It used to be that getting a creative project launched in Hollywood meant sex with a disgusting old man, agreeing to plastic surgeries to look more like his half-George Takei, half-Kelly Ripa first boyfriend, and endless nights of individually tweezing his butt fur. At least that’s what happened to “a friend.”
Well now, if you’re looking to produce an album, create a work of art, publish a book or launch a TV series, it only takes a click of the mouse to connect with thousands of no-strings-attached donors. It’s called Kickstarter. You set a funding goal and offer something unique for each contribution level.
The only catch is that you have to reach your funding goal before the deadline or you don’t get any funding at all, so no need to ask for a million dollars to help launch your home shopping empire of latch-hook re-creations of the Last Supper with naked, anatomically correct Smurfs.
We first found out about the site from Jesse Archer and Sean Hanley, who met while writing for Gay List Daily. They have a new TV pilot called Half-Share (pictured above) that’s hilarious, sexy and easily the gayest thing ever to grace a video monitor. Prince Poppycock included.
They created a Kickstarter page seeking $4,500 to cover the cost of shooting the pilot and expenses associated with that. Within a week, they reached their goal and have 16 days remaining to receive additional donations that will all go toward getting this show produced for a full series run (fingers crossed!).
For as little as a dollar, donors can get e-mail updates about the production. For $1,000 or more, Associate Producer credit and a bottle of vodka!
So whether you’ve got your own artistic dreams to fund or want to browse thousands of interesting projects from around the world, Kickstarter is part of a new creative revolution. Casting couch no longer needed.
To donate to the Half-Share project, click here. Be sure to check out their trailer at www.half-share.com.