I don't know about the rest of you folks, but I think I'm beginning to experience Kickstarter and IndieGoGo fatigue, but I don't know what the cure is.

So maybe you can assist with some suggestions.

I'm not at all exaggerating when I say that I receive 3 to 5 Kickstarter campaign emails daily; add that all up, and I'm flipping through 20+ every week; that is, when I can go through them all – each one accompanied by a message requesting that I post here on S&A; each one a wish hoping to be fulfilled – filmmaker dreams that I certainly hope are realized eventually one day, one way or another.

But it's getting to the point where I'm starting to intentionally neglect emails, after skimming through them to find out that there's a Kickstarter or IndieGoGo campaign attached.

The challenge used to be, how does one decide which projects are indeed *worthwhile*, and which are not? Now the challenge has become, do I even want to invest the time to find out under which category each falls?

Again, I'd love for every single project seeking funds via either of those 2 funding platforms, to get the money needed, but I also fear that, just as I am starting to become weary of these funding campaigns, others probably are as well.

I've had conversations with friends and acquaintances about all this, and our chats almost always end with the question: what are the alternatives? 

Filmmakers make films; films cost money; filmmakers need money – sometimes lots of it; we champion indie filmmakers especially; we want to see their films produced and released; we want to help.

And when I say "we" I'm not just referring to S&A; I'm talking about everyone who loves cinema.

Some of these conversations I've had have been with filmmakers considering their own funding challenges, and the possibility of utilizing the web to raise the money they need, but who also recognize the growing fatigue I described, and thus ask what they can do to seperate themselves from the deluge, if anything.

I don't have answers to any of those questions; I just know that if we posted every campaign that's sent to us, every other post on this site would be a fundraiser. And when we do post one, I get emails from those whose campaigns weren't posted, wondering why we didn't post theirs, asking if there's some specific list of criteria their projects have to meet.

And to be frank, there really isn't. My choices are based on my interests in seeing the project, as I'm sure is the case for the others and their interests, or whether I feel strongly enough that this is a project that fills some void, and so needs to be realized.

So when I choose, I'm doing so based on Tambay's interests, or what Tambay sees as a void, and not the many millions of others out there reading this site (ok, so maybe not millions, but we're getting there). And so what happens with all the other campaigns that don't get posted, but may be just as worthwhile?

Surely something has to give eventually; How long can these platforms survive? Is there something else? Something coming that will replace them?

I'm sitting here typing this trying to remember what filmmakers did before these online platforms existed. In person business plan presentations/pitches to potential financiers, lots of phone calls, pavement-pounding, door-to-door requests, meetings, and of course lots of rejection. 

The web has certainly simplified and democratized the process, which is a good thing. But it obviously has its drawbacks, as I've summarized above. 

But based on conversations I've had with many others, I can say that there definitely is a growing weariness, we could call it, with regards to Kickstarter and IndieGoGo campaigns. Of course projects continue to get financed every day, and we continue to post them now and then, but I'm curious to read all your thoughts on everything I've said here.

Also, what do you look for in a fundraising campaign? What will make you give? What will make you run the other way? What if we posted more campaigns – maybe even 1 a day? Etc, etc, etc.

And I post this not to discourage, or to even give solutions, because I don't have any. It's really to start a conversation, and see where that leads… maybe to potential solutions; maybe not. Maybe some of us will learn something; maybe not.

But we're here to assist when we can.

I'm all ears… and eyes.