Following the success of Rob Thomas’ Kickstarter for Veronica Mars, Zach Braff has opened up his own Kickstarter campaign to fund his follow up to Garden State. He says the typical financing deal he was about to sign would have resulted in a lot of sacrifices that would ultimately hurt the film.
I was about to sign a typical financing deal in order to get the money to make “Wish I Was Here,” my follow up to “Garden State.” It would have involved making a lot of sacrifices I think would have ultimately hurt the film. I’ve been a backer for several projects on Kickstarter and thought the concept was fascinating and revolutionary for artists and innovators of all kinds. But I didn’t imagine it could work on larger-scale projects. I was wrong.
After I saw the incredible way “Veronica Mars” fans rallied around Kristen Bell and her show’s creator Rob Thomas, I couldn’t help but think (like I’m sure so many other independent filmmakers did) maybe there is a new way to finance smaller, personal films that didn’t involve signing away all your artistic control.
However, El Mayimbe from Latino Review wants you to take this plea for artistic integrity with a grain of salt because, “Zach is going to flip his film at Sundance for a minimum guarantee of at least $2-$5 million. Keep that in mind while contemplating donating.” Basically using Kickstarter as a way to line his pockets some more and maybe keep his vision intact.
All the insider stuff aside, what exactly is this film, Wish I Was Here, about and why should you donate?
“Wish I Was Here” is the story of Aidan Bloom (played by me), a struggling actor, father and husband, who at 35 is still trying to find his identity; a purpose for his life. He and his wife are barely getting by financially and Aidan passes his time by fantasizing about being the great futuristic Space-Knight he’d always dreamed he’d be as a little kid.
When his ailing father can no longer afford to pay for private school for his two kids (ages 5 and 12) and the only available public school is on its last legs, Aidan reluctantly agrees to attempt to home-school them.
The result is some funny chaos, until Aidan decides to scrap the traditional academic curriculum and come up with his own. Through teaching them about life his way, Aidan gradually discovers some of the parts of himself he couldn’t find.
It was written by my brother, Adam, and me last summer.
To sum it up, a movie about first world problems, whimsy and self-discovery. The ABC’s of indie films.