Lovestory: Veronica Mars And Kickstarter

by CO guest reviewer Elizabeth Eckhart

Veronica Mars is a character that has done the impossible: returned from the land of teenage nostalgia in a way that isn’t a show reunion, “Where Are They Now?” gossip magazine article, or sad, much-too-late poor remake. No, Veronica, along with her entire gang of detective cohorts, was able to truly return seven years later with every original character in tact. Sure, some time had passed in her hometown of Neptune, Veronica’s techy sidekick Mac had long graduated and resigned to working at the local Kane Software, and her dad hasn’t been able to change his routine in the slightest, but still, the gang’s all here!

So how did the Veronica Mars show finally make it’s debut on the big screen? Mainly due to it’s small, but determined, group of loyal fans, and the leadership of the shows star Kristen Bell and writer Rob Thomas. The two launched a record breaking Kickstarter campaign, setting a goal of $2 million in order to launch the film’s production, a milestone the project reached within the first 11 hours. By the end of the month long campaign, Bell and Thomas were able to collect a total of $5.7 million, with a Kickstarter record of 91,585 contributors. Donors who offered up $35 or more were also offered a free digital download of the film upon its release (a different issue made itself known when fans struggled to claim this download, but the initial well-intentioned thought was still there).

Many have already pointed out that while the Veronica Mars story is one of triumph, it’s not a new concept for superfans to fund artist’s projects. For example, the special edition releases of albums and films, VIP tickets and collectible items often fund new projects or allow bands to promote their more mainstream work for free or inexpensively, and it’s the hardcore fans who fork over those extra dollars. So how is Veronica Mars any different from this?

For one, the film showed the value of similar Kickstarter and public eye projects in regards to testing public interest and making valuable marketing estimates. Warner Bros., who has the rights to all Veronica Mars material, believed that too few people truly wanted to see a Veronica Mars film. In their opinion, the film was not worth the millions in marketing and distribution costs, when in all likelihood the only attendees would be previous fans of the show (and whoever they could drag along). Bell and Thomas, however, were able to use the Kickstarter campaign, and its resulting social media storm, to prove to Warner Bros. that not only was the film worth creating, it was also worth promoting through Warner Bros.’ numerous outlets. After all, not only did the film raise almost triple its funding goals, news of the film’s possible creation made tidal waves across new sources and social media. The campaign, promoted through the Veronica Mars twitter account and Kristen Bell’s personal account, was tweeted and retweeted hundreds of thousands of times.

As you can see, fans were quick to jump on board, and after making their own donations, were also quick to hop online and encourage their followers to do the same. Now, after the film’s release, those same fans are discussing the film online, downloading the digital version, and seeing the movie in some of the 300 theaters it’s being played in. According to data from social media aggregation company Viral Heat, these fans believe their efforts were more than worthwhile with over 86 percent of users tweeting about the film had positive things to say:

@OfficiallyAlly yes omg

— ana flavia (@anaflavistic) March 16, 2014

Veronica Mars Movie a Success: Let’s Talk Sequel! – http://t.co/FtxnEsauv6 pic.twitter.com/McdghwwKkj — The Trend Guys (@TheTrendGuys) March 17, 2014

The film, which has so far brought in over $2.8 million at the box office, has not only proved crowdfunding to be a viable possibility for films (even those owned by major studios), it has also displayed the power of fan voices through social media and the internet. Before the advent of Twitter, Facebook, and more, fans had few outlets able to organize widespread campaigns. Now, fans are able to affect the creation of movies, the reemergence of shows on Netflix (as they did with Arrested Development) and more. Money may be the match that starts the fire most quickly, but more importantly, measurable outlets like Kickstarter and social media might be all the convincing a studio needs to invest in a project -and if that’s not good news for all the super fans out there, then I don’t know what is. It seems Veronica isn’t quite finished yet, either. Rumors of a mysterious box office number the film must hit in order to create a sequel, which seems to have been Rob Thomas’s plan all along, are already circulating. Have the fans and Veronica Mars team cracked the system? Is proper use of social media and tangible fundraising goals the proper way to get studio giants to finally give us back our favorite series? If so, I have still have my fingers crossed for Firefly’s return.