to get benefits through Culture and the Internet. We have many ideas ready. From the publication of an album with a collection of songs inspired by the film (produced by different authors) to a book which explains this process and our model.

But, does all of this work?

Forbes magazine talks about this model as 'a revolution that can change the world'. TIME dedicates entire features to this. WIRED, Wall St. Journal, Reuters, Variety... and in our country, EP3, El Mundo, El País, AND... They all celebrate the birth of this model. In American independent cinema, Crowdfunding is 'the next big thing'.

Indiegogo.com, which embodies the Crowdfunding movement, has taken in, after operating for a few months, hundreds of feature film, short film and short feature film projects, from which dozens have obtained full funding (like Iraq For Sale, with a budget of $300,000).

If there's something that we can't deny it's that in the near future, everybody will have the word 'crowdfunding' on their lips.

"Look, feel and be part of it"

Nowadays, several existing initiatives prove that the participation of thousands of users with small contributions can produce optimal products which everyone else can make use of. In our ideal vision, you will decide in which project you are going to invest the 7 or 8 euros you spend on going to the cinema, or the 15 or 20 ones spent when buying a DVD. And that project, once it's produced, could be enjoyed for free by the rest of the community. Our audience knows what they want, how they want it, when and for what price.

So, what is this distribution model like?

Our proposal is a series of direct actions behind distribution, which seek for a change in the classic model:

Leave behind contents exclussivenes' non-sense: The first place where the film will be exhibited will be its natural environment: Internet. We believe in this because we consider it the definite distribution channel.

Advertising

In the film's screening web page there will be non-intrusive, short and audience-appealing advertisements, all related to the theme of the film.

Why Creative Commons?

In a global communication society like ours is, where digital copies have no economic cost and innumerable possibilities open to the Arts and their development, we find it's obsolete to limit all the rights of a piece of work. We believe that if benefits are produced by tangible things and not by ideas, then ideas have to be free.

What are Creative Commons licences?

Creative Commons is simply a label born to inform users about the rights an author wants to exert on his/her work. Copyright limits all use rights. Creative commons release them.

This way, there are several types of licences which allow, from a nearly closed one (similar to copyright) to others completely open in which the works of the author can be used in anyway (you can even sell it and obtain benefits without giving a cent to the author).

And which type of licence are you going to use?

Attribution/Share Alike

You can take any of the contents related to the film and copy them, distribute them or even sell them and benefit economically from them (although we'd rather you share a part of the benefits with us :P), as long as you quote us as the authors of the original contents. And also -we believe this is unprecedented in this country's film industry- , remix them to create a derived product. Of course, our name must always be mentioned.

All the project's material will be available for you on the Internet.

• The film in HD.
• All the footage.
• Music and original audiomix.
• Graphics and designs used in the website and dossier.
• Original texts and derived ones.
• Works from artists who have transferred them for their use: poems inspired on the film, alternative soundtracks, sounds, graphics...

We will promote derived creation through several contests to look for the official poster, alternative editing, the perfect soundtrack... Something you create may even end up in the film.

Various artists have already joined the project, creating their works. You can discover them in our Support section or Downloads section.

Information Transparency

We want all movements to be clear, transparent, no question marks. We want you to consider us a trustworthy company, not because we say so, but because you can observe it.

That's why we have established the following lines of action:.

Information transparency: We tell let you know about all our ideas for the project, in full detail. The way we plan to do things. How we plan to sell them to you. What we want you to buy and how we want you to buy it, and what we offer in exchange.

Economic transparency: . We tell you how much the film will cost. What we are going to invest in every euro we can get. And we'll constantly let you know about the state of our accounts, so that you are totally aware of what is being done with your investment.