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| Zach Braff Kickstarter controversy deepens after financier bolsters budget | Zach Braff Kickstarter controversy deepens after financier bolsters budget |
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| It was Scrubs star Zach Braff who announced that his new comedy – the follow-up to 2004's well-received Garden State – could not get made without the help of fans' financial support on crowdfunding site Kickstarter. But a month on from launching a high-profile campaign to raise funding for independent film Wish I Was Here, Braff has not only hit his $2m Kickstarter target but secured millions of dollars in extra support from a traditional film financier. | It was Scrubs star Zach Braff who announced that his new comedy – the follow-up to 2004's well-received Garden State – could not get made without the help of fans' financial support on crowdfunding site Kickstarter. But a month on from launching a high-profile campaign to raise funding for independent film Wish I Was Here, Braff has not only hit his $2m Kickstarter target but secured millions of dollars in extra support from a traditional film financier. |
| The Hollywood Reporter revealed on Wednesday that Worldview Entertainment is stepping in with extra funds that will take the film's total budget to about $10m. "Zach has proven again that he is a creative force in independent film, and we were immediately drawn to his powerful and unique story," Worldview CEO Christopher Woodrow told the site at the Cannes film festival. | The Hollywood Reporter revealed on Wednesday that Worldview Entertainment is stepping in with extra funds that will take the film's total budget to about $10m. "Zach has proven again that he is a creative force in independent film, and we were immediately drawn to his powerful and unique story," Worldview CEO Christopher Woodrow told the site at the Cannes film festival. |
| Kickstarter is increasingly used by film-makers to raise finance for movies. Last month, producers of the Veronica Mars TV show secured a staggering $5.702m (£3.70m) to revive the detective series as a feature film. In September, the Charlie Kaufman-scripted stop-motion film Anomalisa raised a then-record $406,237 (£250,600). | Kickstarter is increasingly used by film-makers to raise finance for movies. Last month, producers of the Veronica Mars TV show secured a staggering $5.702m (£3.70m) to revive the detective series as a feature film. In September, the Charlie Kaufman-scripted stop-motion film Anomalisa raised a then-record $406,237 (£250,600). |
| Wish I Was Here is written by Braff and his brother Adam. Braff will direct and play the lead role of a father, actor and husband struggling to find his identity. Braff admitted in a video directed at fans as part of his Kickstarter campaign that he was close to a traditional financing deal to shoot the film, but didn't want to give up the final cut and the right to pick the cast. In response, fans donated $2.6m. | Wish I Was Here is written by Braff and his brother Adam. Braff will direct and play the lead role of a father, actor and husband struggling to find his identity. Braff admitted in a video directed at fans as part of his Kickstarter campaign that he was close to a traditional financing deal to shoot the film, but didn't want to give up the final cut and the right to pick the cast. In response, fans donated $2.6m. |
| But Twitter users and bloggers subsequently questioned why the actor, former star of the hugely successful, long-running sitcom Scrubs, did not simply use his own cash to make Wish I Was Here. Others wondered if it was reasonable to ask fans to contribute when they would not benefit if the movie became a surprise box office hit. News that traditional funding has been secured from a financier that will presumably want a return on its investment may further cloud the question. | But Twitter users and bloggers subsequently questioned why the actor, former star of the hugely successful, long-running sitcom Scrubs, did not simply use his own cash to make Wish I Was Here. Others wondered if it was reasonable to ask fans to contribute when they would not benefit if the movie became a surprise box office hit. News that traditional funding has been secured from a financier that will presumably want a return on its investment may further cloud the question. |
| In an interview with the LA Times about his Kickstarter campaign last month, Braff denied suggestions he had "Oprah Winfrey money". He said: "I've done well in my career, but I am not sitting on $22m. I'm doing this so that one negative audience comment in a test screening won't force me to change the end of my movie." | In an interview with the LA Times about his Kickstarter campaign last month, Braff denied suggestions he had "Oprah Winfrey money". He said: "I've done well in my career, but I am not sitting on $22m. I'm doing this so that one negative audience comment in a test screening won't force me to change the end of my movie." |
| He also said he felt fans were being well-rewarded for their contributions, with special early screenings and after-parties available to many. | He also said he felt fans were being well-rewarded for their contributions, with special early screenings and after-parties available to many. |
| In response to the Hollywood Reporter's story, Braff posted an entry on his Kickstarter page denying that Worldwide's intervention suggested a radically different picture from the one initially presented to fans. | |
| He wrote: "The story out there about the movie being fully funded by some financier is wrong. I have said on here and in every interview I've done on this project that the film would be fully financed from three sources, my Kickstarter backers, my own money [and] pre-selling foreign theatrical distribution. | |
| "Those three amounts will bring us to a budget of around five to six million dollars. Nothing about the making of this movie has changed. This movie is happening because backers funded it. | |
| "The traditional way is to have a financier put up the money and then sell the foreign rights. What I did, was to say to my fans, 'If you and I provide the capital, we don't need some rich dude dictating how we make the movie; we can then go sell foreign distibution and we'll be all the way to our goal. Are you interested in that?' So far 38,455 people have said yes. | |
| "What happened today is that a financial company agreed to fill in the gap between what Kickstarter backers have funded and what I have put in, and what the movie will actually cost. Shooting could not happen without this." |