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Kickstarter goes mainstream, raising $2 million in 10 hours for a studio film
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This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.

Mar 15, 2013
Listen 23:44
Kickstarter goes mainstream, raising $2 million in 10 hours for a studio film
Fans of the TV detective series 'Veronica Mars' have raised $3.3 million and counting to get the show onto the big screen. More than 50,000 people have made donations to the Veronica Mars movie project on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter and Warner Bros. agreed to distribute and market the film.
The Veronica Mars Movie Project set a new Kickstarter record yesterday by receiving $2 million in under 12 hours. As of March 15, 2013, the project has raised over $3 million and still has 28 days to go.
The Veronica Mars Movie Project set a new Kickstarter record yesterday by receiving $2 million in under 12 hours. As of March 15, 2013, the project has raised over $3 million and still has 28 days to go.
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Kickstarter Screenshot
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Fans of the TV detective series 'Veronica Mars' have raised $3.3 million and counting to get the show onto the big screen. More than 50,000 people have made donations to the Veronica Mars movie project on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter and Warner Bros. agreed to distribute and market the film.

Fans of the TV detective series 'Veronica Mars' have raised $3.3 million and counting to get the show onto the big screen. More than 50,000 people have made donations to the Veronica Mars movie project on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter and Warner Bros. agreed to distribute and market the film.

The show's creator Rob Thomas has been trying to get a movie off the ground since Veronica Mars went off the air in 2007. Warner Bros, which owns the rights, wasn't convinced there was enough interest to warrant a major studio-sized movie and the project never got off the ground. But Thomas got the idea to use Kickstarter and fans put their money where their mouth is.

The 'Veronica Mars' movie campaign was the biggest film campaign in Kickstarter history, and the fastest to reach the $1-million threshold. It represents a milestone in Hollywood moviemaking economics. So far, Kickstarter has successfully funded more than 9,000 films.

To supporters, it demonstrates that devoted fan communities can rally to support projects that mainstream studios might otherwise reject. But there is a lot of grumbling from the independent film community that major studios should not be using Kickstarter donations to fund film already pledged to a major Hollywood studio.

After all, Kickstarter was founded to help circumvent the cautious and risk-averse studio model. Should major studios be involved in crowdfunding? Will donations replace investment?
Already, other fan-loved but low rated shows are looking at this as a potential model. Bryan Fuller, creator of ABC's "Pushing Daisies," immediately emailed his agent to see if he too could use the crowd-funding site to resurrect his fan-loved show about a man who can bring people back to life." 

Shawn Ryan, creator of FX's "The Shield" and the network's short-lived detective drama "Terriers," posted Wednesday on Twitter: "Very interested to see how this Veronica Mars kickstarter [sic.] goes. Could be a model for a 'Terriers' wrap up film."

The project will continue to accept funds through April 12. Kristen Bell currently stars as Jeannie Van Der Hooven on Showtime's "House of Lies"

Guest:

Dawn Chmielewski, Entertainment industry reporter for the Los Angeles Times

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Host, AirTalk
Host, All Things Considered, AirTalk Friday
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Producer, AirTalk with Larry Mantle
Associate Producer, AirTalk with Larry Mantle
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