Mountain Climbing help required

Em Cos wrote:I need your help funding a climbing trip I am planning to Eldo. I live in Boulder, so I estimate my costs will include about $2 gas money, $8 for a day pass, $5 for my breakfast burrito, and at least $20 for a post-climb burger and beers. For a $1 donation: I will curse you by name for making this trip possible every time I get scared above my gear. For a $5 donation: At the bar after the climb, I will raise a glass in cheers to you for making this trip possible. If you meet me at the bar we can clink glasses and cheers in person. (your beer not included). For a $10 donation: Same as above but your beer is included. For a $20 donation: Same as above but you may also eat some of my fries.

This is absolute gold. Thanks for the morning laugh!

You guys here at MP sure can make a day better than it would be otherwise.

Have you ever heard the saying, "it couldn't hurt to ask"? Well that's not an accurate statement.

LeviWalters wrote:ahmedjilani, I don't think anyone is making fun of the expedition. Sounds like an amazing trip. I think people are laughing at the fact that you want strangers to pay for your trip, especially with it being a bit over the top.

This.

Now if it were a documentary about 6 folks climbing a 7000 or 8000m that isn't Everest I would totally pitch in. I can't imagine this taking more than a week. That's 9 miles a day and 1200 feet of elevation gain a day.

Change your destination to Nanga Parbat and I may change my mind.

Eliot Augusto wrote: This. Now if it were a documentary about 6 folks climbing a 7000 or 8000m that isn't Everest I would totally pitch in. I can't imagine this taking more than a week. That's 9 miles a day and 1200 feet of elevation gain a day. Change your destination to Nanga Parbat and I may change my mind.

Not that it matters at this point... but I think he said 90km (56mi) in 14 days. That seems to be a nice somber pace, terrain dependent of course.

Maybe i havent been able to explain better:

This is a cinematic documentary about 6 hikers and a caravan of nomads travelling on foot with their animals, this journey pardon me is 120Km and is usually done on foot in less than a week. Since we have to take timelapses, multiple stays film the documentary and cover a story of history culture and traditions of these nomads hence it is taking a couple of weeks, which any filmmaker will tell you is extremely difficult, maybe even stupid to film something cinematically in such a brief period of time. We have a huge crew and equipment with us

There are people on this website that enjoy living in their cars. I think there would be a better place to ask for funding than this forum.

ahmedjilani wrote:Guys this a documentary and for all those making fun, its a story of 5 amateur hiker, we chose amateur hikers because thats the real deal which is going to make this hike more challenging and interesting in terms of documentary and story telling. Besides there are many other elements relating to this documentary than just climbing. we are exploring the complete history, culture and tradition of the nomads who take their animals up here

Am i the only who wonders if such a thing as a pro hiker exists?
And if the answer to the question is yes, how do i am become one?:)

Or do you mean with amateuer just unexperienced and out of shape?

ahmedjilani wrote:Maybe i havent been able to explain better: This is a cinematic documentary about 6 hikers and a caravan of nomads travelling on foot with their animals, this journey pardon me is 120Km and is usually done on foot in less than a week. Since we have to take timelapses, multiple stays film the documentary and cover a story of history culture and traditions of these nomads hence it is taking a couple of weeks, which any filmmaker will tell you is extremely difficult, maybe even stupid to film something cinematically in such a brief period of time. We have a huge crew and equipment with us

Hey Ahmed, it's great that you are setting your sights on an ambitious project that you are passionate about. In all seriousness, I don't think a better explanation is what you need; we understand what you are asking for. I don't think anyone is mocking your trip or your film, but your request that strangers give you $60,000 to fund your trip/project seems out of place here. You are new to this forum, and came here soliciting funds presumably because of the tenuous connection between your trip and rock climbing. But when that connection is questioned, you seem to be saying "guys, it's not about the climbing or hiking really, it's about the film!" So might I suggest that if you are determined to seek funds from an online message board, maybe one relating to amateur documentary film-making might be a better target audience for you?

I see this in a lot of poorly conceived kickstarter campaigns, job applications, and requests for funding of all types. If you are asking for money, (or a job), focus on selling yourself- if I share my hard-earned money with you, what will I get out of it? Talking about why you need money is not as effective as deciding what the value is for your potential funders and selling that. I might give you money because I would get a cool T-shirt, or a copy of your film (but I would need to care about the film's subject matter), or because I believe you will do good things with that money that will benefit me or society.... etc. I won't give you money just because you really want to complete this trip/project and need money to do it.

Along those lines, if someone is passionate about seeing your documentary completed and willing to contribute to help make it a reality, they need to be confident that you will succeed in your venture and their "investment" will not be a waste. From that point of view, statements like these don't help your cause:
"This will be a challenging, dangerous and challenging task"
"which any filmmaker will tell you is extremely difficult, maybe even stupid to film"

"To be honest and frank, we cannot put this project together without your support"
"If the funds don't reach our goal, we shall be utilizing whatever funds we have gathered to start our work and accumulate funds from other sources."

So, you can't put this project together without $60,000 from kickstarter. But if you don't reach that goal, you are keeping the money anyway and doing... what with it? One of the first questions any investor might ask is how much of your own money have you put toward this project? There's no mention of this on your kickstarter page (that I saw), but if you want to convince others to contribute it is helpful to show that you believe in your project enough to contribute your own personal funds as well. Maybe choose a less ambitious/expensive goal for your first film, and try to raise money after you've produced a successful film or few?

Based on your multiple posts trying to re-explain, I thought you might benefit from some honest feedback about your fundraising approach - this is just my point of view and I can't speak for anyone else - but I hope it gives you at least one perspective into why your request came across as a bit ridiculous to some of us. I wish you luck with your film-making and hope you find a project that works for you, whether this particular film works out or not.

Ahmed has clearly stated in his thread title, "Mountain Climbing help required", that help is not a request it's required.

ahmedjilani wrote:Guys this a documentary and for all those making fun, its a story of 5 amateur hiker[...] we are exploring the complete history, culture and tradition of the nomads who take their animals up here

Will there be potato salad there or will you have to bring your own?

hiking a fourteener = "mountain climbing"?

ahmedjilani wrote:We have a huge crew and equipment with us

Do you even Under Armour, Bro?

ahmedjilani wrote:Maybe i havent been able to explain better: This is a cinematic documentary about 6 hikers and a caravan of nomads travelling on foot with their animals, this journey pardon me is 120Km and is usually done on foot in less than a week. Since we have to take timelapses, multiple stays film the documentary and cover a story of history culture and traditions of these nomads hence it is taking a couple of weeks, which any filmmaker will tell you is extremely difficult, maybe even stupid to film something cinematically in such a brief period of time. We have a huge crew and equipment with us

I'll add on to the excellent post by Em (also Em, thanks for a hearty laugh after reading your Eldo Kickstarter plug). Here are a few questions/concerns that arise for me after reading your indiegogo that would need answered before I could put down my own money to fund it.

• There are quite a few typos and grammatical errors on your Indiegogo and your posts here. This makes me think that English is perhaps not your first language. The lack of proofreading on something as important as your main fundraising page makes me question how serious you are about the project. Overall the lack of attention to detail makes me wonder if, should the project be completed, will the resulting documentary even be good?
• You claim that you have grown up making music and films together. Before I spend money to support you perhaps you could show some examples of such music/films so I can get an idea of the quality and content of your work. You aren't well-known filmmakers, prove to me that you can actually make a film.
• There is no time frame. When will you leave, when will I see the final product (the return on my investment)? Will I ever see a final product? This is huge. You claim that you will keep the funds even if you don't reach your funding goal by getting money from "other sources." How long do such sources take? 1 month, 1 year, potentially never? Do I get a refund if the film never happens?
• Even all of the previous things aside, your pricing structure is insane. I need to pay $140 to simply download the film? $300 before I can get a DVD (signed, granted). Anything less than $140 gets you virtually nothing of worth (why do I want my name in the credits of a movie I don't have?)

I don't know, there's probably more. Your trip sounds cool. Your fundraising needs work.

Ray Pinpillage wrote: Do you even Under Armour, Bro?

^ Oh man. I just looked and this is still happening.

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My biggest discomfort with this fundraising campaign is that $60k is quite a bit of money. It seems like the plan could really be pared down and the documentary made for much less. I've seen really great films from guys/girls who are just out there getting after huge objectives with a couple of go-pros. I could understand something along the lines of:

"Hey guys we are looking to make a documentary of this awesome nomadic lifestyle in a remote area of Pakistan, here's the total cost, here's what we all expect to be able to contribute, here's what we need your help with."

If you needed funding for a few go-pros and some editing software in exchange for a digital copy of the film then people would probably understand and bite on that.

$60k is just so much money. With that kind of funding I could probably quit my job, buy a go-pro and a macbook, climb for two years while churning out a short film each month, get into doing a few presentations or try to pick up a couple of small sponsors after the first few episodes and use that money to fund more travel, etc...

Best of luck to your team. It does sound like an interesting project but as others have noted this is a tough forum to present this type of thing. You might have better luck at

tetongravity.com/forums/

I've had Brushaneering trips in washington more epic than this hike.

Come on guys. For a $90 contribution you can have your name in the film credits. You're basically a producer of this film. Of course it's not until the $140 contribution level that you can actually see the piece you helped produce.

$140 to watch you guys hike?

If you haven't been abroad this is what it feels like being a gringo in South America at times. People simply assume that $100 is chump change for American travelers. pretty comical for sure

My biggest concern is that you have no promotion video. Even the most basic kickstarter have a video. Since you claim to be a filmmakers your lack a video makes me think you are lazy, uncreative, lacking filmmaking experience, or all of the above.

Guys

Some of you have given me real great insight into how poorly the campaign has been designed on the site. I have not included so many of the details while writing down this proposal which is lazy and unprofessional, to be honest i put this campaign up as a first try on crowdfunding and your responses have contributed alot to how and what needs to be done before asking for funding.

Thank you so much for the criticism, jokes and valuable input.

Regards
Ahmed