SAN DIEGO, CA, UNITED STATES, February 24, 2014 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The power of crowdfunding campaigns, social media, and documentary filmmaking are combined into one project: Citizens. Many campaigns on crowdfunding websites such as Indiegogo have dealt with filmmaking projects, and some have good reward tiers. Getting your name into IMDB as an Associate Producer, simply by promoting a campaign on Twitter and Facebook, is a rare opportunity.

Project Citizens is a rare find in any case, billed as a balanced documentary on the problems of illegal immigration. Not only does it include perspectives from both sides of the fence, but also the offered award packages allow for a great deal of low-cost ways to watch bonus material or interact with the filmmaking crew.

For example, contributing under $60 can get you either a limited edition DVD or Blu-Ray of the documentary, including exclusive bonus interviews with Coyote smugglers who transport people across the treacherous wastelands to freedom. For $250 or less, you can either grab lunch with the filmmakers, go to an exclusive screening in San Diego, or get a two-hour hands-on training session on the best ways to shoot an interview. Another $50 will get you some cinematography experience and credit for learning how to shoot B-roll.
Getting to the Associate Producer level includes all of the best elements of those prior perks, and then some. You'd get to bring a friend to the exclusive screening, get your name in the credits, have your bio page added to the Citizens website and IMDB, and get in some Skype time with the filmmakers. A big 11x17 poster signed by the crew would remind you of your day in the sun.

However, contributing at that level does cost. In the Producers Guild of America, the minimum application fee necessary to be considered an Associate Producer would total around $600, and annual dues come to about $200. Associate Producers might get paid a finders' fee or salary for drumming up support for a film, but sometimes that fee is contingent on the amount raised by those supporters – otherwise known as commission.
Project Citizens is offering a great crowdfunding campaign opportunity: either contribute $1,000 and become an Associate Producer, or use social media to win the Associate Producer Contest. Either way, you get the perks....but how great would it be to become an Associate Producer just by pointing and clicking on Google+ and sending a few emails?

Getting credit on commission never got easier than that. The rules of the contest are simple: whoever shares the most wins. If your website gets great traction, embed the campaign's code and watch the referral numbers flow. If your blog brings a lot of eyeballs to the table, embed the code there, and maybe send out a few posts on what the documentary is all about. Indiegogo can automatically track your efforts, so you don't have to worry about taking screen shots and emailing in your totals. Just point and click.
If you're worried that a documentary on illegal immigration won't generate a lot of traffic, don't be. Not only does the husband-wife team (Jacob and Jennifer Tapia) have personal and business experience with immigration and filmmaking, but also the topic is hot. CNN just paid to acquire Jose Antonio Vargas' film called Documented that's making the rounds at the Amsterdam documentary film festival. What's missing in the marketplace is the view from both sides dealing in issues of family and economics without taking sides in the game of politics.

Citizens has all of the draw of blockbuster films plus the seasoning of real life drama. There's drugs, bribes, and human trafficking. From parents who are trying to carve out a better life for their children, to the border patrol agents trying to protect established families from the criminal element, people are involved in the battle for a better existence.
Your chance to get involved in the battle won't take guns, but it will take the ammunition of memorable phrases and headers on blogs and tweets. Your fingers are needed to spread the word, and the Associate Producer rewards are great.

For more information, check out the official website or the crowdfunding website information. Also, if you want to be the star and produce your own five-minute documentary that's included in the Citizens bonus features, consider contributing at the $7,500 level – 'Star in Your Own Doc'.

Jacob A Tapia
Handrawn Pictures
760.212.3601
email us here

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