"If Indiemaverick.net was around earlier, Robert Rodriguez would not have had to offer his body for medical experiments to raise the $7000 he needed to make El Mariachi which went on to make $2 million at the box office. He could have just uploaded his script and reel to our site, sat back and waited for the money to pour in," says creator Shane T. Hall. "Here at Indiemaverick.net we have set out to democratise the way films are made, giving audiences the ability to not only choose the films they watch, but to choose which ones actually go into production."

We at indiemaverick.net realised that thanks to new technologies the costs of filmmaking were dropping but there were few avenues to raise budgets of less than $1.5 million US. If you were a budding director such as Kevin Smith (Clerks) or Jim Jarmusch (Stranger than Paradise) looking to raise $50k to make your low budget feature the only options you had were friends, family or credit cards.

"Everyone has a home editing system and access to a camera now. It's a filmmaking revolution but the traditional ways of getting a film made haven't changed to accommodate this," Hall says. "You still need to raise a million dollars through a studio, production company or government body. Indiemaverick.net is looking to give those people left out of the usual funding avenues a way of raising their budget."

So how does it work?
Filmmakers provide their script, budget, poster and links to any previous films etc up on the website. Investors search for projects they are interested in, read the scripts, watch the previous films. When they find one they like they invest for as little as $25USD. Once the filmmakers reach their desired budget their monies are released and they go into production on their film. All profits the film makes are split 70 percent (investors) and 30 percent (producers). Indiemaverick.net takes no profit from the sale of the film. Filmmakers have total creative control over their project and can sell it wherever and to whomever they want. Indiemaverick.net does reserve the right to offer the film for download from the site once the film has completed any cinema or DVD run. Every investor receives a limited edition DVD of the film.

Indie Maverick launched on the 17th of December 2007.

Indiemaverick.net allows filmmakers to raise their budgets from the world community without any studio or production company interference. They will always retain total creative control over their film. They retain complete ownership of their film.

Indiemaverick.net gives the general public the ability to choose which films are actually going to be made, get a free ltd edition DVD of the film they invest in and then if successful share in the profits. Films like The Blair Witch Project and Clerks have made huge profits even though they were made for under $40 000.

"Investors can also be seen to champion a film or filmmaker at the beginning of their career," Hall says. "Imagine all the bar room stories you can tell about the time you invested in this film called Reservoir Dogs by this guy called Tarantino and then pull out your limited edition copy signed by the director."

The Blair Witch Project was a film that was produced for $28 000 and made for $248million at the box office. If Joe Average invested $25USD in the film his return would have been huge.

The site was created by filmmaker Shane T. Hall.
"The cost of making films are dropping but there is no funding model for filmmakers who want to make a feature film for $50 or $100K. I thought I would bring the world's finances to these filmmakers, so I created Indiemaverick.net to help these filmmakers realise their dreams."