Oats Studios, the experimental sci-fi film studio founded by Neill Blomkamp, the director behind District 9 and Elysium, wants to go even bigger with their fan-funded film project. Last year, he released the short film set during the Vietnam War called “Firebase” in which a MACV SOG member, Sergeant Hines, goes after a creature called the “River God” who can turn the dead into the zombies.
As the campaign being waged by Oat Studios puts it:
We want to build a 21st century studio that is funded directly by fans. The more people online that support us the more content we will put out. We want to create an ecosystem where we are directly fueled by the community. Our goal now is the next FIREBASE film. Help fuel us here. We want to grow and expand, but we need the community’s help. We will create the FIREBASE film tailored to the incoming dollar amount. If we raise $40 dollars we will film a firebase "Cat" video. If we raise $100 million we will shoot a FIREBASE feature trilogy.
Whilst we think of crowdfunding as those platforms the likes of Kickstarter, Indiegogo and GoFundMe, Neill Blomkamp and Oats Studios would rather go have their fans fund their film projects directly. The crowdfunding appeal goes for 30 days and whatever amount they raise, they will base the production based on it as there is not set funding goal. All the funds pledged by fans will be devoted to production as these are directly given.
Each backer will get his/her name in the credits as a backer with three “behind the scenes” updates over the duration of the production of the film, Pre production, production and Post. There will be a private link to a members’ portal where they can view the film and downloadable PDF file of all the concept art generated for the film.
Apart from the getting funding from fans for their films, they are now selling some swag right now to help fund the Canada-based studio. You can grab a shirt, hoodie, or a patch to show your support.
If you have not watched the first “Firebase” short film before helping fund the sequel, you can now watch it below and have the weekend to decide how much you want to shell out to Oats Studios: