If a celebrity asked me for money to make a film without a profit sharing scheme in place and with no hope of ever getting my money back, Id probably tell them to stick a boom mic somewhere rather painful. But if you starred in Scrubs and do it over the internet, people youve never met will throw up to thousands of dollars at you. In the past few weeks, a lot has been said (including
a very fair defence on this site) about Scrubs star Zach Braff using crowd-funding website Kickstarter to fund his film Wish I Was Here, a comedy he is directing and starring in. Over 39,000 people have given him money, even more couldnt care less, and a small number of people including
Screen Junkies think that him asking people to donate money for his film is a load of bull. Im one of that second lot of people, so here are 6 reasons why Zach Braff shouldnt be on Kickstarter...
6. He Asked For A Ridiculous Amount
The goals of people on Kickstarter are sometimes a bit pie in the sky. Ive seen people looking for $50,000 worth of funding before now and Im sure there are some people who have asked for more. But Zach Braff has taken that to a whole new level with his Kickstarter request for Wish I Was Here: $2 million. Asking for $2 million from total strangers for what sounds like a vanity project is just taking the mick. If it was a Kickstarter for some kind of charity project with a more modest budget, Id personally be more than happy to kick in a few quid. Wish I Was Here, on the other hand, is a way for Zach Braff to make money with a ridiculous financial goal that donors are expected to help reach without ever seeing a penny of the films profits. Whats even more astonishing that hes making requests for up to $10,000 from individual people. Kickstarters not there to raise millions of dollars. Youd be hard pressed to find someone on there whose project deserves millions of dollars, to be honest. But if you are asking for that kind of money, the rewards you offer had better be pretty damn spectacular. Which brings me to my next point...