Crowdsourcing – paying 3x for your movie?

So VERONICA MARS fans cheered when they raised $5.7 million for their movie, and Zach Braff using Kickstarter to raise $2.5 million (and counting) for his film project WISH I WAS HERE – not because his movie project is in jeopardy, but because he wants full creative control.

Crowdsourcing – the concept – started off as a way to raise funds for poor and starving independent artists to get support for their endeavors.  Ask anyone at a film festival, and they’ll tell you how hard it is to make a film.  But the use of crowdsourcing for celebrities to fund their pet projects is a warped way of essentially getting the fans to pre-buy their tickets.

Most fans will buy a movie ticket and then buy the movie on DVD/Blu Ray if they really enjoyed it.  Now imagine the fan that pre-funds a movie – sight unseen – just because they’d like to see a movie made?  So this fan is paying for the movie 3x?

Here’s the problem.  Even at the indie film level, financiers and producers INVEST in a movie with the expectation to make money back or to have tax write-off’s.  Since crowdsourcing doesn’t offer that, it’s essentially charity to help a celebrity actor, writer or producer get a project made to demonstrate that they have a large enough fan base willing to put up dollars.

By comparison, a couple years ago, Glenn Close made her pet project a reality – ALBERT NOBBS.  She and her production company chased after the funding, casting and creative.  Emma Watson was instrumental in getting PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER made. There are ways for a film to get financed when they have the backing of a star.  No guarantees, but there are ways!

Zach Braff, who, according to Celebrity Net Worth, was worth $25 million in 2010 could have crowdsourced with a dollar-matching campaign.  His pet project is the sequel to GARDEN STATE, a film that only cost $2.5 million and grossed $25 million.  So does that mean Braff can guarantee his fans a 10x return on their money?  Will Braff take a pay cut to invest in the film? What do you think?

How about VERONICA MARS? Kristin Bell was reported to be worth $8 million.  With the recent announcement of the return of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT (also thanks to a loyal fan base but WITHOUT crowdsourcing), I know its a shame when your favorite TV show is cancelled before its time.

Fan power has always been key to a movie, music or TV career, but crowdsourcing seems to me like a cynical way of holding fans hostage: If you want a project made, pay for it yourself.  Imagine if George Lucas or Spielberg asked people to crowdsource the next STAR WARS movie? And why not? Doesn’t sound too far fetched – big fan base, highly anticipated sequel.  Why not get the fans to pre-pay for a ticket?  No risk to the actors. Less risk for the producers/financiers. 

Let’s save crowdsourcing for indie artists. Just don’t ask me for a hand-out – I donated to disaster relief for West, Texas.

 

 

Where goes Superman?

This past weekend, Henry Cavill’s new movie, COLD LIGHT OF DAY, bombed at the box office with nasty reviews and few dollars.  This is Cavill’s last movie as a civilian.  Next year, he either ascends superstardom or wallows in Brandon Routhdom as the next Superman in MAN OF STEEL.  Either way, he won’t be poor!:)

It’s also the Toronto Film Festival this week – one of my favorite film festivals from my old home town – and it always brings to mind my favorite topic about the battle between indie versus studio films.  And it is a reminder about a filmmaker’s passion and what kind of luck a film, its director and its actors can have.

It was at the Sundance Film Festival many years ago where AMERICAN PSYCHO blasted off to turn Christian into a star.  Indie films like JUNO became hits at a film festival when a major studio decided, “Hey, let’s buy this little movie and see how well it does!”  This month, I’m looking forward to seeing PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER because I loved the book, and I’d love to see how Emma Watson handles her post-POTTER career, and I think the next great actor is Ezra Miller.

In a similar way, my book, Christian Bale’s biography, is sort of like an indie film.  My publisher is smaller – think Summit Entertainment, not Paramount Pictures – and we had no advertising budget.  But the book has caught on and been doing well, consistently in the Top 100 Best Selling Celeb biographies on Amazon for the past 3 months.  Thank you all for your tremendous support!

The fan mail – yes, I’m getting mail! – has also been interesting as the nature of the readers have changed.  I think initially, hardcore Baleheads were bristling at any perceived criticism of their favorite actor.  But as the reviews have been getting out there, and people have been reading the book, the word of mouth is more like, “Wow, I didn’t know that!  I didn’t realize what it takes to be an actor!”

And this summer has been great proof of the power of fandom.  Witness the 2 Internet campaigns – the first one to get Christian to go to Colorado to visit the shooting victims, the second to visit with the cancer-stricken boy – I mean, really, Baleheads, you have to feel good about the power of the Internet and the continued proof of what’s in Christian’s biography – that fans have always mattered to his career.

I’m hard at work on my next book projects.  It’s too early to talk too much about them, but suffice it to say, you write what you know!:)