{"id":656844,"date":"2013-05-08T15:51:08","date_gmt":"2013-05-08T19:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paidcontent.org\/?p=229099"},"modified":"2013-05-08T15:51:08","modified_gmt":"2013-05-08T19:51:08","slug":"big-hollywood-has-no-business-being-on-kickstarter-says-hollywood-insider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/656844","title":{"rendered":"Big Hollywood has no business being on Kickstarter, says Hollywood insider"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scrubs<\/em> star Zach Braff has raised around $2.5 million on Kickstarter to finance his new movie — and caused a major ruckus while doing so: Cheers<\/em> and Frasier<\/em> writer and veteran director and producer Ken Levine argued on his blog Tuesday<\/a> that Braff\u2019s project shouldn\u2019t be supported by Kickstarter users.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt defeats the whole purpose of Kickstarter,\u201d he said, arguing that Kickstarter should instead be for indie filmmakers who don\u2019t have access to the studio system.<\/p>\n

He went on to say:<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe next Kevin Smith is out there\u2026 somewhere. He (or she) just needs a break, which is what Kickstarter is supposed to provide. Zach Braff can find his money elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Levine\u2019s post struck a chord and went viral, leading him to follow up with another piece Wednesday<\/a>. In it, Levine shares his thoughts about another major Hollywood Kickstarter success story: the Veronica Mars<\/em> movie starring Kristen Bell. Veronica Mars<\/em> creator Rob Thomas took to Kickstarter<\/a> in March to fund a movie reunion of the show\u2019s cast, and hit his goal of $2 million in 10 hours.<\/p>\n

The Veronica Mars<\/em> Kickstarter was unique because it came with the blessing of Warner Bros., which is going to produce the movie. Thomas had tried for years to get Warner to front the money, but only got the project greenlit after Kickstarter users opened their wallets. \u201cKickstarter was a luxury for Braff, a necessity for Thomas,\u201d acknowledged Levine Wednesday. But he added that the real winner may have been Warner:<\/p>\n

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\u201cThey get a possible hit movie, they didn\u2019t have to lay out a cent for production, and they don’t have to share the profits with the investors. They give them T-shirts and souvenirs and they’re off the hook. How sweet a deal is that? On a project they didn\u2019t even believe in. What a win\/win. \u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Of course, there\u2019s a flip side to this, as our own Liz Miller argued earlier this year<\/a>: At this point in time, Kickstarter is still growing — and big projects with big names attached can help to bring new audiences to the crowdfunding site.<\/p>\n

But the controversy also points towards a bigger issue for Kickstarter and the types of projects it accepts. If patrons feel as if they\u2019re being asked to pay for projects that have no trouble getting funding elsewhere, then they might start to question the entire idea behind crowdfunding.<\/p>\n

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