A new film, titled Reach Me, is the latest to jump into the public funding pool on Kickstarter. It’s a movie starring everyone from Sylvester Stallone to Kelsey Grammer which means it will definitely fuel the fire of those angered at celebrities trying to be independently financed with audiences’ hard earned dollars.
The new film, directed by Jim Herzfeld, had a investor pull out last minute. So Herzfeld and his large and impressive cast are looking for $250,000 to finish the flick. As of this writing, the film is has amassed roughly $37,500 with 22 days left to go.
The film is about a dozen characters all affected and dramatically changed due to a book titled Reach Me. Judging from Herzfeld’s words, the movie sounds independent minded and character driven, and it’ll probably be worth seeing.
To help pitch to audiences, Herzfeld is helped out in his video by famous faces like Thomas Jane and Stallone (both star in the film). It remains to be seen whether people will buy into Herzfeld’s plea for dollars considering the cast, but he says his actors have already worked for next to nothing and he has put in his life savings as it is.
It’s hard to group Reach Me in with other high profile film projects to hit Kickstarter and other public funding sites, but I’m sure it will be especially by the online critics out there. People like Spike Lee and Adam Carolla have pulled off similar pitches to audiences, but have also earned them a good share of criticism.
While people have been criticizing these high-profile filmmakers turning to public funding, it’s hard to blame them for connecting straight to their audiences and turning away from dying studios. Wouldn’t we rather see an artistic world where we choose what to support and what to see and where we have more control than people out of touch with America and its audiences? Who cares if the movies asking for money are from the world’s podcast king or Stallone?
At the end of the day, it’s all about choice and what’s more American than that?
Of course, I’m waiting for the government to jump in and determine which projects are worthy of public dollars, to make the whole process more “fair.” You laugh, scowl or shake your head all you want, but you know it’s entirely possible in today’s insane world.