When the production team behind The Doctor's Case film project needed funding, they had fewer options than most movie producers. They are working within the creative confines of Stephen King's Dollar Baby Program, which means their pitch was so compelling, they got the rights to this never-before-filmed story written by master storyteller King for only $1, but the catch of the program is, it can't be for commercial release only artistic showings.
Project lead James Douglas had already convinced King's team of his merits, so it was with that courage and confidence he approached the general community.
So confident were he and co-producers Norm Coyne and Kim Feragan that they put the call out on the Kickstarter crowd-sourcing website. The difference there is, you have to set a financial target and if you don't reach that target, the donors get their money back. The proponent gets none.
"We were scared from the get-go but we did have a deep confidence that it would all work out," Douglas said. "We had looked at a variety of platforms, and when we saw the track record of the productions we aspired to be like, it seemed like Kickstarter was the way a lot of those people went. It really gets people's crowd-funding juices flowing. That idea that it's all or nothing makes us work super hard and be realistic about the amount we ask for. I hope that was a wise target we set. It will cost us more than $100,000 to make the film, but we realistically felt like $40,000 was the amount the public would get behind. Seventy-two hours before the end of our campaign we were starting to wonder if it was going to get over the line, but that's when an angel came in with a $10,000 pledge, so we ended up over our target, and every single one of our backers gets their name in the credits."
Douglas got caught up in his own Kickstarter fever over a film project, which helped him set his mind to the possibilities of this sort of public-as-producer opportunity. He and his wife were big fans of the Veronica Mars television franchise, and when it used Kickstarter as a platform to launch a spinoff, they invested some of their money to get their name in the credits (a fun perk) and help out a production they believed in (the main perk).
"That's how we realized the value of a campaign like this and the way a creative vision has to source production money. It doesn't matter if you're a big name like theirs or a new name like ours, you have to stand up for your funding, it doesn't just arrive in a brown envelope because it's a good idea or there are some big names attached," Douglas said.
He has some big names attached to The Doctor's Case. Actors like Denise Crosby and Michael Coleman, rock star music producer Ken "Hiwatt" Marshall, singer-songwriter Jer Breaks and other key personalities are all signed on. A great many of them are from the Cariboo where a majority of the film will be shot (also some in Victoria utilizing Craigdarroch Castle).
Shooting is expected to begin in April, for the Victoria scenes. Then in Prince George, Barkerville, and other Cariboo locations starting in May and extending into June.
It is happening, said Douglas, only because the public saw the benefits in the project and offered cash for the cause, only for the sake of the story and the film.
"The lesson we can all take away from this is an important one," he said. "We can help control the course of art, and take part personally in something we believe in. That is how community is built."
