Zach Braff wants your Kickstarter money for a Garden State follow up

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Not only do I find the idea of giving a rich guy large amounts of money to fund a for-profit venture abhorrent, but I can't stand Zach Braff. Just looking at the guy's smug, self-important rubber face annoys the shit out of me.
 
White Man said:
Once again, people: STOP ENCOURAGING ZACH BRAFF TO HAVE A CAREER. In doing so you are just enabling an eventual future where he will end up playing Egon in a Ghostbusters remake. You'll all feel sorry then. Some of us already feel sorry.
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I'm ok with that random suggestion!
 
I just find it offensive that you have to pay $150 to get the DVD. Probably the worst kickstarter rewards I've ever seen to be quite honest.
 
It's actually almost fun to watch. The more money pledges he receives, the madder the responses get.

I completely get the hate for him but once again, I just... don't hate him.
 
LongDongJunon said:
It's actually almost fun to watch. The more money pledges he receives, the madder the responses get.

I completely get the hate for him but once again, I just... don't hate him.
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It wasn't really a question that people would pay him (chicks fucking love Garden State). Its just annoying to see.
 
It's not like I have any opposition to using Kickstarter for this purpose, it's just that his movie concept sounds like the worst most cliche hipster project ever.

I can even hear the cigarette-scarred voice narrating the trailer now

IN A WORLD WHERE A MAN IS SEARCHING FOR MEANING
*image of Zach Braff staring at a THE SHINS CD absently*
AND ALL HE HAS LEFT IS HIS EMPTY DREAMS
*"Space Knight to the rescue! Nobody will stop me on my way to Volgar 9!"*
AIDAN IS SOON GOING TO REALIZE THAT SOME THINGS IN LIFE
*flashes images of his family while Space Knight flies in perspective through the sky*
MEAN MORE THAN OTHERS
 
Love all the delicious hate.

Garden State is one of my favourite movies ever made, so I'm happy as fuck that Zach gets to get the movie he envisions without anyone telling him what he can and cannot do.
 
If I perform in the movie as a cast member or extra, will I be in the final cut?

I can’t guarantee that you will be in the final cut of the movie, but I do have the best intentions for offering these rewards. Movies can change a lot in the editing room, but I will try to keep my backers in the final cut unless it’s at the expense of story.
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So people who pledge $2500 to be an extra may not end up being an extra in the final version.
 
CoolS said:
Love all the delicious hate.

Garden State is one of my favourite movies ever made, so I'm happy as fuck that Zach gets to get the movie he envisions without anyone telling him what he can and cannot do.
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Yeah, we should celebrate rich Hollywood types panhandling just so they don't have to owe anyone anything.
 
I would sympathize with an aspiring filmmaker who wants to make a film true to his/her vision. But someone who's established in the industry? Nah.
 
My question is, why doesn't the person who funded Garden State fund this? It proved financially successful to let Zach do what he wanted, and it's not a lot of money...
 
These kinds of projects would only really make sense if the donors were paid back upon it being successful in the box office.. so an advance rather than a donation. Instead, Zach Braff gets all of that money + all of the kickstart $$$. ballin
 
Amir0x said:
It's not like I have any opposition to using Kickstarter for this purpose, it's just that his movie concept sounds like the worst most cliche hipster project ever.

I can even hear the cigarette-scarred voice narrating the trailer now

IN A WORLD WHERE A MAN IS SEARCHING FOR MEANING
*image of Zach Braff staring at a THE SHINS CD absently*
AND ALL HE HAS LEFT IS HIS EMPTY DREAMS
*"Space Knight to the rescue! Nobody will stop me on my way to Volgar 9!"*
AIDAN IS SOON GOING TO REALIZE THAT SOME THINGS IN LIFE
*flashes images of his family while Space Knight flies in perspective through the sky*
MEAN MORE THAN OTHERS
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Amir0x stretch goal rewrite is needed
 
Don't really see the issue people are having with this kickstarter. If you don't like it just don't contribute to it. I didn't.

DarkFlow said:
He's already about halfway there, MJH should be put on sucide watch about now.
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That "Walk Of Shame" title is starting to look pretty ironic.

cacophony said:
These kinds of projects would only really make sense if the donors were paid back upon it being successful in the box office.. so an advance rather than a donation. Instead, Zach Braff gets all of that money + all of the kickstart $$$. ballin
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These projects make sense if you can reach your goal. Which he will. I'm not convinced there's anyone here that wouldn't do the same thing if they had the opportunity.
 
Nope.


confuziz said:
Would you have risked your own money?

Exactly. Stop being a hypocrite.
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If my investment portfolio read something like $50 million and I had a personal project I wanted to realize for a couple mill, that would almost definitely net me a return in the thousands of percent regardless? Uhhh, yes?
 
VARIA said:
This reminds me of that millionaire mom trying to get money to send her daughter to rpg-maker camp.
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I never thought I'd say this, but at least they had the foresight to offer the "game" as a reward to their backers.

Braff is literally saying, "Give me your money as insurance in case my investment fails."

He's not offering them the film as a reward.

And even the FAQ at the bottom of the page says that people who pledge $2500 to be an extra might get cut out of the film anyway. LOL.
 
inm8num2 said:
I never thought I'd say this, but at least they had the foresight to offer the "game" as a reward to their backers.

Braff is literally saying, "Give me your money as insurance in case my investment fails."

He's not offering them the film as a reward.

And even the FAQ at the bottom of the page says that people who pledge $2500 to be an extra might get cut out of the film anyway. LOL.
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Honestly its disgusting. I like faison, parsons, and hardwick but their involvement in this ponzi scheme has lowered my opinion of them.
 
Foxy Fox 39 said:
Honestly its disgusting. I like faison, parsons, and hardwick but their involvement in this ponzi scheme has lowered my opinion of them.
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But Braff did an AMA on reddit so he's cool in my book. ;)

Yes, I agree that this is pretty reprehensible at face value. I don't pretend to know of any ulterior motives, but I don't think Braff needs the money nor do I think he's even giving people much incentive to pledge other than relying purely on name/facial recognition.
 
inm8num2 said:
I never thought I'd say this, but at least they had the foresight to offer the "game" as a reward to their backers.

Braff is literally saying, "Give me your money as insurance in case my investment fails."

He's not offering them the film as a reward.

And even the FAQ at the bottom of the page says that people who pledge $2500 to be an extra might get cut out of the film anyway. LOL.
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Honestly, the whole thing feels like a thinly veiled scam. It isn't that he's doing something "wrong" by raising funds in any way he sees fit, but it seems like its not very transparent what's actually going on here to the kind of person who would "invest" in this.
 
border said:
He pretty clearly explains why they aren't offering DVD or downloadable copies of the film.
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I saw the explanation, and I understand his reasoning, but in practicality by not offering the final product as a reward he reduces incentive, among other things. Yes, yes, KS is not a store...

Plus, if he doesn't want distribution rights to be affected by crowdfunding, why crowdfund in the first place?

Then again he could always offer the download for AFTER the film has had its theatrical run. Assuming it's successful and makes a modest profit, it would be more than doable to give people download codes when the film is sold digitally. So I call bullshit on his excuse for not offering it at all.

I wish I could give you all everything you want. Unfortunately, giving away the movie could scare off the good distributors for movies like this, because the theater chains insist on having the “first run” of movies before they are available on DVD or digitally. I want all my fans to be able to see this movie in their hometown theaters on the big screen if they want to. I hope you like the rewards I am offering, and if there’s something you don’t see on the page, please comment and let me know.
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Bell did her right. They raised money to prove to the studio they had an audience and to fund a big chunk of the budget. These seems like a money grab. If you believe in something you will put your own money into it, his lawyer and agent are probably saying don't because they are in the money making business not the risk business.

it just seems to be if Braff believed in the project he would use his own money as a good faith showing to fans and studios that his heart is fully committed to the project. Right now it seems that is a, if I get money great, if not all well I got other projects I can do. Seems lazy.
 
inm8num2 said:
I saw the explanation, and I understand his reasoning, but in practicality by not offering the final product as a reward he reduces incentive, among other things. Yes, yes, KS is not a store...

Plus, if he doesn't want distribution rights to be affected by crowdfunding, why crowdfund in the first place?

Then again he could always offer the download for AFTER the film has had its theatrical run. Assuming it's successful and makes a modest profit, it would be more than doable to give people download codes when the film is sold digitally. So I call bullshit on his excuse for not offering it at all.
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Reading between the lines, it's because he doesn't want to sell only theatrical distribution. There are certainly ways that he could accomodate DVDs or digital on a delayed schedule, but that is a more direct threat to selling home video rights, and would be a further negative for theatrical, since it might encourage backers to wait for their reward.

Gotta make the public fund the production and pay for the product.
 
Angry Grimace said:
Honestly, the whole thing feels like a thinly veiled scam. It isn't that he's doing something "wrong" by raising funds in any way he sees fit, but it seems like its not very transparent what's actually going on here to the kind of person who would "invest" in this.
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To me it's not an outright scam like the "OMG LOOK AT MY 9 YEAR OLD WHO'S BUILDING A GAME TO PROVE HER MEAN OLDER BROTHERS WRONG!!!"

This is more of a tasteless, poorly thought project that is riding the wave from Veronica Mars. At least VM offered the movie as part of their rewards. They also explained that the project had been stalled because producers didn't think people were interested. I didn't back it since I thought they didn't really need the cash either and could get it from private financiers, but if their goal was to show there was an audience for a VM movie I can accept that.

On the other hand, Braff is saying, "I don't want to work with a studio because they'll compromise my vision, so gimme." Unless I'm mistaken he didn't mention anything about studios or producers not being interested or having trouble pitching the project. So he really, truly doesn't need kickstarter at all. But he knows he can pull it off because he's taken the time to do AMAs on reddit and appear to be "cool" with the all the fans and young whippersnappers on the internet. If Braff is whining about his artistic vision being compromised or not having say on final cut, someone should call him a fuckin' whambulance. Ask Ridley Scott how he felt when Kingdom of Heaven was butchered down to its theatrical cut. Every person in Hollywood, even top directors, has to work with producers and reach a medium ground. This often involves compromising a part of their vision. Braff thinks he's an exception to this?

And that's the problem. Kickstarter is about giving a chance to people who can't otherwise get their projects off the ground. Braff is just being selfish, greedy, and lazy. But he's going to meet his goal, so I guess more power to him?

Like I said, I'm waiting for the Michael Bay Transformers kickstarter.
 
inm8num2 said:
I saw the explanation, and I understand his reasoning, but in practicality by not offering the final product as a reward he reduces incentive, among other things. Yes, yes, KS is not a store...
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1 million dollars in under 12 hours -- seems like there's already more than enough incentive.

And as it's already been pointed out, he's going to sell DVD/Digital distribution rights to the film. It becomes more difficult to do that if the person buying those rights is told "Okay, you're going to have to give free copies of this movie to all the people that are most likely to purchase it."

Veronica Mars could offer the movie as a reward because it already has a secured home video distributor who is cool with the rewards.
 
border said:
1 million dollars in under 12 hours -- seems like there's already more than enough incentive.
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The incentive has primarily been name/facial recognition. I'd love to poll the backers and see how many know they're not getting a copy of the movie.

Hey, if it's that important to help Braff make the movie that's cool. It's their choice. But the project isn't for me.

And as it's already been pointed out, he's going to sell DVD/Digital distribution rights to the film. It becomes more difficult to do that if the person buying those rights is told "Okay, you're going to have to give free copies of this movie to all the people that are most likely to purchase it."
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So he wants people to fund the movie, then he wants to sell the rights and keep the profits. Cool, but typically you can't have your cake and eat it too. He should either pick crowdfunding and independent distribution or working with a studio/distributor.

The question isn't whether people are interested or whether he can pull it off. The questions/concerns people have relate to other, deeper issues.
 
I wish a big name would come out and do something like this with the intent of sharing the profits with everybody involved based on how much they put in.

Joseph-Gordon Levitt sort of does this with hotRECord, where a bunch of people collaborate on a project and when/if it makes money a check is split and sent to each of the collaborators.

Kickstarter doesn't seem like the right platform for this kind of thing. But hey, people are tossing in their money so what the fuck do I know.
 
inm8num2 said:
Ask Ridley Scott how he felt when Kingdom of Heaven was butchered down to its theatrical cut. Every person in Hollywood, even top directors, has to work with producers and reach a medium ground. This often involves compromising a part of their vision. Braff thinks he's an exception to this?
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Ask Ridley Scott if he would have run a Kickstarter campaign for Kingdom of Heaven if it meant that he got final cut. I'll bet you he would have done it.

It's one thing to argue that Braff could probably find a financier willing to give him final cut on Wish I Was Here, but it seems a little dumb to say that he should accept the status quo just because "every other director has to".

inm8num2 said:
The incentive has primarily been name/facial recognition. I'd love to poll the backers and see how many know they're not getting a copy of the movie.
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Do you really think people are just blindly selecting any reward level and assuming that they get a copy of the movie? I don't think people on Kickstarter are really THAT dumb.

Anyone pledging $30 or more gets to watch the movie for free in an online screening....which seems like more than a fair compromise. I presume that's been a pretty driving incentive.
 
You can't compare this to the Veronica Mars KS at all. That was for a show already made that had a fan base who WANTED a movie. This is just Zach Braff himself wanting to make a movie (money)
 
border said:
Ask Ridley Scott if he would have run a Kickstarter campaign for Kingdom of Heaven if it meant that he got final cut. I'll bet you he would have done it.

It's one thing to argue that Braff could probably find a financier willing to give him final cut on Wish I Was Here, but it seems a little dumb to say that he should accept the status quo just because "every other director has to".
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That's how the business works. You give a little and you get a little. Few people in Hollywood have the pull to maintain complete creative control. And no, Braff isn't one of those people. That's not dumb - that's basic fact. He's making an exception for himself here.

I didn't say he should accept the status quo because others do. I said that the business involves compromise. But you snipped out much of my post and took it out of context, so perhaps that's why you don't understand the point being made.

Do you really think people are just blindly selecting any reward level and assuming that they get a copy of the movie? I don't think people on Kickstarter are really THAT dumb.
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I'd bet my life savings there are people who aren't aware they don't get a copy of the movie. I didn't say this was the case for every single person.

Anyone pledging $30 or more gets to watch the movie for free in an online screening....which seems like more than a fair compromise. I presume that's been a pretty driving incentive.
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You're acting like offering people to watch a stream of the movie they funded is some glorious, overly generous act. It's the bare minimum of what's expected in exchange for their financial support.
 
inm8num2 said:
That's how the business works. You give a little and you get a little. Few people in Hollywood have the pull to maintain complete creative control. And no, Braff isn't one of those people. That's not dumb - that's basic fact. He's making an exception for himself here.

I didn't say he should accept the status quo because others do. I said that the business involves compromise. But you snipped out much of my post and took it out of context, so perhaps that's why you don't understand the point being made.
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You keep talking about "HOLLYWOOD", except that his goal is pretty obviously to operate out of the Hollywood production system.....or what you refer to as "the business". You seem to want to paint Braff as spoiled or selfish because even Ridley Scott has to accept studio control. It's a ridiculous comparison though. Scott makes movies that cost over 150 million dollars....so yes there has to be compromise. I gotta imagine that Scott or Spielberg or whoever would want and expect control over a 2 million dollar production.....especially if his last 2M movie went on to gross nearly 20 times its budget. I'd argue that dealing with a 2 million dollar budget is the compromise in instances like this.

You're acting like offering people to watch a stream of the movie they funded is some glorious, overly generous act. It's the bare minimum of what's expected in exchange for their financial support.
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I don't know how "more than a fair compromise" was construed by you to mean "glorious, overly generous act". If they can't or won't give people a copy, the next best thing is to let them watch it at home with friends on a given date/time.
 
Amir0x said:
It's not like I have any opposition to using Kickstarter for this purpose, it's just that his movie concept sounds like the worst most cliche hipster project ever.

I can even hear the cigarette-scarred voice narrating the trailer now

IN A WORLD WHERE A MAN IS SEARCHING FOR MEANING
*image of Zach Braff staring at a THE SHINS CD absently*
AND ALL HE HAS LEFT IS HIS EMPTY DREAMS
*"Space Knight to the rescue! Nobody will stop me on my way to Volgar 9!"*
AIDAN IS SOON GOING TO REALIZE THAT SOME THINGS IN LIFE
*flashes images of his family while Space Knight flies in perspective through the sky*
MEAN MORE THAN OTHERS
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God, it's going to be slacker Brazil, isn't it?

NaughtyCalibur said:
I wish a big name would come out and do something like this with the intent of sharing the profits with everybody involved based on how much they put in.

Joseph-Gordon Levitt sort of does this with hotRECord, where a bunch of people collaborate on a project and when/if it makes money a check is split and sent to each of the collaborators.

Kickstarter doesn't seem like the right platform for this kind of thing. But hey, people are tossing in their money so what the fuck do I know.
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Yeah, for things that get into the millions, profit sharing seems a much better way of rewarding investment.
 
When was Braff ever relevant? He can't even muster a reward that makes sense? Not to mention he doesn't want to pay the costs of production, but he'll gladly bow to traditional distribution models and the mainstream theater circuit; that way he nets even more profit from something he didn't even pay for. He's a genius if this gets funded by boneheads who think he has something worth while to make.
 
EviLore said:
Nope.




If my investment portfolio read something like $50 million and I had a personal project I wanted to realize for a couple mill, that would almost definitely net me a return in the thousands of percent regardless? Uhhh, yes?
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But does he really have that much money ?

Scrubs was the first big thing he was in and while it was popular no one ever made Friends money on it. So lets assume it averaged out to 300k a episode. He was in 175 of them. That's roughly 52 m before taxes and paying for his agent , publicist and whoever else on his pay roll . Now since he didn't start making 350k till the 7th season he may have averaged much less than 300k a year.

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/scrubs/scrubs-zach-braff-gets-paid-4820.aspx



Anyway for me , it looks interesting and the live stream with Q/A seems worth it for $30 bucks my gf and I will enjoy it. Its less for us than going to a movie
 
Foxy Fox 39 said:
This is about it. That's why even though people are giving him 2500 dollars he makes absolutely no commitments.
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Why would he give a fuck about people who gave him $2,500? That's not even 1% of a day's pay in his world.
 
eastmen said:
But does he really have that much money ?

Scrubs was the first big thing he was in and while it was popular no one ever made Friends money on it. So lets assume it averaged out to 300k a episode. He was in 175 of them. That's roughly 52 m before taxes and paying for his agent , publicist and whoever else on his pay roll . Now since he didn't start making 350k till the 7th season he may have averaged much less than 300k a year.

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/scrubs/scrubs-zach-braff-gets-paid-4820.aspx



Anyway for me , it looks interesting and the live stream with Q/A seems worth it for $30 bucks my gf and I will enjoy it. Its less for us than going to a movie
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He'll be getting a kick-back on the syndication royalties. How much that is worth is anyone's guess, but it would be a pretty decent amount as Scrubs is an ideal show for re-runs at any hour of the day.
 
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