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THE GOLDEN BRIDE - Behind The Scenes

The National Yiddish Theatre is the longest continuously producing Yiddish theatre company in the world. A big piece of their work centers around educating the public on Jewish heritage through performances, lectures and interactive workshops.

We caught up with project leaders Julia Osen Averill, Jeff Newelt and Chris Massimine to get insights on their latest project 'The Golden Bride', which is currently running a live RocketHub campaign.

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What was the inspiration behind your “Golden Bride” project - and how did it come about?

After years of restoring the hit 1923 Yiddish operetta, we presented the first revival in over 70 years. Tickets went fast, critical acclaim piled on (including NY Times cover story and Critics’ Pick), and after the closing performance, pleas to “bring it back” poured in. In response to public demand we decided to do a remount of the production this summer, once again at our beautiful home The Museum of Jewish Heritage. Our decision to do a crowdfunding campaign to help us bring back The Golden Bride comes partially from our name Foksbiene, which means people’s stage. Through art and music we strive to tell the story of perseverance, strength and power of the Jewish people and the importance of continuity in legacy. We are an organization dedicated and supported by the people who comprise our community. We wanted to give everyone a chance to be a part of bringing back this production. Professional theatre is a very expensive endeavor and adding a remount of this size and caliber to our season requires the support of our community.

What has your experience been launching an "experiential arts venture” through crowdfunding?

We knew that this would be a challenging endeavor especially because much of our audience is not familiar with crowdfunding. The key was to make sure we had a variety of materials to do outreach, to incentivize giving, and to make sure we had enough people working with us to spread and maintain the campaign. We prepped for several weeks, reached out to press organizations, researched best practices for crowdfunding campaigns, and tried to be as organized as possible before the launch of the campaign to bring back The Golden Bride. It is a constant job to continue to make sure that the reach of our campaign is expanding.

What were some surprises (both positive and negative) that you and the team encountered?

We discovered just how challenging it is to reach people through social media with all of the current algorithms in place. We have a relatively large social media presence and were hoping that because the response to the show had been so positive that the campaign would be shared by people through the videos we posted, the thank you graphics we shared, and the articles about the campaign. People are either reluctant to share the posts or they are not being reached.

Any advice for others looking to crowdfund a similar project?

Make sure you plan everything in advance, including the people working on the campaign. You should have a calendar with projected video releases, announcements, extra incentives, and who will be responsible for what. Reach out to your immediate community before the campaign starts and explain that they are an essential part in bringing the goal to fruition, then check back in with them every week. The more people you have diligently working on the campaign the better it will do. There will always be conflicts or issues that will arise during the campaign, but trouble shooting is much easier than planning as you go.

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Click Here to Explore This Project

#The National Yiddish Theatre #rockethub #crowdfunding

‘PARADISE’ Launches RocketHub Campaign

Story originally published in SRQ Backlot via J. Ogles

A RocketHub crowdsourcing effort launched to raise money for final sound and editing for Paradise, FL, a feature length film shot in Southwest Florida by a Sarasota-based filmmaking team. The news comes after Fractured Atlas, a nonprofit artist service organization, agreed to sponsor Paradise, FL. The team set a goal of raising $12,500 in 28 days through the RocketHub campaign.

Producer Tony Stopperan said the movie will be ready to roll out through Vimeo On-Demand upon completion of final post-sound design. The final push comes after a successful run on the film festival circuit, which started last year with a world premiere at the Sarasota Film Festival. “2015 was a very successful and eventful year for our film,” he said.

Stopperan says the fiscal sponsorship by Fractured Atlas allows the film to solicit donations for this final “discrete” portion of the production process. Supporters will get tax benefits for donating through the campaign, thanks to a partnership between Fractured Atlas and RocketHub.

The story is based on drug addiction crises affecting island communities in Southwest Florida. While set in the fictional town of Paradise, locals will recognize the community of Cortez as the real-world backdrop. It was made by filmmakers with strong connections to Ringling College of Art and Design and to the Asolo Conservatory.

The film has earned some of the broadest acclaim of any independent film shot and made in Sarasota. “We made probably as big a deal over Paradise, FL as we have over any local film,” said Sarasota Film Festival Programming Director Michael Dunaway. “That was in part because we wanted to support Ringling College, but also because we just thought it was a great movie.”

The movie would go on to screen at the Gasparilla, Skyway, Iphias and Virginia Film Festivals. (Read SRQ Backlot’s review of the film here.)

Tiniest Chameleons Deliver Most Powerful Tongue-lashings

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- Chameleons are known for sticking their tongues out at the world fast and far, but until a new study by Brown University biologist Christopher Anderson, the true extent of this awesome capability had been largely overlooked. That's because the smallest species hadn't been measured.

"Smaller species have higher performance than larger species," said Anderson, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

In Scientific Reports, Anderson shows that ballistic tongue projection in a chameleon that would fit on your thumb produced a peak acceleration 264 times greater than the acceleration due to gravity. In automotive terms, the tongue could go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in a hundredth of a second, though it only needs about 20 milliseconds to snag a cricket.

Anderson's review of the biomechanics literature suggests that the motion has the highest acceleration and power output produced per kilogram of muscle mass by any reptile, bird, or mammal and is the second most powerful among any kind of vertebrate (only a salamander outdoes it). The total power output of the plucky Rhampholeon spinosus chameleon's tongue was 14,040 watts per kilogram.

The secret of chameleons is that they don't just use spontaneous muscle power to fling their tongues. They preload most of the motion's total energy into elastic tissues in their tongue. The recoil of those tissues greatly augments what muscle alone can do on the fly -- to catch a fly.

Anderson wanted to find the upper limit of chameleon tongue performance. To do that, he gathered individuals of 20 species of widely varying sizes in his former University of South Florida lab. Then he perched them one by one in front of a camera that shoots 3,000 frames a second. For each measurement, a cricket hung off a small dangling mesh to tempt the tongue to emerge. When it did, he could measure the distance the tongue went, the elapsed time, and the speed and the acceleration at any given time.

What Anderson noticed across all his measurements and analysis was that the smaller the chameleon, the higher the peak acceleration, relative power, and distance of tongue extension relative to body size (Rhampholeon spinosus stuck out its tongue to 2.5 times its body length). Larger chameleons produced impressive motions, too, but not compared to their smaller cousins. For example, a roughly two-foot-long species, Furcifer oustaleti, managed a peak acceleration less than 18 percent that of the tiny champ, Rhamp.

The results make physical and evolutionary sense, Anderson said. All of the chameleons have the same catapult-like apparatus for launching the tongue, but proportional to their size, smaller chameleons have a bigger one than larger chameleons. They are like little sports cars with relatively powerful engines.

The evolutionary reason why tiny chameleons are proportionately better equipped for feeding is presumed to be because, like all small animals, they need to consume more energy per body weight to survive. So little chameleons must be especially good at catching their insect meals -- their tongues have to burst out unusually fast and far to compete for all that needed nutrition.

For these reasons, Anderson said, it will often benefit researchers to look at the little guys when studying physical performance. Prior studies of chameleon tongue acceleration had measured much lower peak values because they only looked at much larger chameleons.

"What this study shows is that by using smaller species, we may be able to elucidate these higher performance values," he said.

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Sigma Xi, the Journal of Experimental Biology, RocketHub crowdfunding, the National Science Foundation, and the Bushnell Research and Education Fund supported the research.

Public release via EurekAlert - Image Credit Christopher Anderson

Ovation TV's Creative Studio Brings Crowdfunding To A New Dimension

We want to express our gratitude and awe to the first cohort of wonderful artists in Ovation TV's Creative Studio. Not only did we raise over $320K, but collectively we generated global buzz to spotlight new voices in the arts.

RocketHub wants to publicly thank the team at Ovation for their innovative mindset and dedication to the next wave of artistic talent, as well as will.i.am and the i.am.angel Foundation for their commitments to STEM education in Boyle Heights.

We're excited and proud to see these creative projects come to life.

Onward and upward!

Team RocketHub

Spotlight on Fractured Atlas Partnership Project - “Proof Is Possible”

Husband and wife team Grace and Corbett Lunsford are constructing a tiny house on wheels called the Tiny Lab, to take on tour across America.

Their goal? To showcase “measured home performance” through workshops and open house tours. Additionally, they'll be launching a new TV show called Home Diagnosis - where the couple will test a home to discover the source of the problems, provide a prescription to solve them, and work with local companies to help homeowners achieve a better life in their most sacred space.

We caught up with this creative couple to talk about their current crowdfunding project on RocketHub, (launched through our partnership with Fractured Atlas) as well as the catalyst for this dynamic idea.

What was the inspiration behind your “Tiny House Tour” project - and how did it come about?

Corbett and I are self-employed, so we often work long irregular hours and like to treat ourselves on the weekend to a big breakfast, vegging out on the couch and watching one or two documentaries. We're from Chicago, so it's also the perfect thing to do on cold winter weekends.

So there we are watching Ken Burns' documentary "The National Parks" and we thought, "Wow, we should do that! Why wait until retirement? We have unusual work situations, we could save up and go on a long 6 week sabbatical."

So we began looking up the cost of RVs to rent, because we'd have to take our fur babies (two cats) with us, and all in, to go the way we wanted to travel, we were looking at a $10,000- $20,000 "rental" trip, so we dropped the idea and searched for the next documentary to watch.

"Tiny: A Story About Living Small" by Christopher Smith and Merete Mueller was up next, and by the end of watching that film the idea began to take root.

Corbett is a Building Scientist, like a doctor for houses. He trains and advises people on high performance construction and prescribes solutions for their mysterious house problems. We immediately thought that building a high performance Tiny House on Wheels would be a really cool way to showcase home performance, a concept not really known in the general public. If a homeowner could understand the principles within our four walls, then they could take that knowledge and go look at their own homes in a new light.

Grace is an actress and filmmaker and was just finishing up a year a touring film festivals with her feature "The Other One." She was penning a distribution deal with Indican Pictures and since theatrical runs are barely cost effective, she was already thinking of retaining theatrical rights for the movie. If we were going to build a Tiny House on Wheels and take it around the country, then we could adopt the same route for a theatrical release.

The Forgiveness Tour is a concept Grace had been working on to carry the short prequel to "The Other One" called "Eclipse" to schools, focusing on pre-emptive measures to help end the school violence that seems to grow steadily each year.

Also, as we traveled around the film festival circuit, Grace often spoke on or helped lead panels about female filmmaking, and was astonished to learn the frustrating statistics around not only female filmmakers, but female characters in storylines. "Ms. Tiny Detective" came about from this frustrating new awareness (the storyline pitch is best told by Grace in the RocketHub video.)

But if we were really going to do this, we needed to try the lifestyle out, so in March of 2015 we flew to Portland and stayed for two nights in two separate lodgings at The Tiny House Hotel. You can see which ones we stayed at on our YouTube channel (http://youtube.com/c/HomePerformance). They were surprisingly comfortable, and really made us realize that YES, we could do this.

We came back and started planning, reaching out to contractors, suppliers, fans, and general supporters of both of our careers. We originally thought we'd try for 20 cities in 2016, but then a Tiny Human also started to take root in Grace's womb, so we dropped the number to 16 and kept thinking of how we could assemble an army of supporters to get this done.

If we were going on the road we also thought let's bring Mysteriam into this! That's the name of our band and after 13 years together and 7 albums we could sing for days if you let us, so hopefully some of those concerts will get supported too!

What has your experience been launching an "experiential arts venture” through crowdfunding?

Grace had launched crowdfunds in the past on Indiegogo for her films, and Fractured Atlas had fiscally sponsored her films. We reached out to see if this enormous endeavor with a Tiny House could be a fit for fiscal sponsorship, and luckily it fell perfectly into the multidisciplinary platform. This time around we researched and learned more about RocketHub, and ultimately felt the RocketHub community and ethos were a better fit for us.

We're unconventional, not afraid to push boundaries, and RocketHub's past and present partnerships with A&E and Ovation was inspiring for us to see artists be more fully supported by major players. Plus, how often can you set up a phone call with the CEO when you have questions about their platform? RocketHub became the easy decision in the end.

That said, launching an "experimental arts venture" has been interesting right out of the gate. We have four major areas and the real through line is US. Not Tiny Houses, not the TV show, movies, or music, this is culmination of our work, passions, and how we feel both can go out an make the world a better place.

The first week we've had a lot of support come together, but we've also had a few people reply with exclamations of not fully understanding what we're trying to do.

This is why we chose a longer crowd funding period. We want to take the time and answer questions from supporters like "I like the Proof is Possible Tour but what about the Forgiveness Tour, are you Anti-Gun?" The answer to that, btw, is we are anti-school-violence. Grace grew up in Alabama and completely respects constructive practices with gun ownership.

School violence is happening and not going away whether it's guns, knives, or bombs. The Forgiveness Tour seeks to create a positive dialogue about ending the violence through pre-emptive measures like forgiveness, awareness, and recognition of signals. Sure, gun laws deserve close attention, but there are many other people, much more well-versed in that topic than we are. It's a complex issue, no doubt about it.

We are happy to have the conversations, and not a single one has ended negatively. Pitch videos and descriptions can only say so much, so it's been great to have people openly reach out to us to get their questions answered.

Any advice for others looking to crowdfund a similar project?

Don't overthink during the first week. Even if you've been priming the pump and telling all your friends about it for weeks, when it your campaign goes live, that's just the beginning of the work. Make yourself available. Answer people's questions, create exciting new content to keep the message going, and gather those partners who said they support you and remind them, NOW is the time. It might take them more than a week to even open your email, so don't pull your hair out.

Every project is different, so every crowd fund will be different. Also, if you're a creator, artist or entrepreneur, more than likely you're more sensitive than most. Try not to take it personally when your family member won't even chip in $5 or that someone who said they'd support you now says they still have your back but will donate to the next one, not this one.

You never know if your family member is dealing with some major debt, or other problem inhibiting their support. Let it go and keep sharing your project with others. You need the whole village- more than just one or two supporters, anyway. Take the trials with a grain of salt and keep pushing forward. It's what everyone has to do whether you're a crowdfunder or venture capitalist.

Is your project meant to succeed? At the end of the day only you can answer that. Now is not the time to falter, and if your fund fails to reach the goals you set, that doesn't necessarily mean it was meant to fail. Make the most of it anyway you can.

Click here to explore this project further!

#Tiny House #Fractured Atlas #RocketHub #Crowdfunding #ProofIsPossible

Ovation Launches New Crowdfunding Initiative For Artists: Creative Studio

In a move designed to discover and support talented creators, Ovation, America's only arts network, has launched Creative Studio, a crowdfunding initiative for artists, in partnership with RocketHub, a leading crowdfunding technology platform. Creative Studio is initially featuring 50+ projects for potential funding, including a project from will.i.am's i.am.angel Foundation. The announcement was made yesterday by Liz Janneman, EVP, Network Strategy, Ovation.

Singer/songwriter/performer/philanthropist will.i.am is participating in a new project through his i.am.angel Foundation that seeks to raise funds for a robotics program in Boyle Heights (East Los Angeles). The goal is to raise enough money to send high school students from Boyle Heights, will.i.am's hometown, to the 2016 FIRST Robotics Competition.

After an overwhelming response to the call for submissions, a panel of arts, television and crowdfunding experts selected 50+ worthy projects to be featured for the Creative Studio launch. These submissions ranged from dance and art to photography, film, and animation and include both established and first-time creators. For the full list of projects, visit the Creative Studio site.

"From our inception, Ovation has been committed to empowering artists and creators in all genres, from the traditional arts to nontraditional, groundbreaking forms of art," said Liz Janneman, EVP, Network Strategy, Ovation. "Creative Studio is a very practical extension of that commitment. Our goal is to discover and incubate the next generation of talented creators and empower them to see their creative visions through to fruition."

Among submissions received between August 4 and September 4, 2015, three will be awarded $5,000 each in seed funding to help jumpstart their project on Creative Studio, as well as a chance to be featured on TV. The three winning projects will be announced on Wednesday, November 4, 2015.

For all projects, Creative Studio provides valuable pre-launch tips and training, marketing support, on-air promotion on Ovation TV, social media marketing and on-going support throughout fund-raising campaigns. Additionally, Creative Studio offers artists and content creators a proven strategy for generating successful funding for their projects.

For more on Creative Studio, see https://www.rockethub.com/creativestudio

ROCKETHUB & CMJ MUSIC MARATHON

RocketHub is proud to present two official showcases for New York City’s biggest music festival, The CMJ Music Marathon at two of NYC’s greatest venues ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL and THE LIVING ROOM.

Artists I AM SNOW ANGEL and DANI MARI from FEMALE FREQUENCY will headline our Rockwood showcase and you can catch artists STEEV RICHTER, ALLISON GUINN and ORPHAN JANE at our Living Room showcase.

We also found placements at CMJ for RocketHub artists JENEEN TERRANA and LESLEY BARTH at The We Heart Astoria CMJ Showcase at LIC BAR Wednesday, October 14th 10pm.

ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL Friday, Oct 16th noon-4pm

12:00pm Rorie Kelly

 12:40pm Richard McGraw 

1:15pm Andy Stack

 2:00pm Andrea DeJonge 

2:40pm Lauren Elder

 3:15pm Mariachi Flor De Toloache

 3:55pm Female Frequency (feat. I Am Snow Angel & Dani Mari)

THE LIVING ROOM Saturday, October 17th noon-4pm  

12:00 Marlon Chaplin 

12:45 Shannon Söderlund 

1:30 Allison Guinn 

2:20 Steev Richter  

3:10 Orphan Jane

RocketHub awards CMJ placements to artists who have used or have made a commitment to use our crowdfunding platform! Use RocketHub to make your dream project happen and be a part of cool opportunities like these!

Price For Paradise - Crowdfunding in Hawaii

Wayde Fishman grew up outside of Boston, but began visiting the Hawaiian Islands at the age of 7. After pursuing his education in design, photography, and illustration, he made his lifelong dream of permanently moving to Oahu come true in 1998, leaving the hard edge lifestyle of the Boston Suburbs behind. HIs passion for Hawaii, it’ s culture, wildlife, diverse environment and the sustainability are evident in his current crowdfunding project on RocketHub called Price for Paradise. We caught up with Wayde to get insights on his current campaign, and how he launched his latest new media endeavor.

What was the inspiration behind your "Price for Paradise" project - and how did it come about? How did you build you team?

*The inspiration behind the "Price for Paradise" has been a long one...Many years ago a Book was published here in Hawaii called "THE PRICE OF PARADISE, Lucky We Live Hawaii?" written in 1992. It was a well recieved book about the Struggles of living in Hawaii and the high cost of living and how many who live here barley make ends meet or just pack up and leave their Family and culture behind. However the Book was written more like a TEXT BOOK and not about real people or the real Hawaii that people live and breathe everyday. There is a HUGE difference between the book called the Price "OF "Paradise and our Docu-Drama the Price "FOR' Paradise...The Book was about the Price OF...WHICH was simple mathematics and told you the numbers, facts and percentages...Our Project Docu-Drama series is about the Price FOR....as in HOW, WHO, WHY and WHERE...HOW are these people fighting FOR Paradise? WHO are the people of Hawaii and what is their Story? Why do they go through the struggles and hardships to stay in Hawai'i and make ends meet when they could pack up, move and have a much easier life somewhere else? Where did they all come from...Are they Native Hawaiian? Are they Locals Born and raised? Did they come from the Mainland or another Country? No matter Born in Hawai'i or coming from the Mainland or another Country...there is one thing that binds us, that brings us together...The Spirit of ALOHA...A place where Dreams come true...OR...a Place where many come to start over in life. Unknowing to MANY outside Hawai'i...Hawai'i is the #1 Place to START YOUR LIFE OVER. Many come here from all over the world to get a fresh start...maybe because they are running away from thier demons and mistakes of their past or maybe to get a fresh start and heal from tragic events...one way or another there are Strories to be told here...Colorful, exciting, beautiful, tragic, unimaginable and shocking stories lie here on this islands and yet no one knows of them.

The Project came about because we noticed a disturbing trend..."The Lies about Paradise"...People outside Hawai'i have had a wild imagination for far too long and fantasy like view of what Hawai'i is and what it means because of what has been sold to them for so long from Travel companies to Hollywood movies. Hawai'i isn't a Fantasy, it's real, it's raw...The people who live here have reallives, we eat, we sleep, we work hard and play harder...We succeed, we fail, we live and we die here, but what surprised people the most about Hawai'i is the drama here...because you're on such a small island everyone knows everyone and everyone has friends and enemies her as well and it's very hard to avoid confrontations. Hawai'i is not everything people think it is and we want to open peoples eyes and show the outside world who HAWAI'I is, who its people are as well as the conflicts and issues we face here today as a small business owners, young family members, single parents, hard working middle classer as well as people moving to Hawai'i.

Our Small business guide team called "THE CORE" as well as the team for this crowdfunding project is exactly the essence of what HAWAII IS! Both teams consist of the total "MELTING POT" that makes up Hawai'i people...Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) Locals (Those Born & Raised) and Kama'aina...KanakaMaoli, Locals, Kama'aina... Native Hawaiian, Polynesian, Korean, Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Caucasian, European, Brazilian, Black, Mexican...The list goes on...We're not going to sugarcoat or re-imagine who and what Hawai'i is the way Travel Magazine and Hollywood has. Hawai'i Nei is a real place with real people from all over the world who are trying to make ends met in Paradise. Hawai'i is a place that many consider HEAVEN by those who are succeeding and HELL by those who are failing and struggling, but at the end of our day of struggle or success, when the sunrises and sets, we reflect and know that even if we struggle here and can barely make ends meet we still stay because there is an energy here...the mana of the islands...a spirit...the spirit of aloha...it's in everything and everyone you meet...it's something that is worth the struggles and the price to live here and in that we know how "LUCKY WE ARE TO LIVE HAWAII"...this, for all of us here is "The Price For Paradise.

What has your experience been launching a "new media venture" through crowdfunding?

*If it's your first time launching a new Media Venture through crowdfunding it will be a huge learning curve, you need to do your research before even launching one...I would say several months ahead of a project launch to understand how the crowdfunding system works...You need to put a decent video together to bring the audience in...after doing research on other project it became clear we needed our project to POP, with good descriptions of our project, the people working with us and why the project is so important not only to us, but to our funders. IMAGES can help in bringing an audience in as well who may be interested in funding you. You also need to do a healthy bit of research to see what gift donations you will be offering and what works best with your project. The experience has been exciting and heart pumping, but also a struggle and one of disappointment as well so far. Sometimes what you and your team envisions and how important and urgent you believe a project to be, may not resonate and be so urgent to an audience. We had done our best to get our point across and the urgency of our project. The Funding has now stalled and we are now about to go into another phase and see if we can rally some new funding. I think you need to do something special every week or two to "RE-LAUNCH" the project again...if you let it leave peoples mind too long you may loss the connection between the Funders and the Project. Once they shut it out, it's over.

Any advice for others looking to crowdfund a similar project?

*To have any real chance from my experience so far in Crowdfunding you need to first plan your LAUNCH DATE...You need to have a LARGE Social MEDIA pull and Campaign to push the project on all networks like Your own Website...Twitter, IG, Facebook with Groups and your Like Pages and even have an EVENT and invite everyone to the Launch so you can start off strong...If you can bring in other Friends with Big Social Media pull to help you push your Crowdfunding project, that's even better! You need to be persistent...you need to post and re post on your social media networks every other day...talk about the urgency of your project and how it will bring to light something or help others if people donate to the project. I found that th biggest disappointment so far is relying on others to help you or push the project...I imagined in my head how much funds would come from our own Social Media Network and how much would come from everyone else...75% of the Donations so far have come from our Network only. We miscalculated this and so we would rethink how we go about getting others to help us fund a project. Everyone needs to be on the same page and when you launch a Crowdfunding project like this you need to remember that the only people that are TRULY PASSIONATE about it are the ones who created the project in the first place and put it out there.

Click here to check out the Price for Paradise crowdfunding page!

Ovation TV Selecting Three Artists for Additional $5K in Funding

RocketHub was proud to host the production crew from Ovation TV for a recent shoot to promote their new partnership, Creative Studio.

In case you haven’t heard, Ovation TV's Creative Studio is for creative crowdfunding projects, with $15K in extra prize-money from Ovation TV going to three amazing artists and creators. Calling all Artists, due date is this Friday!

For more info, and to submit your project: http://creativestudio.ovationtv.com/

#OvationTV #RocketHub #Creative Studio

Funding 101: I4E TechWeek Recap

There have never been so many options available for raising capital to start or expand a business. In this webinar, experts from Genacast Ventures, RocketHub and Comcast Business cover the basics that every entrepreneur needs to know about funding.

Here’s the recap of the I4E TechWeek Funding 101 Panel in case you missed it live!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9VioK0VRDM

Dreamy Afternoons with Lauren Elder

Lauren Elder is an NYC based actress, singer-songwriter. You may have seen her on Boardwalk Empire (HBO), Louie (FX), Law & Order (NBC), or in the Broadway revival of Side Show.

Gustavo Rodriguez from Team RocketHub caught up with Lauren to talk about her work and latest live crowdfunding campaign.

I've known you for a while and have enjoyed following your career. Music, acting on television and on Broadway...what do you want to do that you haven't done yet?

That's a good question! I'd like to do film. I'm writing a short film and hoping to make it this year. I'd really like to get my music into films and TV, as well. Other than that, I'd like to have enough work and money so that I can live in a beach house in California and travel the world.

So this is your first recording project of your own, correct?

Yes, it is. I'm on two Broadway cast recordings (The revivals of Hair and Side Show), and have recorded demos for other artists, but this is my first real recording project - outside of my closet, that is.

Who are you working with on the record?

I'm recording it at Motel Room Studios in Long Island City with Dan Crowley. Bobby Cronin, a very talented musical theater and film composer, who has also funded projects with RocketHub, is co-producing and playing piano. I'll have friends from Broadway shows singing back up and playing instruments, along with some amazing musicians, like Cris Slotoroff from The Deafening Colors, and Andy Jobe from Walking for Pennies, in my band.

The response to your first crowdfunding project has been overwhelmingly positive. How long did it take you to hit your goal?

It only took six days to reach my goal! I still can't believe it! I thought I'd be begging people until the end of my project, but it's been smooth sailing.

Amazing for your first time out! Really. I believe others should look closely at what you're doing with your campaign. What helpful tips/hints could you give others when it comes to successful crowdfunding campaign execution?

I'm just being myself, really. I read a lot about what to do, and used those tips. I made a simple video, and put it out there to people that I know. I've barely had to promote, because I've used my social media shout out thank yous to share the link to my page. My shout outs have been very personal, explaining why each person is so important to me. I think people have really enjoyed and been moved by them, and maybe that makes them want to contribute.

And now you're approaching your "stretch goal." The odds are looking quite good!

Yeah! It's amazing! I set my initial goal on the low side, with the bare minimum I would need to do a six track EP, but I'd really like to do an 8 song album, with a full booklet of pictures and lyrics, and a music video, so hopefully I'll meet my stretch goal!

What do you want to tell the folks out there as we approach the end of your campaign?

How overwhelmingly touched and moved I am by everyone's generosity. This is a project I've wanted to do for a very long time, and I couldn't do it without the support of all of you. So, thank you! I'm so excited to share my songs with everyone.

Well I've been listening and loving your music live for a long time--I'm glad that you're finally committing it to disc! Best of luck to you!

Click here to explore this project further!

#rockethub #crowdfunding #lauren elder #Boby Cronin

OVATION AND ROCKETHUB TO LAUNCH “CREATIVE STUDIO”, CROWDFUNDING DESIGNED FOR CREATORS AND ARTISTS

Artists Can Submit Their Crowdfunding Idea for a Chance to be Featured on TV

And Win $5,000 Toward Their Project

Santa Monica, CA – August 4, 2015

Ovation, America’s only arts network, and RocketHub, a leading crowdfunding platform, are announcing their partnership to launch Creative Studio, a joint initiative designed to assist artists in funding their creative projects. The announcement was made today by Charles Segars, CEO of Ovation, and Brian Meece, CEO of RocketHub, and is set to go live in October.

“As an independent network, Ovation is committed to empowering the next generation of artists. We are inspired and motivated by the level of talent in the independent artistic community; by partnering with a crowdfunding platform, the launch of Creative Studio extends our core mission in a new and innovative way,” said Segars. “Creative Studio addresses a very real obstacle that many artists face in obtaining funding for their projects and furthers Ovation’s commitment to the arts and digital expansion.”

Creative Studio will provide valuable pre-launch tips and training, marketing support, on-air promotion on Ovation TV, social media marketing and on-going support throughout fund-raising campaigns. Additionally, Creative Studio will offer artists and content creators a proven strategy for generating successful funding for their projects.

Ovation and RocketHub are seeking a variety of different projects to launch Creative Studio.

Interested participants can visit http://creativestudio.ovationtv.com to review guidelines and enter for consideration.

Submissions received between August 4 and September 4, 2015 will be judged by a panel of arts, television and crowdfunding experts from around the country. Each of the top three projects will be awarded $5,000 in seed funding to help jumpstart their project on Creative Studio, as well as a chance to be featured on TV.

“By working with Ovation, we are offering an amazing opportunity for artists to raise awareness for their projects, as well as providing them with the freedom to act on their vision with full creative control,” notes Meece. “The $5,000 incentive is an incredible way to boost a crowdfunding campaign, so we encourage creators to submit their projects today!”

About Ovation TV

Ovation is an independent television and digital media company dedicated to celebrating and supporting all forms of arts and culture. Ovation TV, selectively curates and airs arts-related series, specials, documentaries and films. We also offer viewers an exciting line up of Ovation original productions. Ovation TV is available to nearly 50M subscribers via cable, satellite and telco systems including Comcast Cable/Xfinity, DIRECTV/AT&T U-verse, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS, Charter Communications, Bright House Networks, and many other smaller providers and is offered in both standard and high definition, as well as on VOD. In addition, Ovation champions artists through the Ovation Digital Arts network, a unique artist community dedicated to supporting and helping talented YouTube creators grow their brands and businesses. Through The Ovation Foundation, the company is committed to advocating for the arts, nationally and locally, and has provided more than $15M in contributions and in kind support to arts institutions and arts education. You can follow Ovation on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and OvationTV.com.

RocketHub Teams up With Amazon

Amazon Launchpad is a unique program that showcases cutting-edge products from startups like yours to millions of Amazon customers. RocketHub now helps the Amazon team identify new and inspired products for the world to discover. Onward and upward!

Click here to explore further.

ImageNation's Soul Cinema Café

ImageNation Cinema Foundation is a Harlem-based non-profit created to develop audiences for independent film and music projects. ImageNation has presented year-round programs at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, in New York City Parks and at Harlem’s newest venue RAW SPACE, which is being developed into the ImageNation Cinema Cafe.

We caught up with Founders of ImageNation, Moikgantsi Kgama & Gregory Gates, to get insights on their work, as well as their current crowdfunding campaign on RocketHub.

What was the catalyst for using crowdfunding for Soul Cinema?

Crowdfunding is a great way to involve the community in the next stage of our development. Our goal is to leverage the social capital we have built through more than 15 years of quality cinema-arts programming, by asking people to give whatever they can by August 28th.

How has the experience been thus far using crowdfunding as a team of creative entrepreneurs?

We are at 11% thus far - so, I'd say we're doing great! We have a summer full of large-scale events that will serve as opportunities to ask for funds and allow supporters to sample what the soul cinema will offer once we reach our fundraising goal, and open our cinema.

Have there been any positive (or negative) surprises along the way?

We use social media in our daily business, but launching this campaign has taught us so much more about the potential and benefits of creating a robust social media strategy.

Any advice for others looking to crowd fund a similar creative business venture?

Know your audience. And plan as much in advance as possible, including your social media strategy and any large gifts you can secure in advance.

Click here to explore this project further!

#Harlem #crowdfunding #Rockethub #ImageNation #soulcinema

Top 5 Takeaways from A&E’s ‘The Startup Factor’, featuring RocketHub

RocketHub was proud to share stories from our community with a major TV network audience last week; as A&E premiered “The Startup Factor”, a documentary showcasing innovative emerging companies. Successful crowdfunders One Spark, Second Life Bikes, Queens Tea, and even our own CEO Brian Meece shared tips and tricks on starting a new business endeavor.

1. Don’t Be Afraid of Failure (or Success)

Expand your venture goals to include learning something new and you will never technically “fail” because there is always something to be learned. One Spark Founders made the point to not be “scared of success” for the same reasons.

2. Do Your Homework

The Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship helps young people recognize business opportunities and plan for successful futures. NFTE graduate Melissa Ruiz Vera (founder of Vera Naturals) tells us that anyone can start a business if they take the steps to do so.

3. Push Your Limits

Kerri, founder of Second Life Bikes, left her career in finance after September 11th prompted her to find a new path in life. “I think people think they have to lay things out, like on their kitchen table, get things all very nice and neat in order. My plan of attack was to just go out there. It’s not like I moved into town with a comprehensive business plan and lots of capital and said ‘this is my dream and this is what I’m going to create.’ We’ve just grown with the need.”

4. Build an Audience

RocketHub’s own Brian Meece chimed in that there are more tools and infrastructure than ever before to build and launch companies in the US. Crowdfunding, co-working, and community building are also an important piece of the modern startup eco-system.

5. Contribute

Many founders featured in The Startup Factor reflect a larger trend in entrepreneurship: a desire to make the world a better place. For example, proceeds from The Queens’ Tea are donated to the Volunteers of America homeless youth resource center in Salt Lake.

CyberSecurity with SeKur XFR

SeKur XFR is cybersecurity firm based in Allentown, PA - founded by CEO William D. Brown that enables users to track, monitor and disable any file, anytime. Even after download. We caught up with Mr. Brown to get insights on his company and current crowdfunding campaign that is live on RocketHub.

What was the catalyst for using crowdfunding for SeKur XFR Technology?

We developed SeKur XFR (pronounced “secure transfer”), a secure file-sharing platform that will give the everyday Internet user more control over the files they share.

The vision for SeKur XFR originally came after I produced and released an album with an independent artist. The album seemed to be unsuccessful until we began to get reports about the album's popularity overseas, but we weren't receiving any royalties.

This led to the initial concept of creating a secure platform where artists could share their music, and always have control over where it was sent, and who had access to it. When music executives couldn't grasp the reality of SeKur XFR, we began to broaden our vision. We decided to create a universal solution that would not only benefit all industries, but also the everyday user.

Crowdfunding appeared to be a more time-efficient way to bring SeKur XFR to market. We also saw it as an opportunity to see how the everyday user would respond to the product while raising capital for continued development.

Tell us a little about how your tech stacks up to other solutions in the market?

We’ve developed a unique encryption that protects the privacy of any shared file. We are offering enterprise level security that will extend to audio, video, pdf, MS Office files and more.

Unlike most file-sharing platforms, SeKur XFR gives users total control over their files once they leave the cloud. Users will also have the power to "unsend" and permanently or temporarily terminate file access at any time, even after download. How has the experience been thus far using crowdfunding as a team of entrepreneurs? It's been exciting, nerve wracking, challenging and fun -all at the same time!

We've thoroughly enjoyed working with RocketHub and Brian Meece. They have been encouraging and helpful. We expect that our experience will continue to be a positive one.

Thank you for the positive words! Have there been any positive (or negative) surprises along the way?

On the positive side, we're getting responses from people (both on and offline) who are interested in SeKur XFR, and want to support our campaign. We're learning the importance of educating the everyday user on how SeKur XFR works and why it’s important it is for them to have file-sharing security, not as an option, but as a necessity. File-sharing privacy is something we all deserve. Any advice for others looking to crowd fund?

Prepare, prepare, prepare. Build a great team that’s focused and can be committed throughout the entire process. Know your product and understand how you're going to spread the word. And most important, if you don't believe in your product, don't share it on a crowdfunding campaign until you do.

We truly believe in SeKur XFR, and are grateful to now be able to share it with the through RocketHub’s platform.

Click here to explore this project further.

A&E “The Startup Factor” Hits U.S. Airwaves

A&E The Startup Factor

Monday, July 6 at 5am/4c

The Startup Factor is a documentary about the new wave of entrepreneurship in the nation today. A&E Networks is the first major television network involved in the crowdfunding movement, and RocketHub is proud to partner with A&E.

Tune in to follow innovative small businesses taking their creative ideas to the next level in pursuit of the American Dream.

View tips on starting a new business from A&E stars »

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