Ideas for movies, original or an adaptation, come in and out year after year. But entertainment-goers from the Internet community have frequently wished their ideas for movies would actually get put into production. These people sign petitions, along with millions of other users, just to try to get it going. Now finally, they have an answer – Kickstarter.
Kickstarter is a private, for-profit Internet based company that provides tools to raise funds for creative projects. Earlier this year, “Veronica Mars” creator, Rob Thomas; and actress, Kristen Bell, launched a campaign on Kickstarter to raise funds to make a movie of the popular series after Warner Brothers opted not to fund the project.
The campaign reached its $2 million dollar goal in less than 10 hours. The successful endeavor reached over $5.7 million via the company and the movie went in production shortly thereafter. Since then, other actors and directors like Zach Braff of “Scrubs” and Spike Lee have been using Kickstarter to pitch their passion-project movie ideas. With all the talk and activity, it begs the question, can Kickstarter become another long term and viable way for films to be funded?
So far, there’s only been one movie to get a green light to go into production. But audiences, film studios, the Box Office and critics alike can predict the outcome.
All things considered, Kickstarter could not only be a way for big time studios to get money for films, but also independent film studios’ movie projects. Whether it’s a big time actor and director pitching an idea or an aspiring writer and director trying to sell, so far, Kickstarter’s first attempt for a major film is a success in campaigning. However, only time will tell if it can repeat its success.
