As has been made painfully clear by the pandemic, artists are an economically vulnerable community. According to a recent survey, 74% of artists have lost the majority of their income. What the moment requires is not only an immediate response to support artists, but a fundamental rethink of how artists fund their work.

Raising money for original art and entertainment projects has always been insanely difficult. Whether you come from film, TV, theater, gaming, or the emerging XR industry, fundraising is a complex patchwork of debt instruments, tax breaks, grants, pre-sales, and private investment.

Just look at Orson Welles, one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, who famously said “I've wasted the greater part of my life looking for money. It's about two percent movie making and 98 percent hustling.” But does fundraising need to be this difficult? Or can we invent a new model for financing projects that is more equitable, transparent, and artist friendly?

Join us for a talk by Kaleidoscope founder René Pinnell as he explores a new model for funding creative projects.

This will be a virtual talk via Zoom (https://vuw.zoom.us/j/93941352817) which will last about 30 minutes with 15 minutes for questions after.

This talk is a part of the Miramar Creative Centre series of talks. Miramar Creative Centre is a collaboration between Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington ICT Graduate School, and Miramar Creative Ltd which sits amongst the Weta group buildings on Park Road and offers unrivalled access to work experience and professional connections with New Zealand’s world-leading film, animation, and game design industries. The Master of Design Technology and Master of Fine Arts (Film and Music) is taught from here.