Seed&Spark, an online crowdfunding platform, announced it raised more than $3.5 million for independent filmmakers across the United States and Canada since early May. The platform has seen a sizable increase in small and large crowdfunding contributions since the start of the Writers Guild of America strike on May 2.

Most of the contributions are made by individuals in the U.S., and the average contribution size is $148. The $3.2 million in contributions has funded more than 250 total film projects, all of which are now in production.

“Since murmurs started of the strikes, we have seen nearly a 40 percent increase in projects launched and successfully funded through our site,” said Emily Best, Seed&Spark Founder and CEO. “We believe this spike in contributions underscores the widespread support for independent filmmaking in our country. Especially given the recent escalation in bad-faith negotiations in the entertainment labor dispute, Seed&Spark is focused on its mission to accelerate the cultural impact of creativity and be a source of energy and capital to creators who are still working hard to tell their own unique stories and spark important conversations.”

Some of the more than 250 films fully funded on the Seed&Spark site since the beginning of the writers’ strike include:

• Papa Bear, a feature film from the heads of the ‘CRACKED video department,’ raised $71,937.
• Love Vodka, a feature film based in Michigan that is a love story for Ukraine, raised $41,830.
• Valley Daze, a comedy/drama series about a modern coming-of-age story from “the perspectives of an aggressively diverse and outwardly queer cast,” raised $32,010.
• Take Note Film, a short film based out of Atlanta, Georgia, from creator Ciera Thompson – raised $16,855.

The Seed&Spark website, launched by Emily Best in 2012, has helped filmmakers raise more than $50 million for movies and shows since its inception over a decade ago. On August 2, 2023, CNBC and independent research firm Statista included Seed&Spark in their list of the top 200 financial tech companies in the world. It is the most successful crowdfunding platform for independent filmmaking in the world.

The $3.2 million in crowdfunding contributions includes more than $30,000 in grants from Seed&Spark’s Patron Circle. The Seed&Spark Patrons Circle is a group of industry professionals and activists who have teamed up to support innovative creators telling stories that drive narrative change. Each Patron commits between $1,000 and $5,000 towards a Seed&Spark crowdfunding campaign that meets their criteria.

Seed&Spark’s Patrons include Mark Duplass, Jason Reitman, Omidyar Network, Jeff Yang, Alex Kurtzman, Jacki Zehner, and many more. Patrons seek to fund projects that center social justice issues, including gender equity, bodily autonomy and reproductive rights, racial equity, LGBTQ+ rights, economic justice, climate change, tech justice, and more.

About Seed&Spark
Seed&Spark is the most successful crowdfunding platform for independent filmmaking in the world. Since its inception in 2012, it has helped filmmakers raise more than $50 million to make thousands of movies and shows. Seed&Spark shifts power to communities, making it possible for creators everywhere to make their work sustainably, while accelerating and amplifying its impact.