The controversial Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign for a sequel film has succeed overwhelmingly thanks to a loyal and generous fan base. The film adaptation of the short-lived television series raised a total of $5.7 million, more that twice its original funding goal. The amount raised for the film is a month-long record for the ever popular crowd-funding website.
This only goes to show the ever-increasing power of crowd funding in the internet age. What was only a few years ago a platform for student films and vanity projects has now grown into a full fledged system for funding feature-length Hollywood movies. And everyone from game designer Tim Schafer to Academy Award-winning director David Fincher has been getting in on the sweet Kickstarter action.
Using Kickstarter to fund a film of this scale has been controversial. Those in favor argue that contributors are simply paying for a ticket in advance. Those against say contributors are being suckered into investing in a film for which they will never see any monetary return.
In my opinion, donating money to a Hollywood film is incredibly naive. The producers of Veronica Mars are going to make millions off the backs off gullible investors who they never have to pay back. It’s exploitative, and a gross deviation from the original intention of Kickstarter.
I expect Hollywood’s next move will be to abuse the good will fanboys by holding geek properties hostage until the internet ponies up the cash. Producers will increasingly use crowd funding as a first resort for garnering money and interest in a potential project. Want Avengers 3? You gotta pay to play, nerds.
SOURCE: Collider