A 400D Thank You To All
Posted by Arvin Santiago on
Our 400D Film Maker Crowdfunding campaign has been an amazing ride for us at CineStill and we wanted to take the time to say THANK YOU to each and every one of our BACKERS and SUPPORTERS. Whether you backed our campaign or helped spread the word through social media or word of mouth, the success of our campaign couldn’t have happened without your help. So from all of us at CineStill, THANK YOU!
With the help of the analog community, our 400D Campaign was a resounding success. In just a few weeks we were able to reach a few of the goals that we had set, such as being able to produce 400D in 35mm, 120 Medium Format, and 4x5 Large Format. Over 11,000 backers contributed to our 400D campaign which allowed us to raise over $800,000 towards creating lots of new color film.
During our crowdfunding campaign we learned quite a few things. One of those being that the demand for a new film in multiple formats is real. This gives us critical information on how to scale up production for 400D and make it so that it can be available around the world. We also learned that analog photographers want more color film. You want to seize those timeless moments on film that is unique and can offer bold rich colors. Most importantly, we learned that the love the community has for analog is truly insurmountable. It’s because of that, that film continues to thrive.
As our campaign has come to a close, we're now working to fulfill all our early bird orders. We had nearly 5,000 of you back at one of the 3 Early Bird Tiers for either 35mm or 120 400D! We are currently waiting for the final production rolls to arrive from the factory and then we will begin shipping these out to you immediately. We expect 35mm Early Bird orders to begin shipping in the next week or 2, and then 120 will follow shortly after that. Those are a lot of orders to fulfill all at once, so we appreciate your patience with us. We are excited for you all to receive the film and we can’t wait to see what you create with it! Remember to tag us and use the hashtag #CineStill400D so we can see your work!
As we work to fulfill all our Early Bird orders, our team will begin the process of moving into the production phase for all 400D 35mm and 120 orders. Our production process can take some time to go from the coating process to the packaging, so if everything stays on schedule, we expect to begin having this film available to ship to backers in July. We received a lot of questions about 400D being available in retail stores. While our first priority will be getting this 35mm and 120 fulfilled for all our backers, we are making enough to send to our retail and distribution partners around the world. We expect 400D in these formats to be available in your local film shops and labs beginning in late summer.
We haven't forgotten about 4x5! It’s amazing to see the large format community get excited about a new color film and we can’t wait to get it to you. Our priority at first is to produce and fulfill orders for 35mm and 120, but at the same time, we’ll be making preparations to begin production on the 4x5 sheets as well. Since this is a new product for us, we will also need to create packaging, so that’s why we set our expected delivery for the fall.
One of our last goals during our campaign was to bring back 220 film. We added this stretch goal at the end of the campaign to gauge the demand for this format and see if this was something the community truly wanted. While we came up short of our goal, we had just over 550 backers for 400D in 220! However, this makes up around 5% of the total backers. We set this stretch goal in a way that allowed us to work to create 220 film at a scale that would be appropriate for the market and viable for us as a business. That said, we’ve heard a lot of the feedback from the community about 220 and so CineStill is going to assess the possibility of still moving forward with 220 as a potential limited release product. The challenge now would be to see if we can produce 220 film at a much smaller scale than we originally found viable.
Our latest crowdfunding campaign re-introduced our CineStill Film Maker program. Film Makers are a special group within the CineStill community that receive special offers, experiences, 5% savings on CineStill branded products within the CineStill Film Maker store, and more. Becoming a Film Maker was simple. All you had to do was contribute to our campaign by choosing one of Film Maker tiers. Our Film Maker program only comes around once in a while, so if you missed out, it might be a while 'til we open the doors again.
Since the end of our campaign, we've had questions asking how our customers can continue to order some 400D film. Don't worry, because it will be available soon on our store. To find out when that will be, sign up for our mailing list so you can be the first to know. Sign up at CineStillfilm.com