EXCLUSIVE: Legion M, a fan-driven film production and distribution outfit behind films like SXSW audience award winner My Dead Friend Zoe, has just raised $5 million from 15,000 individual investors.

It is the company’s largest fundraising round, both in terms of the number of investors and the amount raised, and is slated to close on October 11. The influx of investors brings the company’s total count to almost 50,000.

The news comes a day after a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign for fall title The Apprentice offered yet more evidence that newer models of film financing appear to be increasingly viable.

Legion M, whose slate also includes the upcoming film The Man in the White Van, which stars Sean Astin, Ali Larter, Madison Wolfe and Brec Bassinger, lets audiences get directly involved in the creation of content and own a financial stake in it. Investors become shareholders in the company and can also invest directly in individual projects, earning a percentage of the profits from the films they support. The company says its model empowers both fans and creators, in turn promoting independent storytelling and greater creative freedom.