Spam Works For Indian Filmmaker

At a time when spam is prompting workspace and consumer groups into taking legislative action against it, one filmmaker from India is using this technology to raise funds for his next movie with considerable success.

In the past few weeks, director Rajat Kapoor from the Indian film Industry in Mumbai has sent out over 3,000 emails to people requesting funds to complete his debut film "Raghu." The unusual email starts off in a who, why, what format as part of a "humanitarian appeal" to its recipients to invest as little as $208 and become part-producers of the film.

The $208 fee will buy one share in the film, and investors can purchase from between 2 to 10 shares, Kapoor said in his email. Kapoor, also known for his role in the movie "Monsoon Wedding," needs 120 such shareholders to meet a budget of approximately $25,000.

Considering the fact that most people hit delete every time they receive unsolicited emails, especially those involving money, Kapoor has managed to raise almost $3,000. The money has come mostly from Indians living in India and the Indian community abroad in the US, Saudi Arabia, France and even Finland.

"Well, possibly 95 percent would [be from] Indian contributions from all over the world," said Kapoor, speaking from his home in India. "It's not a whole lot of money for them and I've been asked whether I want help in composing music for the film, things like that."

Kapoor said he has obtained promises to receive an additional $6,000 from replies to his emails, and that the required amount will be reached shortly. He started out by compiling a list of email addresses of his friends because he was uncomfortable asking them for money. The net seems to be a logical place where uncomfortable social situations like refusal are not taken personally, he added.

"Many people have this dream of doing something with movies," he said. "A lot of people want to produce a film."

"Raghu", sponsored in part by the National Film Development Corporation (NDFC) in India and partly by the money Kapoor himself saved, is intended to be completed for release by June 2003. The money will be returned to investors before 2003 ends and all co-producers will get a pro-rated share in the film's profits, Kapoor said.

Kapoor also said he believes his unconventional fund-raising strategy might lose its appeal in the future especially if he tried to do this again a second time. "Doing something like this captured my imagination, but it's not something I would try again, because then it loses its innovative edge and people become disinterested," he said.

Copyright © 2002 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in ExtremeTech.