Write On: 2024 Big Break Short Film Winner Brandon Osterman and Seed&Spark

On today’s episode, we speak to writer Brandon Osterman, whose
short script ‘The Naughty List’ won last year’s Final Draft Big
Break Short Screenplay Category. As part of his prize package, he
received a consultation with Sav Rodgers, Marketing Manager for
Seed&Spark, the film industry’s most popular crowdfunding
platform. Sav joins the conversation to tell us exactly what
crowdfunding is and help all writers understand that funding for
their project is possible to achieve. 


“Who is your audience? At Seed&Spark, we always say that
great crowdfunding is audience building first and fundraising
second. While there is definitely a fundraising need, finding
your audience is invaluable… Something that I always tell
prospective crowdfunders is you already have the tools you need
to do this. You know how to tell a story. You're here because
you're a storyteller. You know how to invite people in. You
already know how to talk about yourself persuasively,” says Sav
Rodgers. 


Osterman also shares his journey creating his award-winning short
script and gives advice to writers who are thinking of creating
their own short film project.


“I don't think there's been a better time to be making short
format content than right now. The demand for it seems to be
expanding every time I turn around. I think if that's something
that you're interested in, go after it. You know, I think there
are more opportunities to distribute that form of content than
there have ever been. I think we've got a generation now that's
grown up with TikTok and social media and much shorter,
digestible content that, whether it's conditioning or just sort
of lowering of attention spans, I think more people are more
tuned into short form content than they have ever been before.
It's a really, really exciting time to be making shorts,” says
Osterman. 


To hear more about the short filmmaking process and crowdfunding,
listen to the podcast.