Warner Brothers
You have that power. All it’ll cost you is a couple bucks. I’ve talked some smack about Kickstarter in the past (it did, after all, make The Canyons possible), but the crowdfunding platform has also produced some truly incredible things. This latest project, though – this is something special.
Veronica Mars was one of the best cult TV shows of its day. Premiering in 2004 and running for three seasons, it starred Kristen Bell as a morally gray teenage detective who worked her way through the seamy underbelly of her small California town. The first season started off with her best friend being murdered, an act that galvanizes her to take on the most powerful people she knows. The show was insanely ballsy, amazingly-written and sharply acted and after it got cancelled fans have been trying to bring it back for years.
In September of 2009, creator Rob Thomas completed a script for a feature film that would continue Veronica’s story, but Warner Brothers passed on it. Since they own the characters, that seemed like the end of the line. That is, until Kickstarter came along.
Thomas learned about the crowdfunding platform from some musician friends and wheels started spinning. He went to Warner and asked them if he could raise the funds himself to make the movie. They agreed, and here we are: The Veronica Mars Movie Project.
With a fundraising goal of $2 million, this is the most ambitious project ever launched on Kickstarter. After less than 24 hours, they’re over $1 million ($20 of that is mine) (twenty dollars, not twenty thousand dollars), setting a new record for the fastest Kickstarter to reach the million mark. The project’s video is a pretty great selling point all on it’s own, bringing together many of the show’s cast members for a hilarious reunion that also fans the flames of anticipation.
I have to say, even though it seems weird to just give Big Hollywood my money, I’m actually cool with this. It’s obviously a project that everybody involved has a lot of love for. If you’re down, why not flip them a few bucks too?