Crowd-funded Commissions

[Katsumend]

What would you guys think about a community-funded comic commission? I commissioned Blackshirtboy to draw the story "Tonisha" recently, but there are some longer tf stories that would make fantastic comics, but that I don't have the money to commission with my limited resources.

Would you donate to such a project if it meant the comic could be free for everyone? What if the only way to get the comic was through donating? I'm just floating the idea right now; I don't have all the details worked out, but I'm looking for feedback.

[Obsidian Reaver]

Originally Posted by Katsumend

What would you guys think about a community-funded comic commission? I commissioned Blackshirtboy to draw the story "Tonisha" recently, but there are some longer tf stories that would make fantastic comics, but that I don't have the money to commission with my limited resources.

Would you donate to such a project if it meant the comic could be free for everyone? What if the only way to get the comic was through donating? I'm just floating the idea right now; I don't have all the details worked out, but I'm looking for feedback.

I floated a similar idea some time ago, but it didn't really gather a lot of steam, unfortunately.

But I'd definitely be up for crowd-funding a comic!

I think you're spot on when you suggest that we're capable of producing so much more, content-wise, as a community than as individuals.

[queenofprussia2006]

A more practical method is crowd funded grant money

crowd funders create a pool of grant money

x has a brilliant idea and pitches it to the peer assement group

if approved, x gets reimburshed for 25% of the commission upon proof of completion

the remaining 75% is x's problem,not the grant pools

[Crash Ichimonji]

I'd be on-board for the right story being made into a comic. Personal choices I'd donate considerable lumps of monies to:

1) A +18yr-old version of MWE's 'The Three Sisters' tweaked to all fit into one comic with a quicker montage of the sisters TF'ing to their animal and anthro forms (the youngest sister remained a catgirl while the other two were nearly 100% animals physically at the end).

2) MOnstreaux's story 'Kreb's Folly' would be an awesome one due to the multiple TF's that go on.

[Ilovebe]

Has there ever been a successful community-funded commission from start to finish? I know there have been pieces of art, sequences, and comics that you could donate to and unique circumstances like people donating to Arania to finish the long-ago abandoned Tome sequence. However, has there ever been an instance where a bunch of people got together, formed an idea, and then commissioned an artist?

I'm not being disingenuous with that question. I'm sincerely curious.

[Obsidian Reaver]

Originally Posted by Ilovebe

Has there ever been a successful community-funded commission from start to finish? I know there have been pieces of art, sequences, and comics that you could donate to and unique circumstances like people donating to Arania to finish the long-ago abandoned Tome sequence. However, has there ever been an instance where a bunch of people got together, formed an idea, and then commissioned an artist?

I'm not being disingenuous with that question. I'm sincerely curious.

Not that I'm aware of, though that doesn't confirm much of anything.

I don't think it would be too difficult of a task, though.

I mean, let's look at it in a broad sense. Let's say that before we do anything,
we elect a member from our ranks to represent us. Obviously, this person should be a respected member of the Process (someone like OhZone, Qzar, TF-Viewer, Vincent, ect) who has a strong presence here (I'm thinking 1000-2000 posts, at the very minimum). Whomever wishes to be the representative, and meets the qualifications, can throw their hat into the ring for election. This person would collect all the donations (likely through Paypal, and then deal directly with the artist on the community's behalf).

Then, we donate to that person. Whoever wants to can donate, and however much they want to. Once maybe a week or even month has passed, our representative would then announce how much cash is available for the project. If it's only $20, then the community will commission something worth $20 then (poor, but at least we'll get something). Likewise, if we accumulate $320, then the community may be in for a treat.

Onward then, we consider the following next based on what's in our coffer, so to speak:

1. A genre would have to be selected, be it Growth, Transformation, Shrinking, ect.

2. Then, perhaps we'd select a broad theme, or what causes the process to occur (magic, science, ect). Once a theme is selected, it could be refined (Moonlight, potion, injection, ect).

3. We'd need to come to a consensus on both size and style (how many pages, and comic-style or full page, or a combo of both).

4. A general outline would be needed for the story (dialogue and whatnot), and then approved by the community.

5. Finding an artist who's willing to take on the commission, depending on the above factors.

Difficult to accomplish? Maybe, and very likely chaotic with the number of polls that would have to generated. Not to mention that the genre chosen may not be your favorite (making you feel as though you've wasted your money). But the majority of the community will have benefitted from your contribution, and who knows, the next community-commission might be right up your alley (and something far larger than you might have commissioned on your own).

We're a community of over 20,000 members (IIRC). If even .5% of us were to donate $5, that's $500 right there. And that, my friends, could buy a very nice commission for us all.

Just my take on the matter. I envision community-funded projects as generic creations, rather than extremely specific. The broader the idea, the more likely it'll appeal to a crowd.

[Katsumend]

Good ideas, and thank you for the responses! Queenofprussia, that's kind of what I'm thinking. Crash, Kreb's Folly is awesome. Although I don't see myself planning and fundraising for it, I wouldn't mind donating to it if someone else found an artist, planned for it, etc.

Obsidian:

Donations to a commissioner through paypal is probably not a good idea, even to people who are trusted in the community. I'm thinking more along the lines of a kickstarter where a third party is tracking donations. That way nobody runs off with any money.

Also, I think there needs to be a person, or possibly two or three people who act as a creative core to the project. They would have final say on how the project goes, and would put up the lion's share of the money. My rationale is there are many, many tf-themed projects that I wouldn't mind donating $15 to, but relatively few that I'd drop 2k on. So that's what I would like to do: plan a commission for something that I really want, and then see if anyone else would like to donate a few bucks, while I cover most of the cost.

Some projects that I think should happen but I can't afford to fund on my own:

Comic of Addiction by Fret Pearson
I think this is the quintessential bimbo story, and I think it would be make a great comic. Quite long though

Comic of Red Tipi by Tuatha
I actually might be able to fund this one on my own, depending on the level of detail

Animation of The Clarenceville Horror by Tuatha
So much great motion in this story, and it's really a fairly generic idea: girly clothes transforming a dude. I think it could appeal to a lot of people providing the right animator was found.

Anyway, those are just pipe dreams at this point, but I'd appreciate any feedback y'all can provide. I'm perfectly happy commissioning smaller projects on my own, but crowd-funding would give you a chance to contribute to larger projects and give back without putting up a huge chunk of change for a commission.

[Obsidian Reaver]

Ah, I see what you're saying. Okie doke, then.

[olddude12]

I'd be down to help fund bimbo stuff. It might be best to keep to adaptations though. Otherwise, the minutia of everyone's tastes will cause arguments and make people pull their dosh.

[Katsumend]

Originally Posted by olddude12

I'd be down to help fund bimbo stuff. It might be best to keep to adaptations though. Otherwise, the minutia of everyone's tastes will cause arguments and make people pull their dosh.

Cool! And I agree that a predefined story is the only way to go. I've thought about creating a poll to determine the most popular story in a given type of tf - for example bimbo - and then trying to crowd-fund a commission adaptation of that, but it would be hard for me to "own" the project if I didn't like the story that won. And someone really does need to own it, otherwise who would find the artist and communicate with them. Just throwing out ideas