Fans often complain when a show they like goes off air... the programmes being victims of strong fanbases that have the passion but not always the numbers to make continuing with the project a going concern. We ALL have a favourite show that disappeared from the schedules before its time. But the response to fan anger has largely been 'that enthusiasm is no substitute for money...' after all, most casts and crews need paying for their services and channels/distributors will only make a project if the all the bases are covered and there's an actual chance of their investment paying off. It's the 'business' side of show-business.
Veronica Mars was one such show - beloved by fans for its mix of teen angst, genuinely ingenious detective stories and given the distinctive 'teen noir' label. Kristen Bell played the title character, daughter of Californian town Neptune's local sheriff, who helped him out while also trying to discover (initially) who had murdered her best friend. Think 90210 meets Nancy Drew by way of a non-supernatural Twin Peaks. Buffy for the Raymond Chandler demographic. It was clever, funny, poignant - mixing enough drama, action and romantic complications to win it huge accolades but not a fourth season.
But for a long time, it's all been semantics. The idea that fans could come together to REALLY fund a revival of their favourites has been an oft-quoted but almost never enacted dream. So when Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas and the show's star Kristen Bell asked rights-owners Warner Bros. if they could be given the blessing to use the Kickstarter platform to assess interest in fans actually putting money where their worship was - Warners probably shrugged politely and ultimately said something along the lines of "Suuuuuure, if you can convince us there really is enough interest and raise $2 million that way, we give you our blessing ..."
So...the Kickstater campaign launched yesterday and in a new record the current total for pledges made stand at over $2,700,000... and highly likely to hit the $3million mark before the clock starts midnight tonight. With the best part of a month still to go, there's every reasonable chance that the film will have a budget exceeding $5 million. It would not be unrealistic to presume it could be considerably higher as news of the project filters out.
See HERE...
Rob Thomas originally posted, as the campaign began...
"Life has taken Veronica away from Neptune. In the years since spoiling Keith's chances to be reelected sheriff, Veronica hasn't taken a case. But something big is about to bring her back home and back to her calling. My goal is to include as many of your favorite characters as possible. It is, after all, time for Veronica’s 10-year high school reunion. Keep in mind that the more money we raise, the cooler movie we can make. A two million dollar fundraising total probably means cross words are exchanged at the class reunion. Three million? We can afford a full-on brawl. Ten million? Who knows... For some reason the Neptune High class reunion takes place on a nuclear submarine! A Hobbit shows up! There’s a Bollywood end-credit dance number! I’ve always wanted to direct Bill Murray. We’ll figure out something cool. Hey, if that total goes high enough, I’ll bet the good folks at Warner Bros. will agree a sequel is a good idea..." Thanks to everyone who hasn't lost faith..."
With the total rising faster than ANYONE expected, he added...
"We were the fastest Kickstarter project to hit $1M. We were the fastest Kickstarter project to hit $2M. We set the record for highest goal ever achieved. (Other KS projects have done better than us -- so far -- but none set a goal as high as our $2M goal.) We're also the largest film project in Kickstarter history. Cannot thank everyone enough."
It would seem, all pledges being honoured and a resurgence of interest in the project itself, that a Veronica Mars movie is now not only possible, but highly likely to go into production during this summer, with Kristen Bell and most core members of the cast returning. But the implications of this are quite massive. If Veronica Mars can be returned to the screen by pooling fans' resources and creative-types' goodwill, then it means that real-time funding really did just take a leap forward.
BUT... it's not ALL out and out good news. Some serious questions are already being asked. The caveat will be that because this has never suceeded before, there are legal implications that might ultimately be cleared, but could - in the meantime - at least test areas of the business that Hollywood might not want to disturb.
"It would be a catastrophe for the studio system," said one film-maker to Impact, pointing to serious problems that often occur AFTER a film is made and released. "Say the movie beats Avatar's box office record. One investor grumbles that they deserve a share of the pie. A lawyer jumps onboard. Before you know it, there's a class action lawsuit. It could conceivably, finally, be the thing that overturns the non-transparency of the studio accountancy system..."
Kickstarter might well argue that its set-up essentially has people buying products which, in turn, help a project rather than the purchasers being legally 'investors' of the said final final-product. However, that's always been a point of debate and in a litigious society, (see news-stories HERE , HERE and another more positive but still cautious one HERE ) there IS an argument to be made that any deal will likely be subject to the whims of differing views and scrutiny before, during and after. We'd agree that there are tons of legalities that will have to be closely examined for this to work even in a case where a project like Veronica Mars has the co-operation of creator, star and studio in alignment... and therefore even less likely for other projects with even bigger rights-issues. Joss Whedon has been asked about whether this affects the chances of another Firefly/Serenity and has pointed out that that still remains unlikely given his and his stars' respective schedules and different situation. (Read his comments HERE).
However, for the moment, we're so excited in the potential of seeing Veronica back that we've created an 'anti-cancelled' symbol just for this.
We'll see how this story develops. One way or another, there could be big, if not immediate implications...
