The Studios
Its almost paradoxical to claim that a project like the Veronica Mars Kickstarter is a good thing for studios but its true. So how and why is that the case? Obviously, a major factor in any studio decision is money, and a project like VM actually lends itself to posing little financial risk to the studio that takes it on. Heres how things went down in the Veronica Mars case: Rob Thomas wanted to make a movie with his creation, but Warner Brothers still owns the rights to the property and didnt see the financial viability of it which is why it languished in wish-land for so long. Thomas last-ditch effort was to propose a Kickstarter, and after a period of legal wrangling, the idea got the go-ahead from the studio, with these stipulations: if, and only if, Thomas crowd-sourcing effort could raise the $2 million required, Warner Brothers Digital would handle marketing and distribution for the finished product a situation that translates into a win-win for WB. Had the project failed, the studio lost nothing, and with its success, they save the production costs and gain positive PR.
In the realm of potentiality, the success of this crowd-funded project might actually benefit studios by showing them that certain risks come with guaranteed benefits. What I mean is this: as weve established, the Veronica Mars project was relatively low-risk for Warner Brothers. It may be a small-scale project compared to many of the studios other offerings, but the WB is also virtually guaranteed a strong return relative to their investment. It makes sense that fans who pledged anywhere from $25 and up to get the movie started will shell out for theater tickets and DVD copies as well, so the trade-off is simple: a smaller, niche audience, sure, but one that is for all intents and purposes locked in from the get-go. What this means for the future in terms of studio filmmaking is really and truly anyones guess. It may be that Veronica Mars is the only property to get this treatment, but odds are that wont be the case. If nothing else, the project has to have gotten studio executives thinking, and as time goes on we may find that it has opened new doors in terms of the business model studios have when it comes to niche projects like this and thats a good thing.