Will Kickstarter Replace Hollywood? | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios 

John Carter is a highly underrated film.

I can't believe that I just found this channel ... It is amazing!!! As far as Kickstarter goes, I think that it has the potential to be very influential on decisions that are made in Hollywood. I don't think the amount of money generated is the most important factor, but rather the amount of fans willing to donate to the cause. Someone who supports a show enough to donate their own money will feel invested in it's success and will work to draw in more supporters to keep the show alive.

My idea: Kickstarter plus "in content advertising". A good example is how Back to the Future has Marty ordering Pepsi. Subtle advertisement for Pepsi and the filmmakers get some backing.

It's always cool that you actually read and use the comments in your channel.

6:19 Yes, Piracy has hurt the anime industry, but I take offence to 4Kids going bankrupt due to Piracy. 4Kids went bankrupt because they were THE WORST dubbing company ever. They took a series that should have been the next DBZ or Sailor Moon or Pokemon and turned it into garbage. Look what happened to One Piece once FUNimation got their hands on it? It back on TV, and doing very well. It has the best ratings for any TV show on its time slot. 4Kids deserved what happened to them, especially Al Kahn, and they should feel bad too. Another thing that hurt the anime industry is them being stuck in the 90's for so long. They have Still been stuck in this model where they are only dubbing anime that has been out for 5 or more years in Japan, losing out on the popularity a series experiences when it first comes out. They are also trying to fit anime watchers into this mold where we all buy DVDs all the time. Most fans Don't buy DVDs, we prefer to watch anything, not just anime, Online. Now that they are finally getting with the times and getting current series and licencing their series to websites where they can make money off of it rather than letting the pirates walk all over their companies, anime industry is coming back. Anime is what made Hulu such a success..its been documented. Also, especially with computer technology is why is it only this year that they are finally releasing a Brand New series in America and Japan simultaneously? Well, its happening and it is about time. I sorry, I got off track. But they said 4kids and anime and that just got me going.

I think my problem with kickstarter can be summed up in what Yahtzee Croshaw said about it in his broken age review, to paraphrase: "my problem with kickstarter is that no one knows what they want until they've got it"..."if you ask people what they want they'll say they want the things they already like which goes nowhere."

I liked real steel. :(

Yes! I was actually talking with Morgan about this today; we're going to try to get better about posting links to tumblrs and images sources in the description and giving credit somehow in the video. Thanks for the suggestion!

first, im a time traveler from 2009 (for not knowing what instagram was), now, i live under a rock....crazy things i learn from idea channel!

I just want to say that I love this channel and I'm really glad it exists :D

The more I hear about kickstarter the more I get excited about what could be possible. Some risky greenlighting is no longer risky, bringing to light some original ideas. I've wondered if this could bring a new dawn into the studio system and appreciated your video addressing it.

This channel is amazing thank you for being here

I watch these videos because I am always fascinated by the ways Mike asks us to subscribe.

I really need to say it: YOU ARE MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE RU-vidR! Thank you! :D

I don't know about that, but these videos are certainly replacing my study time. I regret nothing.

I'm super excited to see where all this leads. The idea that we, like you and me, might be able to have a real say in what kinds of entertainment gets made is pretty cool. Good luck, Marshmellows.

I think of Kickstarter as creator support. You see a cool project, and you want to support >>the person

Has someone mentioned the Lizzie Bennet Diaries already? I hope so. If you haven't seen it, check it out. Their Kickstarter has earned over $300,000, in a week, and this show wasn't on TV. It has a loyal following on RU-vid and really proves that people are willing to pay for awesome content without an abundance of ads. Also, after the price of movie tickets and the DVD, it feels like Hollywood is already making viewers pay through the nose. Finally, thanks for a great channel! You are awesome.

Kickstarter is helping authors and other kinds of indie artists too. Giving creators (especially new creators) more options to share their work and get it out there. It's also giving fans a way to be involved and a sense of belonging and ownership that fandoms seem to have always really wanted.

John Carter is about a guy who wakes up on mars, falls in love with a princess, louses said princess then spends the rest of the 6 (i think) book series trying to get her back. All of the books in the series end in a cliffhanger except the last one. The books are fantastic, btw.

I remember watching the special feature of some movie or other and one of the film makers saying, "making a movie is trying to figure out what people you have never met will like to watch for a few hours in two years." I paraphrase, but I it really made me realize how very difficult movie making must be. Kickstarter is great. Skipping the middle man and just asking people, "Will you like this in the future enough to pay for it now?" Seems like a perfect plan to me.

Amanda Palmer's kickstarter was HUGE and I totally love her "let them play instead of make them pay" approach. Also her idea of "We are the media" is awesome and empowering.

The problem with Kickstarter is as you said, it involves preexisting fan communities. No one would pay for Futurama's first episode on Kickstarter since you wouldn't be a fan of it yet, so if Hollywood was run off Kickstarter more we wouldn't get new shows and new content that we might not have paid for right away but once we had it and watched a couple episodes fell in love with.

Just had to say I love this show; the quality never seems to diminish.

In addition, you should check out Henry Jenkins "Convergence Culture" talk he gave at Stanford. It's from 2001-ish and sort of hits the value of fan communities supporting IPs. He refers to Warren Ellis' Global Frequency and the fact it could have been funded with fan support instead of it being locked up by the CW.

An important aspect to remember about Kickstarter is the "rewards" angel. Look at most successful Kickstarters and the vast majority of the donors contributed at least as much to reach the reward tier where they get the final product when it is released. This effectively turns Kickstarter into a pre-order service. Other people beyond that are simply tempted by exclusive swag or by even better percs. People aren't just giving to projects they want, they're effectively buying things.

I am completely fascinated with fandom-funded/fandom-influenced trends. Shifting power from corporations to common people is a good thing.

I think the editing is what really adds the polish to the show. :o

Truth. The "story-telling industry" has been around for such a long time that all the stories have been told already. So now the only thing that really matters is characters and the little aspects that set movies apart. I watched a short film once where the government destroyed all the books and movies, and then the slate was clean and we could all create without worrying about being cliched.

The fans get a lot for their money: 1.satisfaction that their money is going into the production of something they love. To many, this is worth it alone. 2. 'gifts' ie. posters, t-shirts, copies of scripts, signed merchandise, voicemail messages from stars of the show 3. digital copy of the movie/DVD/Bluray, of course dependant on how much they donate. Basically prepaying for the product. They therefore have the movie, but can of course pay to see it on the big screen when it is released.

A Princess of Mars (the first John Carter novel) is one of the most important sci fi stories. It was an inspiration for Heinlein, Arthur C Clarke, Ray Bradbury, James Cameron, Flash Gordon stories, and much more. It helped to inspire young readers to pursue science. It was written in 1917, and I'm not sure if Disney thought people would remember it, but they could have done so much more with it, was kind of sad. It is however not a mystery why it got made, it's a huge name in classical sci fi

YESSSS! Space Alert is another one of my favorites.

I've always had this idea that as time goes on history will be a harder subject to teach as the amount of content grows exponentially, and I've always thought that there is some sort of "Historical Singularity" in where there is so much recorded history that history becomes impossible to teach. You should do an episode on that.

See, the thing that's great about Kickstarter is that whatever you're campaigning for - be it movies, video games, tv shows - it doesn't rely on the decision of some big-wig executive with a personal vendetta against the show or its creator (I'm looking at you, NBC). Kickstarter puts the fate of whatever is being kick-started in the hands of its fans - which also makes us feel like we're actually part of something that we love.

That might explain why my favorite charater is Marceline. Besides the fact that she perfectly represents the rebellious and emotionally-turmoiling teenager, which as a teenager I can really appreciate.

I completely agree with you about Veronica Mars. Also, I would venture to say that the only reason kickstarters get funded is because they're reboots or feature-length installments of a series. Have you seen how many original projects just get over-looked? People have to know about movies *before* they come out. This happened with the three highest grossing movies of all time. Just look. Every one of them was marketed before they were released.

The amount of data and even dead-tree printed works continues growing at a ridiculous pace, too. One of the possible outcomes is something of a Library of Babel, which emphasizes the importance of the selection function of librarians, archivists, and (in your example) historians.

The Veronica Mars kickstarter did so well was because people already knew about and were enthusiastic about the project. Kickstarter is really helpful in telling hollywood what people already know they want, but a lot of the time, people don't know what will appeal to them until it's finished and in front of them.

+1 for Cosmic Encounter and Mansions of Madness. Very happy to see some board game love!

This is why when during the VM Kickstarter opening day, when Gilmore Girls fans were frantically tweeting Lauren Graham saying "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE," she responded with, "Dudes, I hear you, and thanks! But I can't be the #GilmoreGirls @kickstarter. Only Amy can start that kick." Amy being the creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino. Though I do hope she noticed and thought, "I wonder what the gals are doing and if they'd like to do a movie like we talked about 6 years ago..."

As for portuguese subtitles (and I believe this holds for other languages as well), there is a strong community of subtitlers who provide english subtitles, sync them to pirate files and translate them, for shows and movies almost as fast as they appear on torrent sites. This has actually already issued legal discussions in Brazil on whether subtitle files would be considered piracy (some brazilian subtitles sites were closed for some time because of it a while ago).

I always feel as if I have learned something after watching these videos.

Dude! Regarding Brazillian subtitles, I can just say you have no idea how big this is here. For every major tv show/movie, there are groups that release the subtitle in our language about 6 hours after the release (sometimes less). When House was on, for example, there would be REAL DOCTORS that would stay up on the release night to accurately translate the medical terms. And everything is for FREE. That's a very crazy "scene" really worth checking out.

Exactly. I can see paying for a franchise you already know and love where you're basically paying the cost of merchandise (the incentives) but you pick any upcoming show w/o a previous franchise and ask if anybody plans to buy merch for it before they see it: not likely.

I think it'd be cool to see them at a festival or something for a podcast-type show.

Yes. The returns are usually part of the product that is made, and the return depends on the campaign. For example, if you fund a book on kickstarter, one funding level might give you a digital copy and another might give you a physical copy of the book. Some filmmaking ventures promise a DVD copy of the film.

To make an movie: Kickstarter for fund raising and idea testing, indie studio for production, social media for advertising, then channels like iTunes, RU-vid, Amazon for distribution. But Hollywood can do advertisement and distribution on a way larger scale, so it can stay around as an expert for profit milking. It’s similar in the game industry: Studios have the option to distribute games on their own, but for more profit, they would team up with big distributors to sell more.

Dear Mike and the Ideas Chanel Team, You have stolen a multitude of hours from my life by being so darned interesting I had to watch all of the videos in one day. Thank you.

The first season of doctor who with portuguese subtitles from 2005 was realeased in 2012. But there's usually some fansubbers that get the subtitles out 3-5 hours after the episode was released even

to ian mcvicker's comment about pop art's weird fascination with zombies. Well for a long time my brother had zombie dreams practically every other night, and after doing some research apparently dreaming about zombies is a result of how boring a person's life is. although in our dreams we're always killing the zombies in a way the zombies are representations of our boring lives! very interesting topic though, didn't look that deeply into it so..yea should definitely do an episode on it

A little late, but I would like to say thank you. e-e My twin brother say your Hipster video and is now determined to become one. He uses 3D glasses from the movie theater as his 'hipster" glasses, a fedora, and pretends to be a hipster. I now have to pretend that I do not know him if I want to have any reputation that does not involve that image. ( I still love the channel )

It may not replace Hollywood, so to speak, but it could indeed become a means by which Hollywood does indeed take notice. I think the best way to describe the phenomena is to liken it to a greenhouse in early spring, where gardeners start their flowers,vegetables, etc., before moving them into the yard. The projects that best kick off have a good chance of taking real roots in solid ground before finally showing off the fruit of their labor.

In 2020, this video might seem naïve. However, there is the Shemue 1 - 2 kickstarter, which is exactly what he predicted, so this was VERY right.

I've never played Galaxy Trucker, but I've watched my friends play it. It looks really fun. Same with Eclipse, which I've been wanting to play for forrrrrrrevvvvvverrrrrr.

I can't imagine Kickstarter will replace Hollywood - but it will provide hope to fan communities for projects like the Veronica Mars movie (which I'm really excited for.) I feel like Kickstarter not only allows those projects to exist, but gives their creators more freedom. However, that pre-existing fan base is necessary.

There's another problem with Kickstarter, and that is that Kickstarter doesn't allow funding to go through if a project fails by as small an amount as a dollar bill. So say a production company estimates that their film will cost $3mil. If they get a dollar less than that, they don't get funded. Now, there are similar sites which allow "flexible" funding, but that's besides the point, which is that Kickstarter is an inefficient way to get funding if you don't have an established fanbase.

They are going to both continue to thrive. No worries on either end.

On the note of the whole anime industry bit, I think a large portion of why anime companies were hurt was indeed because of the transition; simulcasts weren't as common five or six years ago while they are today, to a point where it's a rarity for a show to not get picked up by Crunchyroll or Funimation for their websites. The dubbing process has gotten better, even though many people refuse to admit so, and I think that any company that doesn't sell dub-only DVDs is doing an okay job.

One of the potential problems with Hollywood getting involved with something like kickstarter is that big studios are notorious for their competitive (arguably petty) nature. One studio will buy up a script that another studio wants, sit on it, and do nothing with it solely to prevent the competition from making a profit off of it. And John Carter's an awesome movie. It's a shame the marketing didn't showcase how Princess of Mars influenced essentially every sci fi piece that came after it.

keep their favorite media going, while artists are given the chance to become a somebody and continue working and perfecting their media. It's revolutionary in my mind.

I'm very interested in the possibility of kickstarter being a way to circumvent the current big studio scene all together. The ability to fund new/original projects without the intervention (meddling, desecration, whatever you want to call it) of those studios is really exciting. It would be possible to "democratically" decided if a movie will get a sequel or a show another season.

1 million was achieved in under four hours. 2 millions took about 10 IIRC. Still amazing.

TWIN PEAKS MOVIE MUST HAPPEN!!!

If you want more info on this, watch Amanda Palmer's TED talk about her switch from selling her music the mainstream way, to funding with fan donations (AKA Kickstarter). You may also like the music of her band "The Dresden Dolls".

YES. Give New Eden some attention, please! It's certainly earned it.

IMO the Finnish "Iron Sky" movie is the best example of a succesful crowdsourced movie project, with the original team now working on a sequel. I don't think projects like these are going to replace Hollywood anytime soon, but they do offer levels of innovation and risk Hollywood tends to avoid.

i just noticed the "a clockwork orange" poster in your background... awesome!

Took the words from my mouth. What the VMars kickstarter can be about is creating legitimacy for crowdfunding, rather than an outlet for possible obsession from "dedicated" fans or an even greater excuse for nothing new to be created. There is something of a slippery slope to be had with the idea of having fan crowd funding projects, and we have Amanda Palmer at the end of it, which her ideas on crowd funding seem to almost breed and feed near obsession.

I really love this channel!!! Hi from México!

The main difference between Hollywood screening processes and Kickstarter is in fact the way they make money. Kickstarter is a pledge platform. You might or might not get something back, but those "rewards" normally never cover your pledge. So, you donate for the fame (name in the credits) and the joy of getting the project realized. As soon as you can invest into projects, and get your shares of earnings, Kickstarter will seriously endanger Hollywood, who's only goal is commercial success.

there is no way that kick-starter could ever replace Hollywood in the near future, or ever. One of the problems with kick-starter is you never really know the quality of the works being paid for until you receive your product, where as with Hollywood has always had a level of quality entertainment and is known for it (although this seems to be changing). with kick-starter, you never know if the project is crap until the end result.

Thank you for putting in a clip from Joe vs. the Volcano :)

As a Homestuck (I'm assuming you've caught up by now) I'm fairly sure you're familiar with the Kickstarter it had for the video game that will be set in the same setting. It hit its goal in the first 48 hours, and by the end when combined with paypal donations, had raised 2.8 million dollars.

It's not just Kickstarter that's replacing Hollywood, but decentralization of financial capital and people's interest. I think this trend will be the the defining characteristic of these next few years, considering decentralized manufacturing by 3d printers, decentralized funding through Kickstarter, etc...

just finished rewatching veronica mars 1st season

Doraleous and Associates is an internet show that raised enough money on kickstarter to make a new season, so if you like fantasy and just funny stuff in general, i'd highly recommend you check out the series!

I think what we're going to see a lot of is Kickstarter as an extension of the marketing process. Meaning that the capital to make the movie is already lined up, and the Kickstarter is just one more way to advertise, generate interest, and add a bit more money to the war chest. Whether this begins to edge out the smaller productions that really do need the injection of money from Kickstarter remains to be seen.

Thanks a lot for pointing that out about the anime industry. Piracy is obviously hurting it a lot, but the only reason people pirate anime so much without supporting the industry is because of how slow and poor anime distribution is in basically everywhere other than Japan.

Yeah. Good point. I didn't really think of that. What I was trying to say was that there are a lot of people who will immediately re-market a movie, or re-make it *just* for the profit. I know there's no way to weed out the ones who are doing it because they love it. This just all goes back to the topic of whether intellectual property should have to be paid for. What do you think? I'd love to get your opinion on that.

On the possible zombies topic, I remember bringing up all the attraction to the idea with one single sentence. "It is the closer you can get to killing a human being without feeling guilty, or as guilty." So basically Zombies are pleasure without consequences, in essence, but most zombie universes also bring that isolation found in Fallout, and you having to take care of your own ass.

It goes without saying that if a Firefly or Buffy kickstarter were to show up tomorrow I would give my first born towards it, but you were right that it can be a double edged sword. However I think credit should be given to the users who realize the difference of giving life to a project that has been shelved indefinitely and/or lack the ability to ever get appropriate funding versus others which have a strong financial back from other sources.

The MLP:FiM subculture is unique in that it's one of the few subcultures that is fully engaged with the fandom from the very beginning, with virtually every voice actor, composer, animator, and story writer directly embracing and taking part in the culture since the very first episode. As a result, the series is directly guided by that, and it has been tremendously successful as a result. One could only imagine what would happen if Hollywood could do the same for its movies.

I think that kickstarter is changing the way people view the media process. If you're able to get enough fans before you try to 'make it big', then THEY will pay for you to make it, whereas before the number of fans you got was based on the success of your media, how many fans you got determined if Hollywood would keep you around, and projects needed to have alot of private work, effort and money to even make it to Hollywood if you were a nobody. Kickstarter is providing fans with the means to

We're working on it. Promz.

Has there ever been a case of a project missing their funding by a small amount? Most of the ones I've seen have died a miserable death from lack of interest or gone well beyond what they asked for, which created the need for "Stretch goals". A project asking for $200,000 is more likely to get funded (and then over funded) than one that is asking for $2 Million even if the $2 million is a much more realistic goal for what they hope to do.

I am not sure what exactly they put into the costs and price but all the after market and distribution costs are usually covered by the studios and allow for the lower end of the production world ( camera op's, grips, ect) to pay bills and such with the point system( after marketing based on sales figures instead of upfront pay). The kickstarter set-ups are an interesting idea, but with out guaranteed backing for some of the lower tier positions I am not sure how it will fair in the long game.

I'd like to think that Kickstarter as an organization has the talent to improve if people start trying to exploit it. There are a lot of potential ways to avoid the extortion problem. A couple options include requiring criteria for how a project sets its funding level, or making a modified kickstarter where multiple studios can bid against each other for lowest funding level to make a project happen. A pre-kickstarter kickstarter, if you will.

My personal issue with the Veronica Mars Kickstarter is the way it feels like fans are investing in the show, but that Warner Brothers is the one who ends up getting to collect any return on that investment. Yes fans will have their pre-ordered Kickstarter exclusive merchandise, but presumably Warner Brothers wants to give this a theatrical release and they are expecting a box office return. What is their investment aside from the value of the rights?

The argument of Hollywood producers fans to finance, reminds me a lot of your Lana Del Rey remarks. When people donate to projects like the ones on Kickstarter, they want a story. Helping the struggling film student, or promoting an obscure documentary. If production companies hijack this effort the back lash could out way the benefit. Or perhaps we will start seeing 'straw' indie producers who are backed by bigger agencies. I'm so excited, this is the first comment I've made! yay Twin Peaks

There's an advantage to traditional publishing which kickstarter can never have: immediate gratification on the consumer level. Supporting a kickstarter gives you nothing but warm fuzzies, possibly for years, possibly ever. Buy a ticket at a theater, and you're watching a movie that afternoon. That's a harsh competitive disadvantage for crowdfunding to overcome. For right now, it provides a measure of last resort for projects where mass appeal is a tough sell, but a core audience is already sold

So what I actually understood , is that if I want a certain movie or product to happen , I should support it by "donating" certain amount of money .. then when the product is out or the movie is out in the cinema , I should go and pay again to watch it ??

Also, Doctor Who is on tv here in Brazil up to it's 5th season. It is a cultural channel called Cultura and is free, meaning not a cable channel.

One thing to keep in mind is that failed Kickstarters remain on-record of the holder. This means that, should Hollywood try to dictate their Kickstarter backers, they'd fail more often than not and would tarnish their own reputation on Kickstarter, deterring more potential backers. This would likely reduce Hollywood's interest. Either this, or they'd end up being forced to make what the modern consumer wants with guarantee that it is in fact what they want.

+5 points for the Rampage reference.

I think Kickstarter gives lesser known film makers a chance to not only receive funding for their projects but it also gives them a great marketing tool. By allowing people to feel "apart" of the process it gives people a sense of ownership. Hollywood can seem unobtainable, so it's nice to see that they are giving "regular" people the chance to weigh in on some decisions. Maybe one day video games will become a category and I can finally have that Final Fantasy 7 remake.

A great episode. I therefore have nothing to add, despite the invitation for totally unfounded guesstimates.

It's not piracy it's sharing. We are all a big happy family.

Eclipse is fantastic! I've played a handful of times and (despite losing by a wide margin each time) want to keep playing it and ultimately improve my strategy. I smell a board game episode in the future... I feel like competitive/cooperative board games have a way of bringing friends and families back to the table in the way dinner used to.

still boggles my mind why no attempt has been made as of yet. They KNOW there's money in this.

The erotic text role playing game named "Trials In Tainted Space" raised 67 thousand dollars for development on offbeatr in a month, the goal beeing ten thousand. I guess the Corruption of Champions fandom did it's magic there. You should definetly check both out.