ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

12 years, 4 months ago - Kays Alatrakchi

The issue that I have with this is mostly of an "esthetic" nature. I don't think this will kill Kickstarter, nor somehow damage the smaller campaigns, however I do feel that it somehow doesn't quite fit into the idea on which Kickstarter was devised (i.e. to create a way for crowds to fund extremely high-risk projects which would otherwise never have a chance of seeing the light of day). Now, regardless of what the VM creators say, I find it very hard to believe that they couldn't find a private equity investor to finance them for $2mil (a negligible amount even for the network on which the show ran), particularly in light of having the principals already committed to the project. I have to question Rob Thomas' pitch to WB, and wonder how realistic the budget that he was asking for was (which I suspect was much higher than the $2mil on KS).
There will probably be some minor negative effects from this such as many aspiring filmmakers using this as a de-facto example of what anyone could achieve on KS (which is not the case for projects without a huge cult following), or the danger that studios and larger production companies will start including KS as part of their financing strategies. Only time will tell.

12 years, 4 months ago - James Heath

I agree that its not a bad thing for Kickstarter, in fact in the short term its a good thing, growing the audience that are active on Kickstarter.

However that number of backers is huge, particularly when you consider that only Americans can pledge towards Veronica Mars due to the projects T&C's. Also when you consider that the most successful project on Kickstarter ever had 68,929 backers, Mars has a good chance of smashing that. The film is likely to pick up a lot more supporters once the film is finished, as the idea of giving money to a film thats not even filmed yet is still very weird to most of the population.

I've written a whole blog on the subject of Hollywood coming to Kickstarter because of Veronica Mars, check it out here:

https://jamesjheath.com/producer-says/2013/3/14/veronica-marsis-hollywood-coming-to-crowd-funding

12 years, 4 months ago - Martin Belderson

Sorry, a quick postscript. 'All Things Considered' on NPR ran a story last September about Kickstarter projects which don't deliver.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/09/03/160505449/when-a-kickstarter-campaign-fails-does-anyone-get-their-money-back

And here's Kickstarter's response:

http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/accountability-on-kickstarter

12 years, 4 months ago - Matthew Prince

I'm curious as well... since eventually, those that invest are going to want more than just gifts like t-shirts, autographed pictures and props from the set. They're going to want a share of the PROFIT.

The Veronica Mars movie is essentially going to be a TV movie that just wraps up the series. It'll probably be 90-100 minutes (2 hours when including adverts for the inevitable TV broadcasts). So I don't get the fuss.

What I'm looking to see is if a team of well known actors/producers can come together to pitch an original concept for a feature film (no comic book, TV series, remake, adaptation or tribute) and raise $5,000,000 or above. If someone can do that, THEN we'll know the power of crowd-funding.

12 years, 4 months ago - Martin Belderson

Fascinating, but is it fundamentally any different from the numerous big-budget computer game Kickstarters (Elite, Populous, Ultima and many more)?

A fan base contributes an average of $66 (wow!) to a project they are keen to see but won't get to profit from (sorry Matthew, the US law that would allow equity participation has not come into force, nor does anyone know when it will). That's fandom for you, and pretty much nothing major happens on crowd-funding sites without that army of supporters behind you. They want their own 'Serenity'. The speed with which this project hit the targets tells you all you need to know about their enthusiasm.

Maybe the scale of the support has an element of saying put up or shut up to Warners. People like to take up challenges on behalf of something they love. It's part of what being a fan is all about, and Rob Thomas has done a brilliant job of appealing to their emotions without being aggressive towards the studio.

I was also wondering what would happen if Warners say no? They might and that's an extra hurdle that most Kickstarters don't face. For example, the people pitching game projects already own the rights. Rob Thomas makes no mention of what would happen to the donations if that occurs. It's important because it looks like he's only asking for above-the-line production costs. Warners would have to stump up all the below-the-line costs including promotion and distribution. That's a much greater sum than the Kickstarter total. I think Jamie is absolutely right; Warners would probably have preferred half a million donors each chipping in with tiny donations. That would tell them that their investment might bring a return.

Hope it makes it.