That Veronica Mars Kickstarter Campaign Has Raised $2.7 Million and Counting

I’m thrilled but a bit grumbly that you have to donate SO MUCH for a copy of the movie. I sent in a silly $1 in support and solidarity, but $100 for a Blu-Ray hurts my wallet.

On the one hand, a Veronica Mars movie!!!!!!!111!!!!

On the other, I’m worried about the kind of (bad) precedent this is setting. The article yesterday said it well: now Hollywood is gonna get paid TWICE for this movie. We can be asked to pay for it up front, then expected to also shell out in theaters. That’s not sustainable. Plus, this isn’t really an “underdog” win; as with Amanda Palmer’s record-breaking smash, these are established audiences which, for some reason, have been told they are “not enough” to make it in mass-production. So it’s good that fans get what they want, but… I don’t know. I can see this being a very bad trend if, say, Christopher Nolan comes out saying “ok, guys, I want to make a Batman 4, but the studio won’t let me–pony up!”

And Hollywood laughs all the way to the bank.

I don’t think it’s as cynically cash-grabby as you make it sound. “Hollywood is gonna get paid TWICE for this movie.” Sort of. That generally happens anyhow, as funding has to come from somewhere. It’s just this time it’s coming from VM fans instead of a bunch of corporations paying for product placement. The backers are essentially venture capitalists.

As for getting paid the second time, well, some people have paid for digital downloads or DVDs, so they’re paying twice, just in a different order than they would otherwise. You can back for $10 and then pay to see the movie, but again, you’re acting as VC for the first, and consumer for the second.

I also don’t think you have to worry about Christopher Nolan making Batman 4 on Kickstarter’s dime. Veronica Mars has had some really fanatical support for this, but they’re still not going to make anything vaguely close to what it would take to make a major studio movie. Kickstarter may be good for rallying a relatively small group of fans to support their particular geekdom (Whedon fans are already using this as an excuse to call for more ‘Firefly’), but I doubt it would be useful for large-scale projects.

Well, you’re not paying $100 for a Blu-Ray, you’re paying $100 to support the movie, and getting the Blu-Ray as a thank-you reward. You can always buy the Blu-Ray after the movie comes out. Kickstarter has tried to make it clear that it’s not a store, but it’s a hard model to get away from.

But you don’t HAVE to see it in theaters. And if you’ve already backed it enough to get a copy, why would you?

I wrote a bit on the criticisms on my tumblr today, may be worth a read: http://thebirdandthebat.tumblr.com/post/45355063770/parsing-the-veronica-mars-kickstarter-issues

Well, theoretically, I have a $100 to kick around and I want to use it to endorse art rather than starving families, and that’s swell of me, but in reality, I want to see the movie and I love the idea of using my money to see it AND support its creation, but not just the latter. Like I said, I tossed them a buck in support, and would have gone higher, say, $25 or $30 for the price of the BR, but eh. I’ll wait for it to come out on VOD, I guess.

$100 for a copy, though?

I see your point, Jill, and I think that’s gonna hold up for VMars. But how is this going to play out down the road? What if fan-funded became, somehow, the status quo?

There are most definitely problems with the top-down studio model–with things like Firefly being cut out unfairly. But there are also some wonky problems with this approach.

I’m not sure I agree with you, if only because I don’t see the fan-funded model replacing anything. It’s only feasible for a very small subset of films—ones with a pre-established fanbase, like VM, or smaller crowdfunded movies that DON’T have a fanbase but are only looking for substantially less than $2 million. Basically, films that would never have been made by a studio anyways. (Especially when you consider that $2 million, though it may seem like a lot, is PEANUTS compared to the average studio budget, even for “low-budget” pictures.)

The crowdfunding model is feeling some growing pains, definitely—there’s no real assurance that investors will get their money’s worth, for one, and that’s something that needs to be figured out. But I think the model in general is good when you consider that this type of funding can lead to movies getting made that wouldn’t have been otherwise. Plus, without studio execs peering over the moviemakers’ shoulders, they’ll have more creative control.

Wow. I keep seeing Kickstarter pop up more and more lately (mostly in the context of funding video games) and I’m wondering if it will change how entertainment is made.

Of course, that depends on how successful said entertainment is.

Wait, will the poem you write be an epic or a haiku? I’m so confused!

You get the BR, a poster, a t-shirt, a digital version of the movie within days of the theatrical release, and a PDF of the script for $100. All of that may not be worth it to you, which is fine, but you’re not just buying the blu-ray.

35, I think. And that also gets you a script and the T-shirt.

its fun to see unexpected interesting discussion in the comments. Interesting to read but really, I just came here to post my guess. I want that haiku!

$8,426,711

You are awesome! I didn’t even think of what epic haiku would entail until I read your comment, all I thought was really good haiku. But could you image an epic told in the form of multiple haikus. FUN

It was all thanks to Logan’s smoldering,
None can resist it.
All Hail Mars, Godess of Awesome!

True, but you’re right on both counts. I don’t have any use for the rest of it. Maybe EBay would, though. That actually might work out just fine.

For a Blu-Ray, I mean.

That’s so analog, maaaaaaaan.

Um… So to speak.

I’ll have to see where the creative spirit takes me.

I think this Kickstarter project is a great idea, and I’m glad it was funded. I first heard about the project from a coworker while I was at work at DISH, and now I’m looking forward to seeing the movie. I think I’ll re-watch the TV show first though. I can rent all three seasons of Veronica Mars from Blockbuster @Home through DISH, which has over 100,000 titles to choose from, so they always have what I’m looking for.