Press release
Some of the team including director Timo Vuorensola behind Iron Sky, a science fiction black comedy about Nazis from the dark side of the Moon, were on hand at the Supanova Pop Culture Expo in Sydney last weekend.
Iron Sky is a feature film in development and will be a Finnish-German-Australian co-production with a budget of 6.5 million euros. The movie will be shot mostly in English and it's the second project from the creators of Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning, an internet hit that has gathered over eight million fans around the globe.
What makes Iron Sky special is the high degree of audience participation in creating the movie, both on the creative and financial sides. The fans and followers of the project have been able to take part in creating the movie through a collaborative movie making platform called Wreckamovie, which gives the filmmakers the chance to receive ideas and material from their internet community. The Iron Sky team is very active on the net, reaching over 60.000 fans weekly around the world with updates about the project.
Not only are fans are able to help to fund the film by purchasing limited edition merchandise, but just over a month ago, the Iron Sky team opened an investment window for their followers. The aim of the crew is to close the final 900.000 euro gap with fan investments that take the form of equity investment packages starting from 1000 euros and upwards. All of these packages contain fan perks, such as a ticket to the premiere, a chance to arrange a private screening, getting to visit the set and meet the cast and the crew, and so on.
So far over 250 people have expressed their interest in investing in Iron Sky. The total sum of these initial offers is over half a million euros, around half of which is confirmed.
"When we were making Star Wreck, we realised that the internet is full of creative genius and talented people, who are aching to take part in a
movie project", said Timo Vuorensola, the Director of Iron Sky. "Wreckamovie is a great tool for structuring this audience participation. The filmmakers can ask for help in very concrete tasks, be it either coming up with a character name in an exotic language, or designing a 3D model of a spaceship."
According to the Finnish Producer Tero Kaukomaa extending the collaboration to funding the movie was a logical next step. "Many fans are happy to buy our merchandise and support us like that, but by investing in the movie they get the chance to actually earn some money if and when the movie makes profit. This is also a way for us to involve the audience in the whole movie making process, get them engaged and enthusiastic about the movie. So far this looks like it will be a huge success."
Australian Producer Cathy Overett agrees: "We really feel we are breaking new ground here in Australia. To our knowledge, Iron Sky represents the most extensive opportunity for movie-fans to get involved in a high profile feature film. Best of all, Iron Sky is hilarious and is destined to be a cult classic with true break-out potential," she adds.
Iron Sky is the second Nordic project for New Holland Pictures following the company's co-production of the German/Australian – German/Danish
feature film At World's End which is due for limited release in Australian cinemas later this year.
Iron Sky is due to start filming in Germany in October 2010, with filming in Australia to follow in November.