Printrbot CEO Brook Drumm Looks to Launch Crowdfunding Campaign for ‘RepRap: The Movie’ Documentary

Brook Drumm… Some may consider him the ‘Mother Teresa of 3D printing’, while others may say he is one of the leaders of the open source movement. While the Mother Teresa comparison may be a little premature, he has been known to do a lot of good within his own community as well as the 3D printing community in general. I once talked to a man who told Drumm about a buddy of his who was recently injured, and slightly depressed. Drumm, knowing that this man had an interest in 3D printing, without hesitation sent him a free Printrbot 3D printer to cheer him up. He had never met either of these men before, and did this solely out of the goodness of his own heart. I tried contacting Drumm, to get some information on this, and he never got back to me. It would have been the perfect opportunity for him to use his good deed as a free promo for his company, but he decided that it wasn’t about that.

Drumm is a good guy. He is known within the community as a family man, and a man with great intentions. He’s not one for the media spotlight, and some may say that this hurts his company a bit. I disagree.

Drumm’s company, Printrbot, has relied heavily on the open source movement and got started with help from the RepRap project. The RepRap project is an open source 3D printer movement which many of the 3D printers you see today are based upon. It’s an initiative that started back in 2005, and Drumm borrowed many designs from RepRap, in creating his own Printrbot line of 3D printers. He now plans on giving a little back by creating a movie based on the RepRap movement.

“I am putting this out there soon… a Kickstarter campaign for ‘RepRap: the Movie’, explains Drumm. “It’s ready to launch, just need to complete rewards. All proceeds go to the movie & events. Any extra money goes to RepRap education (I won’t make a dime). I would want to open source it (is that even possible?) and get input from the community. Any inclusion of my company would need to be minimal – I’m not interested in any self-serving mumbo jumbo. “

This is typical of Drumm. It appears that his motivation here is to try and spread the word of the RepRap initiative, and let other people know about the tremendous potential that open source 3D printing technology can provide, while not trying to benefit in any monetary way whatsoever. Any profits made from the movie, he currently plans on putting toward educating children about 3D printing. He realizes that this technology is the future, and our children are going to be the ones to really utilize 3D printing in everyday life.

Drumm is no newcomer to Kickstarter campaigns. Back in 2011, he raised over $830,000 in order to begin production of his Printrbot 3D printers. While the Kickstarter campaign and the documentary are still in their preliminary stages as Drumm is still gathering ideas and researching the feasibility, I have no doubt that a Brook Drumm run campaign on the largest 3D printing open source initiative would easily be funded, given the right backer reward options. Drumm has thrown out the following possibilities as far as backer rewards go, and is looking for community feedback on them (note these are not the final rewards, but just an idea thrown out by Drumm):

• $10 – RepRap achievement badge stl file – print it yourself
• $20 – Two official RepRap movie stickers
• $30 – Official RepRap movie t-shirt
• $50 – Official RepRap movie poster
• $100 – Ticket to a premier showing of the movie (travel not included*)
• $150 – Ticket to one-day mini-conference celebrating RepRaps AND a viewing of the premier (travel not included*)
• $250 – Online video access to major production meetings
• $400 – The works: Achievement badge stl, stickers, t-shirt, movie poster, mini-conference ticket, production mtg access AND Premier ticket (travel not included*)
• $750 – Attend a mini-conference, premier AND an exclusive VIP after-party (travel not included*)
• $1000 – Mini-conference booth to show your product, ticket to a premier and VIP after-party ticket (TBA: geographically scattered*)
• $2500 – Logo Sponser – Fly your company logo on beginning and ending credits to establish yourself as a major contributor to the open source hardware movement. Premier event ticket included.
• $5000 – Host a Mini-Conference, Movie Premier and VIP after-party . Put yourself on the map as a leader in promoting the RepRap culture… hackerspaces, schools, universities, clubs and individuals welcome! Host the event by providing a space for our mini-conference, premiere event and VIP after-party. (TBA: geographically scattered*)
• $10000 Prominent Movie Credits as one of the major contributors that made this movie possible (limit 10). Premier ticket, mini-conference booth and VIP after party tickets included.
• $50000 Pride of Place Corporate Sponsor – Full-screen, opening and closing title sequence real estate from just one open source loving company (limit 1). Premier ticket, mini-conference booth and VIP after party tickets included.

If all goes as planned, the movie premier would be hosted at Printrbot in Lincoln, California.

While this is all still in the preliminary stages, it sounds as though Drumm is quite serious about moving forward with the project. Spreading the word of RepRap could be a tremendous way to not only increase awareness of 3D printing, but to encourage the continued open sourcing of 3D printers in general.

What do you think? Would you back a Brook Drumm, ‘RepRap: The Movie’ Kickstarter campaign? Do you think such a campaign could attract enough funding? Discuss in the ‘RepRap: The Movie’ forum thread on 3DPB.com.