I just saw this. Warner Bros. has greenlit a Veronica Mars movie - with the catch that series creator Rob Thomas has to prove there’s enough interest. How? Kickstarter, of course. If they raise 2 million in just under a month, then it’s on. The deadline is because that’s when Kristen Bell is available. I’m guessing the rest of the cast is available anytime/always.
It was a good show, but it’s been six years - anyone have any interest in this?
If the show hadn’t gone past season one, I’d be all for it! As is, hmm. Maybe a vague interest. Though reading the kickstarter page made me realize I don’t remember the third season at all.
As much as I liked the show and Kristen Bell (and in particular having a smart female protagonist whose intelligence was demonstrated practically and regularly), I’m not seeing a movie here. Part of what made the show interesting was the slow and complex unfolding of the cases; having it all wrap up in 90 minutes runs the risk of a Scooby-Doo-style ending (“It was Old Man Wickle all along!”). It would have to be a really good script to not suck.
Hmm. Having poked around the Kickstarter page, I’m still not convinced. OTOH they’re nearly a quarter of the way there with 30 days to go, so it’s well within the realm of possibility. But I’m not funding it, and not just because (being outside the US) I can’t get any of the rewards.
Still, good luck to them. The motto of Kickstarter ought to be “If they come, you will build it.”
Ooh, I hope it happens!
So how does kickstarter work… if I go and pay $10 and then the goal isn’t reached, do I get my $10 back? What if I pay $10 and then the project happens and is successful and makes a profit, then do I get my $10 back?
You get your money back if it is not sucessful (I’m 99% sure)
If it is sucessful, what you get for $10 is
You’ll be sent a pdf of the shooting script on the day of the movie’s release. Read it or remain unspoiled, the choice is yours. Additionally, you will receive regular updates and behind-the-scenes scoop throughout the fundraising and movie making process.
Brian
That seems like a preposterous ripoff… so the community raises $2 million and then never gets any of it back even if the kickstarted project is a massive enormous success? Is that how it always works?
It’s not an investment; if you decide to back it for $10 and they make their goal, you’ll only get what’s in that reward bracket.
Edit: Yes, that’s how this has always worked.
They don’t take any money off you unless they reach their goal so if the Kickstarter drive falls short, you lose nothing. Once the drive closes, if the total has met or exceeded the goal, they take the payments off your credit card/Paypal account/whatever at that point. You can change your mind right up to the closing bell.
If it is successful and you pay your money, however, there’s no guarantee that the movie will get made (it may fail for quite legitimate reasons, such as WB changing their minds) but that’s the risk you take.
It helps to think of Kickstarter more in terms of PBS pledge drives than as venture capital - you pledge because you want the thing to happen and/or you want the tote bag/coffee mug/whatever incentive they offer to get you to pledge, but you don’t get a share of the profits if it’s a massive success. All you get is your incentive items and a warm fuzzy glow of making a thing happen that you wanted to have happen.
If you don’t like those terms, don’t pledge. I haven’t regretted my OotS pledge for a moment, but I knew what I was getting when I signed up.
Holy crap, it’s up over $833, 000. Yeah, this is happening.
…and that’s ONE MILLION DOLLARS. In the first day.
It’s at $1,130,000. It jumped 200K in the last hour. At this rate they’ll have enough for a sequel too.
You do realize there’s more than one tier, right? In this case, bumping a pledge up to $35 gets you a copy of the movie. Think of it as an extremely early pre-order.
Furthermore, it’s pretty standard for the lowest tier on a Kickstarter to be a “tip jar” option, for folks who want to contribute something without expecting anything in return. Admittedly, the tip jars I’ve seen are usually around $1, not $10, but it’s not like pledgers don’t know what they’re getting into.
Kickstarter is not an investment, it is a pledge. If they do not reach the stated goal in the stated time, you pay nothing.
If they do reach the stated goal, you get a reward commensurate with your contribution. The reward is stated in the pledge agreement.
I wonder if they beat Torment for fastest million raised?
Damn, they might hit $2 million today!
They are at 1.5M as I post this.
The rewards are a BIT high priced compared th boardgame kickstarters I’ve backed.
Usually you get a copy of the game at lower than retail price (but higher than deep discount online shops). But you also get it sooner (and maybe with exclusive features)
The DVD reward level is $50 (though you also get a T-shirt and a digital copy)
Brian
$1.77 million.
Yeah so this is pretty much a done deal. I’m excited.
Is there any word on whether they’ll go with the FBI plot that was suggested for a potential season 4, or will they be back in Neptune with Sheriff V. Mars?