A Problem With Kickstarter

As an up-and-coming media mogul, which I can say because this is my blog and I can say what I want,  utilizing Kickstarter, and sites like it, to help fund projects and ventures I have in mind is something I'm definitely thinking about doing. I've seen it help fund projects for friends and I think it's great. You can tap into a supporter fan-base to help you fund and remain in creative control of your idea. It supports that old-age adage "I have the toys, so I decide when we play" or as the famous song goes "It's my partyI can cry if I want to."

Most recently the most successful Kickstarter was that of producer Rob Thomas to fund a Veronica Mars movie to follow-up the now defunct show. The success of this project was greeted with a surge of attention to Kickstarter by more than just "the little people" and has been embraced by celebrities. I, don't necessarily have a problem with that. It's hard to get a movie made and maintain control if you don't have the fundage (yeah, I made that word up... I think). But not everyone is okay with that.

"Jon Lajoie, one of the stars of FX’s comedy The League was even inspired to start a faux-Kickstarter campaign earlier this week, featuring a searing video that satires Thomas, Braff and the other celebrities that have begun to turn to their audiences for direct financial backing." -Buzzfeed 
Read the rest of the article here.

Check it out below. I think it's hilarious and won't lie... feels like a little bit of truth. #preach

Empowering Yourself Through Entrepreneurship

I found this article Secrets of Start-Up Queens: How to Launch a Successful Business in Today’s Entrepreneurial Economy while I was on Buzzfeed today. The articles discusses the experiences of supermodel and business tycoon Iman and model and social media queen Coca Rocha. It struck a cord with me because I want to have longevity in my career and be more than just an actress. I want to have a platform and a voice. Here is a highlight from the article:

"Iman spoke of photoshoots early in her career, and the struggle to find makeup shades that matched her skin color. (Incidentally, the first time she wore makeup at all was on her first shoot.) So, years later with her supermodel status cemented, she decided to start her own eponymous makeup line targeted toward women of color. To be taken seriously as a businesswomen, though, she said she needed to “divorce herself from the [fashion] industry.”

I stopped going to fashion parties and networked not with fashion people but [with] business people. And I asked for help from executives. You will not believe, when you reach out and ask to be mentored by another female executive, how you will be uplifted.

Coco Rocha then told the audience she’d been peppering Iman with “entrepreneurial questions” in turn. While Iman branded a product she felt passionate about, Coco made herself the brand: “This is awkward because I’m listening to these ladies that are powerful businesswomen and I’m like uh… ME!”

She spoke of wanting to create a well-known persona in the same way the “old era” of supermodels did. She said, “I noticed that no-one knew much about me and no-one cared to know [either].” She cited social media as the way she’s created a personality to accompany the face. (As of writing, Rocha has 550,607 Twitter followers and 427,066 on Instagram. She recently wrote a “Why I Instagram” column for Vogue.)

[As a model] I had no way to have a voice — so in order to have a longer, more successful career, I started a blog. I wrote about nothing; I remember one post was about a bird named Tweety. And people were like, ‘Tweety’s so cool, he’s fantastic.’ I thought, ‘this is really awesome, I have an audience!’