UPDATE 2: Fellow editor Jesse Giroux just sent us a project update that was that was emailed to those who contributed to Braff’s project on Kickstarter. The update is rather lengthy but is titled “Project Update #23: Correcting “The Hollywood Reporter”. Braff states that Worldview is not fully funding the project, only providing gap financing as Variety already reported. The three sources of funding are between Kickstarter, Braff’s own money, and pre-selling foreign theatrical distribution which will come to a total budget of around $5-6 million dollars. He has no idea where the $10 million number came from. Nothing about making the movie has changed. Just because Worldview has provided gap funding they will not interfere with the creative process. Braff points out that tons of people out there are calling him a “douchebag” these days, but I think giving your backers “aka fans” the truth is far from a douchebag move.
UPDATED: A new report from Variety is shedding less of a shady light on this situation. Worldview Entertainment will possibly only provide gap funding depending on how they do at Cannes: “Because the film is scheduled to begin shooting in August, the production won’t have enough time to get bank loans against foreign pre-sale letters. Worldview essentially backstops those loans, supplementing the dollars raised on Kickstarter, which currently amounts to $2.6 million, and an unspecified sum Braff himself has ponied up.” That sounds a lot more legit than the situation that we previously thought it was. Will update again when Braff clears everything up.
THR is reporting with news out of Cannes that Zach Braff has a financial backer for his Kickstarter funded film, WISH I WAS HERE.
Worldview Entertainment will “fund much” of the film which has already raised $2.6 million from fans on Kickstarter alone. But wait…I know what you’re thinking, “I thought Braff already got financing. That’s what you just said, right?” That’s indeed what I said. THR says that the budget for the film is now under $10 million but didn’t he say recently that it was $5 million with the rest coming out of his own pocket? Unless I’m completely misreading the situation. Didn’t he even say that it would be “in poor taste” to take any money from anyone in the industry after doing a campaign like Kickstarter?
This is the exact exchange with LA Times:
LA Times: Have any industry types who’d rejected you before come and said, ‘You know, maybe we were too hasty. Can we get back in?’
Zach Braff: Of course. It’s always like that for me. It was like that with ‘Garden State. It was like that with the play I did a few years ago (the dialogue-heavy comedy ‘All New People,’ which played off-Broadway and then on the West End). People who were cold suddenly are hot after it comes out.
LA Times: Would you take any of their money now?
ZB: I think that would be in bad taste for all the people who are backing this. It wouldn’t be in the spirit of the thing.
Sorry, still trying to grasp this. I really, really like Braff so I’d hate to think that he basically used Kickstarter for the sole purpose of drumming up publicity for his film instead of just simply find backers of his own. Basically the Kickstarter campaign got people hot again…
If you aren’t too happy about this news and were one of the 38,000 who contributed, you can cancel your pledge since the campaign hasn’t ended yet. I’m sure Braff will have something to say about this news due to the fact that this has been a controversy for the actor from the start. So what say you, Mr. Braff?