I had an interesting talk with a consultant. We are relaunching a funding campaign for a “new” Spaghetti Western on June 14th through Indigogo. The first campaign never really got out past our sphere of contacts. Well, there was a very good proven consultant that we wanted. Now he is onboard. BUT he said we have to really work at it twice as much. Why? because a western is hard to convince backers to put in on. He said a “Horror” movie funding is a piece of cake! That they get funded easily. What should we do to get this one going? There are sites for westerns, and I have tried to advertise but no one ever contacts back? There are influencers. But they never reply. What’s a person to do? The western is in the classic Spaghetti Western style. We have most all of the elements already secured. Locations, props, costumes, horses, the whole nine yards! Everybody wants to be involved but not many people wanted to put in even $50 bucks! Thoughts?
Hm, what’s the incentive then? Most western fans rather spend their money on getting a hold of good restorations of old ones rather than new ones that will not make it to a theater screen unless you have Viggo Mortensen or some other A-Lister attached. I guess securing funding for movies is like it always was: pitch your script for years until someone gets interested, or make a more commercially palatable movie first and then have the attention and contacts to secure funding for the western?
Advertise it as a horror western.
The projects I know of that successfully got crowdfunded all had at least some sort of trailer that really stood out because it looked, sounded, and felt highly professional, original, and intriguing. And they all had a continuous (and at times slightly annoying) campaign of “like & subscribe, follow us, please share etc.” on several social media as well as traditional media such as fanzines, forums, podcasts and so on. It takes a lot of effort AND a great product for the target audience.
The good, bad, and ugly regarding low budget filmmaking:
Investors don’t like to take risks, which is why you see the same stuff rehashed into oblivion. If the market return for Project A is there (horror), they are unlikely to take a gamble on Project B. Most with deep pockets have them BECAUSE they take calculated risks in their favor. It sounds like you are looking for a unicorn - someone with money who loves the Western so deeply they are willing to invest a good amount of money, but also wouldn’t want majority creative control over the project after investing.
If there are no famous writers, actors, or directors involved to help boost the project, what is the carrot at the end of the stick for a big investor? Even celebrities have a hard time raising money for their pet projects. This is when filmmakers have to face some hard choices when it comes to budget and scope. Many - if not most - have to use their own funds and ingenuity to get their vision on the screen.
If I were going to try and make a spaghetti western in today’s film climate, I wouldn’t try to raise big fish money. The technology is there for almost anyone to access these days. Thus, I’d build a realistic script around the money I know I could reach (your circle). Thus, it would likely be a small script around primarily one location (something simple like a run down building) and I would try to emulate the more creative directing styles to help give flair to help it stand out. This would help keep the set budget to a minimum. The rest hinges on a well crafted plot, character building, and dialogue – which are all free to the writer who can come up with it.
Who are “we” ? Have you done any movies before or are you amateurs just starting out?
You want to make a pastische spaghetti western, not a parody. That’s fine, although it cannot be considered a true spaghetti western today, for obvious reasons.
Otherwise it’s rather easy today to make films yourself, shoot with digital cameras and not waste expensive film rolls, and edit afterwards with a computer.
Another idea: don’t try to make a ‘Spaghetti’ western, not sure if investors will even know what it is or have a positive association when they here it. And you’re not Italian (are you?) or filming in Italy, so mimicking style is probably the extent of it. Better to have your own style and artistic voice, don’t slap a label on it.
Westerns to get made and funded, but you’re not Kevin Costner, so you’ll have a harder road to travel, amigo
Personally, I think the best anyone can achieve is a beloved homage. I don’t think a new Italian western - no matter how true to form of the originals - would ever be excepted as Canon. These genres are products of their time. Undoubtedly, if there was enough interest, we would start seeing rehashes and spinoffs again. Most would probably be terrible, but a few might be great.
This would be interesting. Considering the success of Django Unchained, a “homage” can be profitable.
The main issue I’ve always felt is that there hasn’t been a consistent amount of Westerns made since the mid to late 1970’s. We would get spurts of them in the 80’s here and there like The Shadow Riders, Pale Rider and Silverado, but not like getting say two or three a year. Sure, there was Lonesome Dove, a few Miniseries, and a bunch of made for TV movies, most famously the Gunsmoke reunion ones and Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler, but nothing really seemed to stick long term.
The early to mid 1990’s is the closest we ever got to a proper revival of the Western genre with Eastwood’s Unforgiven, Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves and Wyatt Earp, and of course Tombstone with Kurt Russell Val Kilmer, and Sam Elliot. There were also a few live action arcade games like The Last Bounty Hunter, Mad Dog McCree & Mad Dog McCree II: The Lost Gold, the tongue 'n cheek Fast Draw Showdown, and a now lost game called Shootout at Old Tuscon, showing the Western genre was indeed gaining a new audience. There was even a supernatural Western TV show with Bruce Campbell called The Adventures of Briscoe County Jr. which I remember a little of growing up. Then by 96 or 97 the bubble burst and again you would only see the sporadic Western like Open Range and Appaloosa. I was really hoping Tarantino could’ve spiked interest again in the genre when he made Django Unchained and The Hateful 8, but for whatever reason it never happened.
With the SW genre, as @Winston said, much of the films are a product of the 1960’s with the Counter-Culture Movement, the Student Riots, the protests against Vietnam, and the heroics of the John Wayne’s, Gary Cooper’s, Henry Fonda’s, Roy Rogers’, and so on no longer making sense in that ever changing time, and I’m not meaning that in a gone stale or dated way, just matter of fact like.
There’s still certainly an audience for such films, it’s just that the right film hasn’t come out yet to make that spark that the Western is still a great and fun genre.
Don’t give up on your dream my friend, you’ll find a way.
but it wasn’t successful because it was hommage, it was successful because it was a big budget Quentin Tarantino movie. It would’ve been successful no matter the genre, probably.