How “Veronica Mars” Kickstarter Success Revolutionized Film Development

In less than a day, the Veronica Mars Kickstarter project surpassed the needed funds to kick start production for a Veronica Mars movie. Although the numbers continue to rise for the Veronica Mars project, it’s clear that creators of fan favorite TV shows would follow suit because of its success.

Among the top shows fans would like to see be resurrected from the Hollywood grave is the fan favorite Firefly. The Joss Whedon created show ended way too early for it’s own good, but because of the Veronica Mars success on Kickstarter fans hoped that there would be a chance that the show could be revived once more via kickstarter. However, Whedon tells Buzzfeed, “don’t give your hopes up” on a Firefly Kickstarter project. The creator cites scheduling conflicts as to why he wouldn’t pursue a Firefly follow-up with or without the help of Kickstarter.

However, that isn’t stopping other showrunners from possibly following in Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas’ footsteps. Hit the jump to find out the reactions of various showrunners’ whose critically acclaimed shows were cancelled before their time.

It’s very important to note that the following quotes doesn’t mean that the projects are up and running on Kickstarter, these people are exploring the Kickstarter avenue because of the Veronica Mars Kickstarter success.

Before Kickstarter launched, the idea of saving a show was having fans spam an executive’s e-mail inbox and mail box as well. But now that technology has clearly advanced, we have Kickstarter to thank for launching a new wave of reviving cancelled or soon-to-be cancelled shows.

Bryan Fuller of Pushing Daisies fame reached out to Thomas to “find out how this thing works.” While in Toronto working on the NBC drama, Hannibal, Fuller told The Hollywood Reporter

“If I weren’t in Toronto finishing up on ‘Hannibal,’ I’d be knocking on doors at Warner Brothers, asking, ‘Is this a viable plan for ‘Pushing Daisies?'”

Sounds like Pushing Daises is still on Fuller’s mind, and he’s like to finish the series as he saw fit.

The same would go for Terriers’ showrunner Shawn Ryan – whose top dramas like The Chicago Code and Last Resort only lasted for one season but also received positive reviews from top critics. Terriers was also a well-received show during it’s short run, and the thought of reviving by making a film using Kickstarter funding has crossed his mind

Very interested to see how this Veronica Mars kickstarter goes. Could be a model for a Terriers wrap up film.

— Shawn Ryan (@ShawnRyanTV) March 13, 2013

Men of a Certain Age creator Mike Royce as also had the idea of reviving his show via Kickstarter and said in this tweet:

This has most certainly gone thru my head RT @analogtransmit: Kickstarter for a MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE finale movie. cc @tvoti

— Mike Royce (@MikeRoyce) March 14, 2013

While the idea of getting fans to revive a show by funding it may be sound, there may be some draw backs to it. The Wrap reports that WB won’t provide any additional funds for the Veronica Mars project. However it is only day three of the Veronica Mars Kickstarter lanuch, and there are still 27 more days left before it ends. So maybe WB is relying on it’s fanbase to fund it, and when time does run out, WB would kick in some extra funds should it be necessary. But for now, WB won’t pay an extra dime for production.

Another problem for people who think it may be a good idea to use Kickstarter to revive their shows using the site is that some of these shows don’t fit the model. In the same THR interview, Fuller said,

“Pushing Daisies is going to take a lot more than $2 million to make into a movie.”

It’s an interesting idea to get fans to participate in funding certain projects. It certainly takes a load off the studio’s backs. That being said, what kind of shows would you like to be see revived using the Kickstarter model.