There are serious fans of movies, actors and actresses and musical groups out there. Some are nearly rabid with their zealotry, and some are more laid back about things. Steven Dengler is the type of fan that pledged $10,000 to Rob Thomas' Veronica Mars movie, making him the type of fan who puts his money where his mouth is.
He noted in a phone interview yesterday, "I'm not a superfan in the sense of knowing every line from every episode or anything like that. In fact, if you put me in with your average group of superfans, I'd probably get bounced pretty quickly... I would call myself a small-f 'fan' of the series."
Dengler is a fan of something beyond just the series and would-be film, however. He's a fan of crowdsourcing, the type of process used to raise money for the film through "Kickstarter," a service that allows anyone to contribute money to startup companies and projects. He notes, "What I love about Kickstarter is it really is empowering the artists, the people who create content, to go directly to the fan base and say, 'Look, let's skip this baloney.' Let's just make it and not involve this crazy stupid layer of people who think they know what you want."
The Veronica Mars movie raised over $1.3 million in just over 6 hours, so clearly there is something to this crowdsourcing thing. Dengler says he also expects that the series star and creator will pitch in as well, noting, "My experience with self-financed production is, 'Don't worry, they'll be kicking in.'" He also referenced the "piles and piles of invisible costs" that seem to come up with projects of this sort.
He noted in a phone interview yesterday, "I'm not a superfan in the sense of knowing every line from every episode or anything like that. In fact, if you put me in with your average group of superfans, I'd probably get bounced pretty quickly... I would call myself a small-f 'fan' of the series."
Dengler is a fan of something beyond just the series and would-be film, however. He's a fan of crowdsourcing, the type of process used to raise money for the film through "Kickstarter," a service that allows anyone to contribute money to startup companies and projects. He notes, "What I love about Kickstarter is it really is empowering the artists, the people who create content, to go directly to the fan base and say, 'Look, let's skip this baloney.' Let's just make it and not involve this crazy stupid layer of people who think they know what you want."
The Veronica Mars movie raised over $1.3 million in just over 6 hours, so clearly there is something to this crowdsourcing thing. Dengler says he also expects that the series star and creator will pitch in as well, noting, "My experience with self-financed production is, 'Don't worry, they'll be kicking in.'" He also referenced the "piles and piles of invisible costs" that seem to come up with projects of this sort.