Vimeo to offer video-on-demand deal to crowd-funded filmmakers

Vimeo plans to offer a video-on-demand deal to filmmakers using Indiegogo and Kickstarter to promote and fund their movies. Like a number of video sites, Vimeo has been taking bigger and bigger steps to create original content and to help filmmakers who use its services to make money from their creative endeavors. The company’s latest idea is to search crowd-funding sites for films that it could license.

Filmmakers who turn to crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo typically use campaign money for shooting and production. But getting a movie made is only one part of the filmmaking process: It still needs to be marketed. Video-sharing platform Vimeo, which gets 149 million unique visitors a month, is offering $500,000 to crowdfunded filmmakers in need of marketing help. Selected filmmakers will receive assistance with website creation, targeted online campaigns and social-media initiatives. In exchange, the content will be hosted on the company’s Vimeo On Demand site.