One in a Crowd

Like many artists, Austin's creative community is increasingly turning to crowdfunding platforms to cover developmental costs. For potential backers, it can be hard to navigate all the sites out there, so here's a quick guide to some noteworthy campaigns. Remember, do your own due diligence before you back anything.

Who's raising the funds? Hawgfly, the Austin special effects company responsible for gore and more on films and series including Machete, AMC's The Son, and Rooster Teeth's Day 5.

What's the project? As an independent studio, they are opening the virtual doors to their labs and work benches with a Patreon, giving subscribers a glimpse at upcoming projects and techniques, including their innovative use of 3-D printing in costumes.

Target: 500 patrons

What are the perks? $5 per month makes you a Hawgfly on the Wall, with access to the weekly interactive live stream, plus exclusive patron-only content, including useful tips and hints for doing your own special effects. $25 gets you access to in-depth prop and tool tutorials; $50 gets all that plus a Hawgfly monthly freebie, many handmade by Hawgfly staff. If you're feeling like a Boss Hawg, $2,000 or more a month means one lucky member gets final say on a monthly big-build project by the staff, like weapons or a costume, and then they get to keep it – like a boss. Subscribe now at www.patreon.com/hawgfly.

Also Fundraising Now:

"One Small Step" is an Austin-made science-fiction short about time travel, which the filmmakers want to make with all practical effects. They need $8,000 by Monday, Aug. 13, to fulfill their vision of future past: Find out more at Kickstarter.

"Seek & Hyde" proves you're never too young to be a filmmaker. 11-year-old Sofia Macias has written this horror short, to be directed by Kiel Hames around Austin this September, about supernatural forces upending a game of hide and seek. They're looking to raise $5,000 by Aug. 11. More info at Kickstarter.