I have a confession.
Never got Dawson’s Creek. The song infuriated me. Didn’t much like Felicity; the title was a misnomer for me. For some reason, though, Veronica Mars ensnared me. There was something about the spunky high school detective portrayed by Kristen Bell that drew atypical fans in.
I also admit to being slightly dejected when it was canceled. The show had its ubiquitous pack of fans who lobbied to get the cancellation rescinded, but as usually happens, the ratings were what really matter to studio execs (understandably so), and it never came back. Rumors of a movie never materialized.
Till now.
The Power of Kickstarter
Using the crowd-sourced venture capital dynamo Kickstarter, the original show’s creator, Rob Thomas, was able to quickly surpass the original goal of $2 Million, via more than 50,000 cash backers, in LESS THAN 10 HOURS!
Using several donation-reward incentives (one $10,000 donor would get a whole lot of goodies, including a speaking role in the actual movie), it looks like the project will easily double its original goal. Pretty cool for a modestly successful show with a strong fan base; not bad at all for a movie project.
Can this be a new paradigm for screenwriters?
I like Kickstarter. It allows regular entrepreneurs dream, and connect with people who can dream with them. There were more than a few independent albums on there; gospel singers have a good representation.
I wonder how ministry or charity projects would fare?
Do you think church projects can use Kickstarter effectively?
What guidelines would you use?
Evan says
Tre – I’ve wondered the same thing as well. For outreach programs, I think this might catch on. I’m thinking larger though. In my parish, we are going to be looking for funds for construction and building. While I don’t think anyone from outside our parish would donate, it might be a good idea for our church members to donate on a Kickstarter-style site. The donation page would list the goal, % of goal met, what donors “get” for certain levels, opportunities for corporate matching, etc. You think this idea has merit?
Tre Lawrence says
Evan: yes, that is is exactly the type of program I was thinking of. One could create the project, keep it fairly in-house and still send links to potential external donors.
Wish I had thought of it when I was serving as a youth pastor.