It would be the ultimate dream for a lot of people to be able to log into a website and see a rising total of money being donated to you from thousands upon thousands of people. And for the rest of us, we’re glad that distinction belongs to Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas, whose record breaking campaign is currently topping out at over $3.6 million in donations put up in just six days. With 24 days left, we may end up getting a sequel out of this. Or maybe he’ll just try for a Cupid TV series for a third time.
But in the meantime, Thomas spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about how he plans on using the well-deserved funds both before and during the film’s June-July production shoot. Promises were made for an open shoot with tweets and photos coming out on a regular basis, and everyone here at Cinema Blend unwittingly clicked our heels together.
"We were built by fans so we’ll try to do our best to keep the momentum going through that," Thomas says. "We’re hoping to go to Comic-Con, maybe have some footage to show at Comic-Con. We have a documentary following the making of the movie." Hopefully with lots of Kristen Bell and Percy Daggs III blowing people minds by still being adorable together over 30.
But fear not, the excess funds aren’t only going towards rampant promotional materials. The film’s murdery-mystery plot is also being reworked as the electronic dollar bills come rolling in.
"The movie is outlined but frankly, I needed to know how we were doing to figure out how to model the script and how to write it. There are very specific things that are going to be affected by what our budget is," Thomas explains. "There’s an altercation [at a high school reunion in the film] and how much money we raise affects whether that is having terse words exchanged or a full on brawl.” He also wants a sunny Southern California shoot, where Neptune was originally set. And if he wants a time machine in order to bring the cast back in time to film in the exact time and places they originally filmed, so be it.
Thomas, amidst his defense of using Kickstarter to fund a non-miniscule budget feature, also shared a few hopeful words about the future of episodic television. "There are more and more markets and more networks, more places you can put shows on, the mandate becomes more and more 'Give us something that two million people love rather than attempt something that 20 million people like,'" he says. "The big networks are struggling to stay in that old model of a little something for everyone."
And then you think, “Say, didn’t you have that other really hilarious Rob Thomas show that wasn’t on any of the big networks? Starz, I think it played on.” And then you look at Dick Casablancas and remember that he was also in it, and that it had its own share of rumors. Catering companies of the world, unite!
