Kickstarter was good to a lot of artistic projects long before the idea of a "Veronica Mars" movie spurred fans to contribute $5.7 million to make it happen. And now other filmmakers are jumping on the bandwagon -- the most recent being former "Scrubs" star Zach Braff, who hopes to raise just $2 million via Kickstarter to fund his next film, "Wish I Was Here."
With 30 days to go (as of Wednesday), he has more than ten percent of what he needs to make the "Garden State" follow-up. According to the Kickstarter description, he says he was about to go the traditional route of trying to finance the film, but the sacrifices he expected he'd have to make "would have ultimately hurt" it.
"After I saw the incredible way 'Veronica Mars' fans rallied around Kristen Bell and her show's creator Rob Thomas, I couldn't help but think (like I'm sure so many other independent filmmakers did) maybe there is a new way to finance smaller, personal films that didn't involve signing away all your artistic control," he said on the site.
Visitors to the site can check out a preview of the story, a short video from Braff talking about making the film. There are some drawings, pictures of Braff hamming it up and a funny/informative Frequently Asked Questions section (Q: "Why do famous people keep breaking into your house?" A: "They know I keep my fridge stocked with Fresca.")
And then there are the rewards -- those pledging $10 get access to the production diary and a PDF of the screenplay; the incremental rewards go all the way up to $10,000 where one lucky person can get to be a cast member, with a line, in the film.
Alas, that one's already taken.
Braff's Kickstarter runs until May 24.