Project B.I.T.O

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I am joined by Mia Guild who has started “Project B.I.T.O. (Bun in the Oven),”  thank you for joining us today Mia.  

Thanks for giving me the opportunity!

Your title does a pretty good job of describing the general topic of your project, but could you give us the full details?  

Well, Project B.I.T.O. is going to be a documentary on infertility. Infertility is something nobody really likes to talk about, though it affects 1 in 8 people. Those 1 in 8 people have this terrible feeling of being alone, helpless, and ashamed, and I want to help change that. I want to share their stories. I will be going across the country and Canada interviewing couples, individuals, and doctors, and hopefully, health insurance companies.


So what made you decide to start this project?  Why bring it to Kickstarter?

My husband and I have been trying to start our own family for almost 3 years now. We both have fertility problems and know first hand how horrible it feels to try month after month without success and having no one around that understands.I know how it feels to have people ask “when are you guys going to have kids?”, “any babies yet?”, or say the dreaded “oh you have plenty of time”. “it will happen when the time is right”. These are the absolute worst things to say to anyone in our situation by the way, but we all hear it far too many times.So, I decided it was time to show people what we really go through on a daily basis. I know once people understand all the emotion, stress, time, and money that everyone with any form of infertility puts into having a child of their own, the community will get more help and support.

I had heard about Kickstarter and how it helps people get projects funded as well as spread the word. After checking it out and looking at funded and not yet funded projects, I thought it would be the perfect place to try to get funding. I think its a great opportunity maker for people who otherwise might not have a chance at doing what they feel passionate about.

This is a very personal and emotional topic for many families out there, and like you said most don’t like to talk about it.  How are you going to find people to film for this project?  Have you already mapped out where you’re going?

I have asked around on pregnancy and infertility forums online, but the problem is, a lot of these forums don't like it when you ask for any type of personal information. So its been a rough start but I have gotten some couples who want to be involved. A lot of people who like the facebook page have shared info with people they know in the same situation or people they talk to on other forums and that helps as well. I have been calling around to newspapers, news stations, and even fertility treatment centers to get the word out. I’m also working on advertising on facebook.

As far as mapping out where we will be going, I do have a partial travel plan but, I can’t have a final map until I get a few more people willing to be interviewed.

What previous films and projects like this have you done before?  

This may not sound ideal but, this is actually my first film/project. This is the first thing that I have felt this passionate about and just really want to help everyone else who is practically invisible to the general public.

What planning and research did you do leading up to this Kickstarter?  

For starters, I researched how much it would cost to drive across the country. I also looked up how much equipment would cost as I had never had to get a camera or sound equipment like I would need for this before, and thats the most important part. I never realised just how many different kinds of professional video cameras there are! Needless to say, I spent a LOT of time comparing brands, makes, models, sizes, and features. Then I researched the types of infertility that I wasn’t too familiar with. People think being infertile just means not being able to have kids but there is so much more than that.

What do you hope to accomplish with this film?   How many film festivals do you think you’ll enter?  

I hope that this will bring some relief to everyone with infertility, just knowing that there are people out there who understand. I want them to feel less alone and less helpless, to bring out a sense of community. I want this to get people thinking, to want to do something to help make a family possible for someone suffering from infertility in their community.

I will enter as many film festivals as possible. I do have to have a certain order in which ones I enter though, as some only allow films that have never been seen in any type of theater setting before. So once it gets picked and shown at one festival, a large amount of festivals are no longer an option.

You are asking for $50,000 that’s quite a lot of money, what is the plan for it all?

The majority of the $50,000 is going for travel costs. That includes gas, motel rooms along the way, food during travel, passports (to get into Canada), emergency car repairs along the way, and if worse comes to worse and my car dies completely at some point, plane tickets. There are four of us that will be traveling; myself, my husband, our cameraman, and our sound guy. The money will also be for buying equipment such as video cameras, sound equipment, equipment care/protection, SD/memory cards, editing software,extra batteries for the camera and sound equipment. We also will be doing advertising to spread the word such as facebook advertising, local and national newspapers, as well as local papers in other states, website ads, news stations, specialty papers, such as art focused newspapers, and magazines.


How did you discover Kickstarter?

My husband first heard about Kickstarter on gaming podcasts. I first heard about it from seeing people on twitter sending tweets to famous people about ones they have started.

A key part of successful Kickstarters is backer participation and how to convert a potential backer into a full backer.   How are you engaging your backers?  What kinds of things do you have planned for updates to give notice to those who just hit the “remind me” button and surf on?  Interviews?  Videos?  Stories from the project?

I'm trying to engage potential backers by using information to make it more personal. I have posted a few times for people to think about how many friends they have. Then to think about how 1 out of every 8 of those friends could be secretly suffering with some form of infertility, whether they know it or not. Once you bring it to a personal level, it can really hit home for people who are on the fence about backing the project or even sharing the page link. I also encourage them to contact me with questions and concerns or even if they just want more information. The biggest thing I encourage is for people with infertility to open up and share their stories. Whether its openly on the page or in a private message. Sometimes all you need is to share your story with someone who cares and understands to make the whole journey so much easier.

I plan on posting updates on an almost day by day basis during the filming process, from how things are going to any problems that come up to travel info. I’m going to be doing this with a mix of text, pictures, foursquare check ins tweets and a sort of video blog.

What kind of media attention have you received with your project?  How are you spreading the word?  Facebook?  Twitter?  Google+? Youtube?  Advertising?  Are you using Kicktraq to track your progress?  

I haven't received any media attention yet, as my Kickstarter has only been live for four days and the media I've talked to want live links. I have made a Facebook page, a Twitter account and will be posting our video on Youtube as well. We haven’t gotten too far into advertising as we don’t have the funds to do so at the moment. As of right now Project B.I.T.O. is number 13 on the documentary Hot List on Kicktraq :)

Do you have any tips/advice would you give to anyone looking to start a Kickstarter?

Be passionate about what you’re looking to start a Kickstarter for. And do lots of research on the subjects as well! People will ask you questions so you need to make sure you can answer them :)

Thank you for spending your time with us!  Do you have any final thoughts for our readers?

I just hope this will help get support not only the film, but also support for people in the community with infertility and help inform those who knew nothing about it.
Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to share some more info on Project B.I.T.O.!

Thanks again and I hope to hear good things from your Kickstarter!