The quest to find funding for projects is the never ending process that seems to go hand in hand with being an independent filmmaker—even for successful ones. Nobody knows that better than Jayce and Tiffany Bartok, married filmmakers who have been navigating the waters of film finance for several years.
The two are trying something different for their latest project. They’re hoping that they can get their movie “Tiny Dancer” made largely through crowd
funding. And while the concept is not entirely new, the Bartoks (along with co-founder Bryan DeCastro) are hoping that their initiative, The Independent Collective, will not only serve as a springboard to get this film produced, but will also turn into a sustainable organization that will bring filmmakers, musicians and artists together with the people who have the means--and the passion--to support their endeavors.
The Bartoks laugh easily and finish each other’s sentences, and often add on to each other’s ideas as well. Based in New York, both have been working in the film business for several years. Jayce is an accomplished actor; his big screen debut came with a part in “The Fisher King,” and he has gone on to appear in three incarnations of the venerable “Law and Order” franchise, and currently has a recurring role on the USA series “White Collar.” He has written two shorts, and the feature length film “The Cake Eaters,” (which he also produced) starring Kristen Stewart and directed by Mary Stuart Masterson. Tiffany is a stage actress, as well as appearing in several commercials. She has worked as a make-up artist on several films, and has produced and directed two shorts.
“Tiny Dancer” started life as a documentary the Bartoks were going to make about legendary ballet dancer Gelsey Kirkland. They had pitched the idea to HBO and the network was interested; when Kirkland decided against doing the project, Tiffany began writing a story about a ballerina, and she says, laughing, “I got five pages in and I was like, ‘I can’t do this, I can’t do this, it’s too hard without you, you do this,” and Jayce helped her finish what was to become a script about a dancer in her late 30s who has a child and wants to return to ballet and all of the complications and romantic entanglements that come with it.
It’s no secret that it’s a brave new world for the do it yourself crowd in independent filmmaking circles. It’s always been a risky proposition in trying to throw your weight (both financially and creatively) behind a project and trying to see it through to the end. But with new media and distribution platforms and an anemic economy scaring off many investors, independent filmmakers have to be willing to try new avenues, not only to connect with their audience, but to also see if that audience wants to become participants in the filmmaking process itself.
The couple had gone the traditional route in funding “The Cake Eaters.” Made in 2007, the film is a microcosm of the world of independent filmmaking. It toured the festival circuit extensively, and received positive reviews, but saw limited distribution. Its biggest drawing card should have been the fact that it starred Stewart, who of course has seen her popularity soar due to the overwhelming success and omnipresent visibility of the “Twilight” series. But with a limited marketing budget and no authorization to publicize the film, they were never able to capitalize on any buzz that her name and fame could provide.
“We weren’t in a position to do any marketing on ‘The Cake Eaters,’” Tiffany said. “I would just stare at the computer. This is crazy that she’s on Jimmy Kimmel and we’re not Tweeting this immediately and it would make me crazy, but I wasn’t authorized to do any of that stuff so I did make a vow that that would never happen to us again.”
Both Jayce and Tiffany readily acknowledge that he is the more old school of the two (“Twitter, all this stuff is like little flies buzzing around me. I’m like an old man trying to understand the technology,” the 36 year old Jayce says with a laugh) so for him, funding “The Cake Eaters” was done through the regular independent film channels.
“That was the last gasp of the traditional method, he said. “Like, there was one hedge fund guy who wants to get into the movies. We found Mary Stuart Masterson was with my agent; that came together more the classical way indies come together.”
They took the film to 60 festivals, and experienced the ups and downs that go with trying to screen a movie, gather that groundswell of support, and get distribution. And most independent filmmakers also know that it’s the time to network and see if they can use the current project to leverage the future project.
“We were at those festivals and we were like, ‘if anyone out there wants to get into the movie business,’ and everybody would laugh,” Jayce said. He continued on, as if speaking to the festival audience and panels, “’We've got this new project with so and so,’ and all these people of course don't have any money, and we’re like, ‘if anybody out there has 25 bucks…’”
After “The Cake Eaters,” they first tried to fund “Tiny Dancer” the same way, and it wasn’t coming together the way they would have liked.
“I’m probably the most impatient person on the face of the earth,” Tiffany said, laughing. “We had been trying to get this film (“Tiny Dancer”) off the ground for a while through traditional routes—like attaching a director, and trying to attach the talent, and trying to get the money.”
There was interest in the project, and the Bartoks shopped it around. Melissa Joan Hart was interested in directing, and Elizabeth Berkley and Josh Hamilton sat in for the table read, which went over very well. Even if they would crowd fund the film, it’s always wise to attach talent to the project first, especially more so with an independent film.
“We sent it to Charlize Theron. We targeted her and actresses that had a dance background, like January Jones,” Jayce said. “Everyone we sent it to, they responded to the script and in light of ‘Black Swan,’ at least when ‘Tiny Dancer’ was going around, nobody was making a movie about ballet, and people were like, ‘Oh, I love ballet movies, ‘The Red Shoes,’ and wow they come along once in a blue moon.’”
In forming The Independent Collective, they knew there would be challenges. It’s not lost on them that there are plenty of other filmmakers trying to raise money for their films as well; it’s also hard to get the people outside of the filmmaking world to participate to fund these projects. But ultimately, after observing other indie filmmakers, and some gentle prodding from Tiffany, Jayce agreed and they decided to crowd fund “Tiny Dancer.”
“It's very difficult because it's over saturated at this point. It's very difficult to get the audience to be active,” Tiffany said. “We have a friend, Gary King, who is amazing at this. He successfully crowd funded his feature, his latest one, and I was always saying to Jayce, ‘ look at Gary, look at Gary,’ but Jayce is like, ‘we’re trying to raise a lot more money than Gary.’ I was like, ‘there is no reason we can't do this.’ The thing this time is that we are not on the circuit with a film right now, so that is challenging. You have to be so engaging online and supportive of other people, which is easy for us to do because we just love following what everybody is doing, and being genuinely supportive of people.”
There was also now the task of how to reach potential donors through the Internet, and how to do it in a positive way. They didn’t want to set up The Independent Collective, and “Tiny Dancer,” with a looming deadline to try and obligate people to donate.
“I went to this Distribution U, this big panel seminar that Peter Broderick posted in New York {in mid- November} and they were citing all kinds of examples of the DIY, the crowd sourcing, crowd funding all these projects, and they advocated like a ticking clock and like the money thermometer,” Jayce said. “It is nice because we don't need a ticking clock and we don't want money thermometer because we’re trying to raise $200,000, so that may be a con because somebody might feel like, ‘what's my $25 going toward?’”
By Hollywood standards, the budget for “Tiny Dancer” is a drop in the bucket. But for independent filmmakers like Jayce and Tiffany Bartok, the money they hope to raise is substantial. They first came up with an estimated budget of $1 million, but then figured out a way to do it for about $350,000 (a large chunk of which they hope to raise through The Independent Collective, with some of the cost offset by grants and foreign sales). That is still a substantial amount to deal with, and there is definitely liability when trying to raise that amount of money through crowd funding. Throw in a few big name actors in the cast, and the Bartoks eventually sought out some financial advice on how to uncomplicate things. They were advised to work with a fiscal sponsor, and they are now aligned with the New York Foundation for the Arts. The NYFA is lending them their 501(c) 3 status.
“So at least people are getting a tax deduction and it is sort of clear-cut and it allows us to apply for grants and it seems to be dictating, at least there's a great feeling, you know. We’ve raised around $10,000 so far--it's just sitting in an account at the New York Foundation for the Arts,” Jayce said.
“Tiny Dancer” has a shooting script, and Jayce and Tiffany hope to be in principle photography by this time next year. Both continue to work in the meantime, with Jayce continuing to appear on “White Collar,” a new film called “Coming up Roses,” and they are looking to develop a few other projects that he has been writing and hoping to get optioned or produced. Jayce continues to audition for other projects as well, including Jason Reitman's new film and ironically enough, for "Black Swan."
But while they continue to work in the industry and raise their young son (who also happens to star in the promotional video they’ve made) it’s clear that they are passionate about this project, and in turn, seeing the Independent Collective thrive.
For more information about how to donate and what events are being held, visit www.theindependentcollective.com
