The Cosmonaut
The Cosmonaut is a Spanish science-fiction film directed by Nicolás Alcalá and produced by Carola Rodríguez and Bruno Teixidor. It premiered in May 2013. As the first feature-length project of Riot Cinema Collective, it is notable for its use of crowdfunding and a Creative Commons license during production.
The film was released free online on May 14th, 2013 under a Creative Commons license.
Plot
In 1967, two young friends, Stas and Andrei, arrive at the newly constructed Star City near Moscow, where the first cosmonauts trained. Here, a race against the clock to beat the Americans into space is taking place.Stas and Andrei witness first-hand the political intrigue, power struggles, and the successes and failures of the Soviet Union in achieving some of the 20th century's greatest milestones. They meet Yulia, a communications technician, with whom they form a strong bond—always bordering on love but never fully realized.
Influences
The Cosmonaut's conception and filmmaking approach draw from the works of some of the world's most renowned filmmakers. The project’s dossier specifically mentions Wong Kar-wai, Andrei Tarkovsky, José Luis Guerín, and Robert Bresson as key influences. There are numerous thematic and narrative links to Andrei Tarkovsky's works, including the exploration of memory, lost love, and reality. The names of the two main characters, Andrei and Stas Arsenievich, even reflect Tarkovsky's name and patronymic.Further connections to Tarkovsky are evident in the collaborators’ list, which includes names like Eduard Artemyev and Marina Tarkovskaya, Tarkovsky’s sister. The fictional Program K, featuring a hummingbird icon used prominently in the film's promotion, is inspired by real Soviet efforts to send a cosmonaut to the Moon.
Production
The idea for The Cosmonaut originated from two main sources: the conversations between Nicolás Alcalá and Bruno Teixidor about conspiracies, Lost Cosmonauts theories, and the Soviet space program; and the poetry book Poetics for Cosmonauts by Henry Pierrot. While the main plot core underwent numerous revisions during development, key elements—such as the return of an astronaut to Earth after a long trip to the Moon—remained intact. After reading Poetics for Cosmonauts, the script evolved into its current form. Preproduction for the short film began in October–November 2008.2009
In January 2009, the project underwent its most significant transformation: it transitioned from being a traditionally produced short film into a feature-length film funded through crowdfunding and distributed for free under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Crowdfunding
Inspired by productions such as A Swarm of Angels and Artemis Eternal, The Cosmonaut is the first Spanish feature film that makes use of the crowdfunding financing method. There were two ways to get involved in The Cosmonaut’s production:- First, as a regular producer. From an initial contribution of 2 euros, a contributor may be listed as a “producer” in the film credits, receiving a welcome pack, and a ticket for the drawing of one of the cosmonauts’ suits that will be used in the film. Further investments could be used to buy merchandising items in the film's online store.
- Secondly, as a movie investor. From an initial investment of 100 euros, a contributor can own a percentage of the film's profits.
Release
The film, when finished, will be released on the Internet available for download and in HD. Also, besides the full movie on HD, all raw footage shot during the movie's filming will be uploaded too. As the film is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, the users will be able to download, lend, re-cut or use the film footage in any way they wish. This way, the audience not only will be allowed, but also encouraged by the producers themselves, to create new versions of the film and other derivative works.2010
Between December 2009 and June 2010, the Riot Cinema team worked in modernizing the previous business model. On 2 June 2010, the new model, called “The Plan”, was launched in a press conference by the people in charge of the company. It provides the project with some developments. These developments increase the project approach and infrastructure, keeping its previous features, but, in general, taking them a step further.Crowdfunding and financing
A totally new funding plan is introduced in the business model. While in the old model the film funding was through crowdfunding and private investment, in “The Plan”, a three-staged progressive plan is detailed, in which there is room for private financing, crowdfunding, sponsorization, and distribution presales. Even though the new three-staged model keeps crowdfunding and private investment as funding means, their role in the project varies: economically, crowdfunding carries less weight than in the first draft of the project. Nevertheless, its use is kept due to the weight such a completely developed infrastructure has in keeping and strengthening a fan community. Regarding private investment, it keeps the same operational system, but the owned profits per invested money ratio vary depending on the project stage. According to Riot Cinema data, of the €860,000 the project will cost, it is expected that 6.5% be financed through crowdfunding and/or merchandising, 21% by private investment, 32% through sponsorship, and 40.5% through presales distribution.Yuri's Night
One of the examples of the application of the new sponsorship option was available in the party carried out during the 2010 Yuri's Night. Since Yuri Gagarin is a kind of mascot of the project, the people in charge of the film worked in collaboration with LEEM for months in order to join the world initiatives celebrated in Yuri's Night. It also happened to celebrate the achievement of 2000 producers of the film.Distribution and transmedia
In the same way, the movie distribution model has also changed. The project has suffered more noticeable changes in its distribution channels and in the final completion of the project. Regarding distribution, the new plan's objective is the simultaneous premiere in all release windows. The philosophy behind this decision is to allow the user to choose the format he wants to watch the movie. Different particularities have been adopted for each release window, taking each mean into account, but making some changes in the traditional way of distribution. For instance, the release on the Internet will still be totally free and in HD, while the TV release will have an alternative ending for that channel. In the same way, the people in charge of the movie have designed a special presentation in cinemas to encourage people to go the theaters. This is called “The Cosmonaut Experience”, and it merges performance elements with recreational interaction with the audience, classic screening and a traveling tour, in order to provide the audience, according to the creators, with an added "experience". This tour of screenings will not replace the traditional screening in cinemas, but it will be done at the same time.The Cosmonaut, regarding its current completion, is no longer a science fiction feature film. Following the steps of franchises such as The Matrix or Lost, The Cosmonaut will be a transmedia project with ramifications in different fields. It is planned to make a series of webisodes, mobile content, or even an ARG, among others. Each series of content will show its own perspective of a story included in the film. It won't be necessary to watch them in order to understand the given facts, but it will provide some data and information about The Cosmonaut world that will complement each other.
2011
An update of the business model was presented in October 2011, once shooting was finished.The Cosmonaut is one of the most successful crowdfunding projects in history with about €300,000.
Save ''The Cosmonaut''
After having raised €120,000 during the first two years, the decision was taken to shoot with that money together with €120,000 more contributed by a Russian co-producer. One week before shooting, when all the tickets were purchased and all the reservations made, the co-producer had to withdraw. A desperate campaign was then launched requesting the community to help save the movie.More than 600 people contributed a total of €131,000 in 3 days, beating all the world crowdfunding records in such a short period of time, and allowing the film to be shot. With such a huge success, the possibility of investing was kept during the entirety of shooting. A streaming window was created so the investors could watch the shooting they had made possible live.
Lánzanos, the Spanish crowdfunding platform that collaborated during the whole campaign, faced, together with The Cosmonauts team, what they called "their most beautiful failure of design": the raising status bar exceeded 173%, going beyond the box it was embedded in. The same happened on the film website.