I was thinking about this model as some sort of extension for film trailers:instead of giving out 2-4 min trailer to audience, producers could give 10-15 min,which hopefully be enough to understand whether audience finds it good enough and if it is,a full film is made. However,I can't see it working with all genres.
In the first half of the 1900's, there were "race films" from Black-owned studios that were actually financed like this. The studio would create a trailer that they'd then show to theater-owners. Exhibitors who liked the trailer would pay an advance against the box office, and if enough signed on, the film would get made and distributed to them. Kind of like authors getting an advance on a book they're writing.
video games have worked this way for a while, especially since the focus on mega-budget blockbusters. Some Kickstarter media projects also reflect this: someone makes a small short to fundraise, then commits to make a "fuller" length version based on the funds raised, linking the planned scope with available resources - sounds a lot like an agile software project!
