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Zach Braff Turns to Kickstarter for Directing Effort 'Wish I Was Here'

by Ethan Anderton
April 24, 2013
Source: Kickstarter

It's been nearly ten years since "Scrubs" star Zach Braff made his directorial debut with Garden State, a film that I still love unconditionally, even if other critics believe it hasn't aged well. Many have been waiting for Braff to get back behind the camera, and now it sounds like that's finally going to happen, but only with help from his adoring fans. Following in the footsteps of the recent Veronica Mars success, Braff has taken to Kickstarter to collect funding for his sophomore directing effort, a comedic drama titled Wish I Was Here, which will again feature Braff in the lead, working from a script he wrote with brother Adam Braff.

Here's a video introducing Wish I Was Here in Zach Braff's own entertaining way:

And here's how the story is described on Kickstarter:

'Wish I Was Here' is the story of Aidan Bloom (to be played by Braff), a struggling actor, father and husband, who at 35 is still trying to find his identity; a purpose for his life. He and his wife are barely getting by financially and Aidan passes his time by fantasizing about being the great futuristic Space-Knight he'd always dreamed he'd be as a little kid.

When his ailing father can no longer afford to pay for private school for his two kids (ages 5 and 12) and the only available public school is on its last legs, Aidan reluctantly agrees to attempt to home-school them.

The result is some funny chaos, until Aidan decides to scrap the traditional academic curriculum and come up with his own. Through teaching them about life his way, Aidan gradually discovers some of the parts of himself he couldn't find.

The struggling actor angle is a bit recycled since that's exactly what Braff's character was in Garden State, but maybe that just makes it a little more personal. What's interesting is the time and production design that will be spent on Aidan's fantasy sequence. The Kickstarter page features these two pieces of concept art showing what those sequences might look like:

Something that intrigues and excites me is that Larry Sher, the man who made Garden State look gorgeous, is back as the cinematographer. And with this project funded by Kickstarter, Braff points out all the bonuses like having final cut, determining his own cast without interference, and all the perks that come with being an auteur with no studio or executives to answer to before making a final decision. Plus, if you donate, there are some cool perks, including weekly updates about the soundtrack from Braff himself (more information here). Here's hoping this works out for Braff, and stay tuned for more information. Go here to donate!

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