So there was this Kickstarter called Dear Mr. Watterson. I was way stoked about it, as a huge Calvin and Hobbes fan. I’d love to help fun a documentary that would help me relive some of that, watch how it affected other people, and all that good stuff that documentaries do.
I donated enough to get the “special thanks” credit in the film. Hey, I’m vain. Ultimately the Kickstarter got over double it’s goal: nearly $25,000 for a $12,000 goal. Seemed to me like, YES, this film will be made. Awesome! Can’t wait.
Then another Kickstarter for the same thing popped up. Joel needs double the original doubling to finish the film.
I donated to this second one too. I want to see this thing get done. But it does feel a bit weird doesn’t it? Like if you do a Kickstarter but end up running out of money you can just do another one. Or that it should have been more clear in the first one that it wasn’t for a complete film, but just to film the interviews. It did say:
…we’ll be taking several trips to conduct interviews and collect footage, so the costs of air tickets, rental cars, meals, and motel stays will add up. With the funds raised through Kickstarter, we’ll be able to move forward on this film with less of a funding hurdle.
But with the rewards such as they are and the title of it, it seemed like it was a Kickstarter to make a movie.
I’m not crying foul here, I’m just pointing out the uneasiness I felt when I saw the v2 Kickstarter come out. I’m quite sure Joel and his team are completely awesome and I still can’t wait to see the film. I’m just trying learn what I can from this, as I’m going to be starting my own Kickstarter soon and I want it to be as clear as possible with zero surprises for folks.
Update
I received a very nice response from Joel. Part of the details include:
Since we are such a small team with such a limited budget (I know we did double our original goal, but $25,000 is still a very tight budget to make a feature-length film), it takes much more time to do what needs to be done, and that’s been our barrier so far. I’ve felt a tremendous amount of guilt that so much time has passed, and my hope is that if we reach our goal, we will be able to move forward on a real schedule that isn’t dependent on when someone is able to offer their services for free or at a discount, or when I can afford to pay for the next expense. If it makes any sense at all, this 2nd Kickstarter is really an effort to help us finish the project for the sake of not making our original backers wait longer than necessary to see the final film.
Chris… I wonder if anyone else has commented on the typography of this site? I mean, I read and enjoy it all; and perhaps you change sizes using media queries; but, man this is tiny (actually, with my aging eyes I’d define it as miniscule). I’m on a full width desktop monitor and there’s a ton of empty space for typography – just sayin’.
btw – Actually, I’ve watched kickstarter for awhile as well; but frankly, have really wondered about the credibility of many of them. I assume your reference to doing one yourself correlates with your prior statement of granting authorized “voyeurism” during your upcoming revamp of CSS-Tricks. That, my friend, may just be one of the very rare “donations” I make on the web [just hope it uses paypal]. I’d really like to see how your mind works.
i think there are kickstarters whom cannot understand integrity and responsibility to their funder/audience, some of the “design” category, which in my opinion is a great place to awe myself with brilliant ideas. But there are times with disappointment, some folks does not fulfill the delivery date, and never show up, with just few updates, almost all funders want their money back…