One of the biggest challenges to creating a film or web series is cost; they tend to be expensive. Even when you’re frugal and keep things as simple as possible, unless you’re fortunate enough to have access to equipment, materials and a studio or location where you can shoot expenses can pile up quickly.

This is where I think Kickstarter can be an enormous help. Kickstarter is a website that helps you raise money for creative projects. You set a goal (the amount of money you want to raise) and people pledge an amount towards that goal. Funding is always all-or-nothing; a project has to reach or exceed its funding goal or no money changes hands and Kickstarter takes a 5% fee from funded projects in exchange for their service. A lot of really interesting projects have been funded using the service, including a Transylvania TV (see previous posts) Halloween special that will be broadcast on local television this fall (the Kickstarter Blog often other highlights noteworthy projects).

If you’re looking for funding for a puppet film or web series project and are interested in trying this yourself, check out How To Raise Money For a Web Series with Kickstarter, a recent article on Tubefilter that serves as a good guide to raising money using their service. You can also visit the Kickstarter web site for full details.