Spike Lee launches a Kickstarter for his next movie to raise $1.25 million

HorseFilms said:
I had breakfast on Sunday about 6 feet from George Romero (name drop :beer:). He was talking about how Lee had plenty of avenues to generate revenue and that it was ridiculous that he was asking ordinary people for cash. I agree. But, if people want to give him money, I guess he'd be stupid not to take it.

(It's not like I'm claiming to be friends with Romero, we were just seated next to one another)
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Shameless name drop, Horse! :happy: (brains for breakfast?)
Ironically, Romero is a perfect fit for KS, with a cult-like fan base- he'd make a killing... a zombie killing, on KS! The dead would come running to donate.

And perhaps Woody Allen, too, with his fan base (just how does Allen finanace his films, I wonder? That reminds me, I want to see his new one).

reygun said:
I'm not a fan of Spike Lee...

He's a very smart man. He's a wealthy man. He's a businessman.
Is he douchey? <That's subjective.
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Not a fan of the man, or his films?
And aren't there tons of douchey filmmakers out there? Do you rank and boycott them all?
 
A mil and a half isn't bad really for a Spike Lee film, if he wants to at least cover crew and craft. This isn't a 30 mil feature. I think it's very reasonable given has past work and rep.
 
groveChuck said:
Shameless name drop, Horse! :happy: (brains for breakfast?)
Ironically, Romero is a perfect fit for KS, with a cult-like fan base- he'd make a killing... a zombie killing, on KS! The dead would come running to donate.
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I agree on both counts. Completely shameless on my part and he'd clean up if he started a project like that.
 
Barry_Green said:
They're not. "Seeing the film get made" isn't the same as "seeing the film." Just knowing that it exists, instead of being trapped in a writer's or director's mind, is a big thing for a lot of folks. It means it'll be on TV. It means it may be a theatrical experience you want to go to. It may mean licensed material, and more fans as it gets more popular. It may mean songs from the soundtrack on the radio. It may mean riffs on late night talk shows or SNL. It may open the door for sequels. It may mean that it's available at all times, in all places, on Netflix. It may mean that you get to throw a screening party with all your friends and dress up like your favorite characters and make authentic or appropriate foods or invent drinking games for it.

And all of that may have nothing to do with wanting to pre-order a physical object.

I know you don't get this, but -- sometimes people just want something to happen, and they're glad to be a part of it. And they don't have to get a physical object in return.




Did you know that sometimes, people donate to charities?
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Did you know that there is a specific section of Kickstarter for charities and a film does not qualify as a charity for this section? You must actually be a charitable organization and be able to document that all proceeds do in fact go to charity.

Spike Lee has no intention of donating profits of his movie to charity. Why would you call it a charity? Are you trying to equate Spike Lee's film, or any Indie film project, with teh Red Cross?

I don't know why you get hung up on "physical objects". Goods and services both have value even though only one is a "physical object". I pay good money for a pair of tennis shoes and I also pay good money for a hair cut, but only one is a "physical object", the other is a service.

For some people a celebrity putting a message on their answering machine is more valuable than a DVD. That doesn't mean the message has ZERO value because it's not an object.
 
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Gillvane said:
Spike Lee has no intention of donating profits of his movie to charity. Why would you call it a charity?
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It would not be possible for you to have missed my point more completely.

The comment about charity had nothing to do with Spike Lee, or film, or anything like that. It was, I thought, a rather insightful stab at trying to find why you and I are so irreconcilable on this subject. And so I asked a general question -- you are familiar, are you not, with the concept of people donating to charity? Because they do so with zero expectation of receiving anything in return.

You've stated that you think that the only reason people pledge money to a kickstarter is because they are pre-buying a product. You seem to either not be capable of understanding, or blatantly refuse to acknowledge, that there are other reasons why people choose to support others. I figured that if I could get you to at least understand that sometimes, people give away their hard-earned money to a charity with zero expectation of receiving anything of any type, whether goods or services... then you could at least crack open the vault that's preventing you from understanding that there are more reasons than "buying a product" as to why someone might pledge to support someone's kickstarter.

Of course, if you can't understand that... if you can't conceive of why someone would do something for altruistic purposes, then just say so and we can forever dispense with this discussion because we obviously will never be able to find common ground.
 
Barry_Green said:
It would not be possible for you to have missed my point more completely.

The comment about charity had nothing to do with Spike Lee, or film, or anything like that. It was, I thought, a rather insightful stab at trying to find why you and I are so irreconcilable on this subject. And so I asked a general question -- you are familiar, are you not, with the concept of people donating to charity? Because they do so with zero expectation of receiving anything in return.

You've stated that you think that the only reason people pledge money to a kickstarter is because they are pre-buying a product. You seem to either not be capable of understanding, or blatantly refuse to acknowledge, that there are other reasons why people choose to support others. I figured that if I could get you to at least understand that sometimes, people give away their hard-earned money to a charity with zero expectation of receiving anything of any type, whether goods or services... then you could at least crack open the vault that's preventing you from understanding that there are more reasons than "buying a product" as to why someone might pledge to support someone's kickstarter.

Of course, if you can't understand that... if you can't conceive of why someone would do something for altruistic purposes, then just say so and we can forever dispense with this discussion because we obviously will never be able to find common ground.
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It simply doesn't work as an analogy because indie films are not charities, and you DO get something for your pledge whether it's a good or service.

I am not saying that part of what you get is not emotional. That's true with MOST products or services. It's obvious by the way products and services are advertised.

Why do you drink your Dos Equis according to the popular "Stay Thirsty my Friends!" advertisements? Because it's going to make you cool and interesting like the "Most interesting man in the world" right?
Yea, you're buying a six pack of Dos Equis, but you're also getting that emotion that you're cool in interesting. That's part of the price, at least for some people, or it's part of the reason you get Dos Equis and not Corona or whatever. It's why people pay for luxury brands that don't do anything a generic version of the product doesn't.

You're getting a DVD, or a celebrity message on your answering machine. PART of why that has value to you is you're helping to make a movie, or whatever, you support the arts, etc. But you're STILL getting a DVD or a celebrity message on your phone, just like a six pack of Dos Equis or a Hair Cut.

If it were charity, you would get NOTHING except the satisfaction of donating. That's why your analogy does not work. You're stuck on the emotional part and PRETENDING the good or service doesn't exist, but it does just like a six pack of Dos Equis.

If you want it to be a charity, then lets get rid of all the goods and services on kickstarter, and make it a charity. Would you get the exact same donations for your indie film? I think no.

Stay thirsty my friend!

 
groveChuck said:
And aren't there tons of douchey filmmakers out there? Do you rank and boycott them all?
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I'm observing others in this thread display disdain for his action on Kickstarter. Personally, I think it's a brilliant move on his part.
 
reygun said:
I'm observing others in this thread display disdain for his action on Kickstarter. Personally, I think it's a brilliant move on his part.
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I think Spike is doing the right thing (pun intended). However, I think Spike is a douche bag. Not because Spike is getting money on kickstarter, but because Spike constantly talks like he's either a black guy during Slavery, or he's a poor working man during the industrial revolution. When actually, Spike Lee is a Film Professor that's worth 40 million bucks. It's just kind of douchy to constantly act like teh Man is keeping you down, when in fact now you are the Man.
 
jleo said:
So ....if Robert Redford and Sundance are now on Kickstarter, I guess it's OK for Spike Lee!!???

Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache, the First Female Director. Executive Producer Robert Redford

http://www.sundance.org/stories/art...-story-of-alice-guy-blache-the-first-female-/

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/benatural/be-natural-the-untold-story-of-alice-guy-blache
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I did post about how Sundance became a 'celebrity showcase'... and perhaps there was some recent attempt return to 'artsyfartsy' roots... and here you show Redford is 'invading' Kickstarter... Perhaps there will be redcarpet gala's for a kickstarter kickoff for the rich and famous...

I wonder when Michael Mann will kick off the 'small untold story' of one of the Transformer characters...
 
Gillvane said:
If you want it to be a charity, then lets get rid of all the goods and services on kickstarter, and make it a charity. Would you get the exact same donations for your indie film? I think no.
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Many charities use 'goods and services', donated, to then 'sell directly' or as jack pots for various games such as bingo, or ticket numbers pulled from the pot.

On the one hand, if major celebrities give their 'imprimatur' on Kickstarter or Indie-gogo type funding, and that has some sort of 'trickle down' effect for lowly mortals trying to make their film... fine.

If it becomes yetanothermedia vehicle for the celebs, well, yeah, they should pay far more for that sort of exposure than a 6% or whatever the kickstarter take is... which in my opinion should be fed back into projects that don't have celeb status to get their 'word' out.
 
Not too long ago, it was "Hollywood Invades Comic Con​"

But now, is Comic Con better for the fact it's been infused with Hollywood $$$ ?
 
Gillvane said:
It simply doesn't work as an analogy because indie films are not charities, and you DO get something for your pledge whether it's a good or service.
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Completely unrelated, but informative nonetheless, because I now understand. You cannot open your mind to the concept. That's okay, we shall agree to disagree.
 
reygun said:
Not too long ago, it was "Hollywood Invades Comic Con​"

But now, is Comic Con better for the fact it's been infused with Hollywood $$$ ?
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How many recent futuristic sci-fi films have had 'aliens invade to rape the earth of its resources, and once having done so, movie with nary a thought about what remains'...

Perhaps there's a reason for this sort of 'meme' being used frequently these days...
 
Barry_Green said:
Completely unrelated, but informative nonetheless, because I now understand. You cannot open your mind to the concept. That's okay, we shall agree to disagree.
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Do I understand giving to the Red Cross because it's a charity? Of course. Is an indie film a charity? IMO no it is not.
 
j1clark@ucsd.edu said:
Many charities use 'goods and services', donated, to then 'sell directly' or as jack pots for various games such as bingo, or ticket numbers pulled from the pot.

On the one hand, if major celebrities give their 'imprimatur' on Kickstarter or Indie-gogo type funding, and that has some sort of 'trickle down' effect for lowly mortals trying to make their film... fine.

If it becomes yetanothermedia vehicle for the celebs, well, yeah, they should pay far more for that sort of exposure than a 6% or whatever the kickstarter take is... which in my opinion should be fed back into projects that don't have celeb status to get their 'word' out.
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What makes something a "charity" is that there are no profits, and the organization promises not to make a profit. The Red Cross promises to pay their overhead and employees, and everything else goes to help victims of disasters. Whether that is a dollar, 100 dollars, or 100 million dollars, after overhead it ALL goes to help victims, not to make the owners or employees of the Red Cross more money.

No indie filim maker on Kickstarter promises not to make a profit if they can on their film. In fact we WANT them to make a profit which would mean they made a successful film. That is the opposite of a "charity" or non-profit organization.

Why would an indie film maker pay less for kickstarter than a movie star? The movie star brings in much more revenue on a MILLION dollar kickstarter than someone wiht a 1,000 dollar kickstarter.

If you understand sound business practices, the Movie Star should actually pay LESS to kickstarter as in incentive to get more movie stars which bring in much more revenue to kickstarter, which is after all a business.
 
Make your dreams come true to make a film. If it's through kickstarter, so be it. There are so many dissipative practices going on in this world that directly effect your life. Kickstarter is hardly one of them. I'm looking forward to what Spike Lee puts together. At the very least it's an amazing opportunity and experiment. And for those complaining that Spike talks like a beaten man, I'm sorry, but unless you are a visible minority living in the USA, you have no idea what its like.
 
bgundu said:
Make your dreams come true to make a film. If it's through kickstarter, so be it. There are so many dissipative practices going on in this world that directly effect your life. Kickstarter is hardly one of them. I'm looking forward to what Spike Lee puts together. At the very least it's an amazing opportunity and experiment. And for those complaining that Spike talks like a beaten man, I'm sorry, but unless you are a visible minority living in the USA, you have no idea what its like.
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I certainly have no idea what it's like to be worth 40 million dollars.
 
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