Crowdfunding: Let's get a crowd behind this

In the movie business you are only as good as your last film. Director David Fincher's last film made £145m, so you'd think the man behind Fight Club and The Social Network wouldn't have a problem convincing Hollywood's moneymen to cough up.

You'd be wrong, because Fincher has turned to Kickstarter, a crowdfunding website, to raise $400,000 towards a showreel for his latest project.

Crowdfunding works by asking like-minded individuals to come together and fund projects they care about.

"It's indicative of the way film financing is going that such an established name as David Fincher has switched to online crowdfunding," says Chris Morgan, a first-time director who is trying to raise £3m for his film Coup on We Fund.

Crowdfunding isn't a easy option, though: "You need social media and marketing savvy," adds Morgan, who like many crowdfunding users is most interested in it as a way to gauge interest in his projects and attract traditional investor. Fincher best get Tweeting, then.