Crowdfunding Canadian Theatre An Exploratory Analysis of Kickstarter Data with US Comparison

Abstract

This study presents an exploratory and descriptive analysis of Canadian theatre projects on the Kickstarter platform, using both quantitative and qualitative data. We argue that crowdfunding is particularly relevant to arts entrepreneurship due to its emphasis on engaging an “audience” from the outset. Our quantitative analysis finds that many theatre projects in Canada are successfully raising funds on Kickstarter, with the success rate being similar to that of theatre projects in the US, but on a relatively smaller scale in terms of the amount of money raised. Only the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta have more than three theatre projects on Kickstarter within the timeframe of our data, and in total each province is able to raise about ten to forty-thousand dollars per year for theatre projects through this platform. In our qualitative analysis we find that theatre crowdfunding in Canada is geared toward small-scale and subsistence-level funding, which could be construed as somewhat in line with the traditional hesitation to fully embrace profit-making in arts entrepreneurship, but may also be due to the local nature and limited ticketing capacity of theatre projects and what they perceive tobe feasibly achievable goals on Kickstarter.