First up, what does “open” mean in OpenIndie. Well, you’d be right in thinking about open source software. We believe a lot of our values towards the site match those of open source software. Especially in terms of how our users will be contributing to the site. Crowdsourcing is fundamental to what we’re doing. Filmmakers are crowdsourcing audiences and screenings. We are crowdsourcing our startup funding and will be asking users and filmmakers on the site to shape the future of site.

As for open source in the software sense. We very much admire the approach that Automattic have taken with Wordpress and I would certainly like to make our entire code base open source. This isn’t something that’s going to happen over night, or any time in the near future for that matter. We have some very definite goals for phase one and two and if/when we do open source openindie’s code, it will need to be prepared and planned carefully.

Still on the “open”, topic, we also plan to make as much data as possible open via our API, so that anyone, on any platform, anywhere in the world can tap into our geo-specific data and build apps based on our our data and functionality. You can imagine the possibilities for iPhone apps etc.

Anyway, on to your next question, yes OpenIndie is a private business owned by Arin and I and yes, in turn, that does carry more responsibility for sustaining the site. And no, as fantastic as it is, $12k isn’t going to sustain the site for long. We’re not ready to unveil any plans beyond phases one and two right now, but phase two’s funding campaign (also on Kickstarter) is just as important to the future of OpenIndie as phase one’s campaign. And yes, think of all those support requests – haha – I will be handling those requests myself to start with and it will be a hard juggling act. However, we are purposely maintaining our private beta until we’re confident we can scale gracefully.

When the money runs out… yes, we have considered some of the options you list and some we don’t believe in at all. However, there are plans which consist of various options none of which are firmly decided upon, and as I said, we’re not ready to unveil anything yet. Right now, we need support to fund phase two (link below) and we need more filmmakers who want to crowdsource screenings and folks who want to put on screenings to get involved. It is the filmmaker and those people willing to screen their films that will make OpenIndie something fantastic, so if you want to help, please check out our campaign below.

Shameless plug:
http://bit.ly/3jvU0

Finally, thanks for blogging about OpenIndie and I hope I answered at least some of your questions

Kieran Masterton
OpenIndie Co-Founder
kieran [AT] openindie [DOT] com

Thanks again,

Kieran Masterton
OpenIndie Co-Founder