On Oct. 29, the “Guttersnipes” film reached its initial goal of $75,000 with help from interns from a social media campaign and a little help from the Iota Chi Facebook group.
The “Guttersnipes” film needed $75,000 to begin and about $300,000 to complete. With less than three days left to meet its first goal, the film was $33,000 short. When writer Joe Aaron was added to the Iota Chi group, he decided to use it to promote the kickstarter site.
“The support we got was kind of overwhelming,” Aaron said. “Many people took up our cause and not only donated, but kept the link to our site bumped to the top of the Iota Chi feed for three days straight.”
Several interns were a part of the social media campaign team for Guttersnipes. All of the interns were put into committees that used Facebook, Twitter and email to spread the word and raise money for the movie.
“I can’t say it was only the Iota Chi site that got us our $33,000, we got some heavy hitters in on the last day, people who gave several thousands of dollars,” Aaron said. “But, the awareness about ‘Guttersnipes’ all around the world is huge now because of that crazy site. When we open the film, we’ll already have a pretty big following. This is unheard of for small, Indie films.”
Junior Jess Head was part of the social media campaign and worked specifically with the “Autism Asperger’s Digest.”
“Working on the social media aspect of Guttersnipes was incredible experience for me,” Head said. “The KickStarter Campaign was a success and that is something I believe everyone on the team is proud of. I am excited to see the production’s final product and the impact it makes on so many communities that supported this worthy cause.”
Senior Stacy Hall worked with the social media campaign on the universities committee, a part of the campaign, where she researched effective ways to contact universities with a Christian affiliation in Arkansas.
“From helping them raise money, I would say the main thing I gained was experience,” Hall said. “I have never been on a legitimate ‘social media team’ or done an internship on this scale. I learned that if you want things done, sometimes you have to do them yourself. It was just an overall great experience.”
The interns gained contacts and experience for their resumes and will attend the movie’s Little Rock premiere.
Aaron’s daughter, Lexi, who has autism, inspired the movie. According to the “Guttersnipes” film website, the goal of this movie is to enlighten and move people.
“There are so many people, especially in the film industry, who are merely concerned about making money and that is not the case with Joe; he wants to make this because the story is close to his heart,” Hall said. “I guess I would just say it’s important for students to know the genuine story behind it.”
