Spike Lee Wants YOU To Fund His Next Movie
There's a new Spike Lee joint.
Well, there will be one if his financing comes through...but that depends on you.
His $1.25 million Kickstarter campaign for a movie project - The Newest Hottest Spike Lee Joint - has raised at least $163,683 thanks to about 1,100 backers as of Thursday morning.
Kickstarter helped Lee, director of more than 50 movies and documentaries, come up with a number that was "doable." A Kickstarter co-founder told him fundraising often fails on the site because people set goals that are too high. The website has been around since 2009, helping people raise more than $718 million in funds for creative projects. The Veronica Mars movie - slated to be released next year - used Kickstarter to raise $6 million.
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The Daily Ticker's Aaron Task asked Lee: Why should people give you money... you're Spike Lee?
"Kickstarter's for everybody...this film I want to do is not a film that the studios are going to finance," says Lee, who is quick to say "I'm not hatin'" on the studios, it's just the way it is right now.
"I saw Kickstarter as a vehicle for me to raise the money I need to make this very personal film and still have creative control over it," he explains.
So what's the film about? Lee gave us a quick tease but not much more: "The film is about human beings who are addicted to blood. But they're not vampires... we're not remaking a black 'Twilight.' We're not remaking 'Blacula'... I think this is going to be my most sensual film going back to my first one 'She's Gotta Have It.'"
Of those 1,100 backers, one is a Hollywood heavyweight. Director Steven Soderbergh gave $10,000. That means he'll get to have dinner with Lee and sit courtside with him at a Knicks game next season. You don't have to give $10,000 to get some swag. For a $5 pledge, you receive a "special thanks tweet" from Lee. For $100, an autographed crew t-shirt and DVD. And for $500 or more, autographed Nikes worn by the director himself!
In the meantime, there's 27 days left for Lee to reach his $1.25 million goal.
"Every cent that gets pledged is going on the screen," Lee says. "I'm not taking a fee at all. That's real business."
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