Caffeinated Clint
Zach Braff announced yesterday he’d be going all ‘Veronica Mars’ and putting his latest film project “Wish I was Here” on Kickstarter in the hope that you guys might throw him a few bucks each to make it.
Already, Braff (“Scrubs”) has snared half of his beseeched budget – $2 million – in just half a day. With 29 days left, the campaign might just soar to “Veronica Mars” heights.
Here’s the presser released overnight :
Actor/writer/director Zach Braff today launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the production of the feature film “Wish I Was Here”. Braff will direct and star in the film which is based on an original screenplay he wrote with his brother, Adam Braff. Oscar®-nominated producers Stacey Sher and Michael Shamberg (“Django Unchained,” “Contagion,” “Garden State,” “Erin Brockovich,” “Pulp Fiction”) will produce the film through their company Double Feature Films.
Best known for his role on the long-running sitcom “Scrubs,” Braff also wrote, directed and starred in the 2004 instant classic, “Garden State.” Most recently he appeared in director Sam Raimi’s enormously successful “Oz The Great And Powerful.”
“Wish I Was Here” is the story of Aidan Bloom (to be played by Braff), a struggling actor, father and husband who at 35, is still trying to find his identity; a purpose for his life. He and his wife are barely getting by financially and Aidan passes his time by fantasizing about being the great futuristic Space-Knight he’d always dreamed he’d be as a little kid.
When his ailing father can no longer afford to pay for private school for his two kids (5 and 12) and the only available public school is on its last legs, Aidan reluctantly agrees to attempt to home-school them. The result is some funny chaos, until Aidan decides to scrap the traditional academic curriculum and come up with his own. Through teaching them about life his way, Aidan gradually discovers some of the parts of himself he couldn’t find.
With a goal of raising $2 million on Kickstarter in 30 days, the producers hope to shoot the film in Los Angeles beginning this summer. Donor incentives range from personal copies of the script to access to weekly behind-the-scenes video to invitations to the premiere and even a speaking role in the film.
Said Braff: “I am often asked by my fans or by the press when I am promoting films in which I’ve acted, ‘Why haven’t you directed another film since Garden State?’ The truth is, it’s very hard to get small, personal films made without sacrificing some aspect of your artistic integrity (final-cut, casting, minuscule budgets). Crowd-funding sites like Kickstarter could be a game-changer for independent films. Already 10% of the films at the most recent Sundance Film Festival had some Kickstarter money and that’s growing exponentially. Social media has begun to give content creators a chance to appeal directly to their fan base and say, ‘I wanna make something for you, but I’m gonna need your help.’ The supporters of mine across the globe who back this film project will not only get to see something that wouldn’t have been made otherwise, but they’ll get to do so knowing they made it happen.”
“Following the amazing experience we had working with Zach on ‘Garden State,’ we’ve always known we wanted to work with him again and couldn’t wait for the stars to realign,” said Sher. “I first became aware of Kickstarter about a year ago as musician Amanda Palmer’s campaign took off. Then, as we watched as the Veronica Mars campaign explode, it became impossible to deny the fact that crowd-funding is an exceptionally strong force in the future of independent filmmaking.”
