I love the idea behind crowdfunding. A way to give money directly to the people I want to make something I’ve wanted for many years? Sign me up! I’ve backed a number of nostalgia-driven gaming projects, everything from the Tim Schafer Double Fine Adventure game that kickstarted Kickstarter into our hearts, to the current campaign for a new game from ex-cop and game designer Jim Walls, the creator of Sierra’s Police Quest series that I grew up playing and continue to adore well into my adulthood. While these projects are working against all kinds of unrealistic expectations, I still backed them heartily, just for the chance to see my old favorites do their damnedest to make another game along similar lines as their previous work. After all, humans are never satisfied and we always want “just one more.”
The Spike Lee Kickstarter campaign has generated a lot of anger from the Internet, as people call Spike out for being too rich to be on Kickstarter. Many believe Kickstarter is a platform solely for struggling nobodies to possibly achieve a shot at the American dream of financial independence… if their idea and pitch are good enough. “Spike’s already had his chance and years of success,” they say, “he should move aside for someone new.” But despite the waves of negativity that the Internet trades in, Spike’s Kickstarter pledges continue to grow. I have no doubt that his campaign will achieve its goal and we’ll all be getting another truly independent joint from one of the most divisive filmmakers around.
These are real concerns when big-name people enter the Kickstarter space, and they are factors that must be considered if you donate money. On the other side of the issue, people such as Spike Lee are a known quantity. Sure, we’d all like to dream about funding (or being) a nobody that achieves major success thanks to the generosity of others, but this is a dream that carries a lot of doubt and uncertainty. With someone like Spike Lee, the guarantee of a quality production is a given. You might not like the movie he makes, but it will definitely carry a level of professionalism that a couple of gung-ho 18-year-old kids will be unable to muster. There’s also the fact that a working professional will know how to spend the budget, instead of learning along the way with your money.
But at the end of the day, the thing about all film-related Kickstarters is that you’re giving others your money in hopes of helping to produce something you’d like to see. Without any real stake in the production, it’s not about who should be or shouldn’t be getting Kickstarted, it’s about art. Are you the type of person who’d love to see Spike Lee make another film completely free from the studio system? Or would you rather see some youngbloods with fire in their eyes, hungry for a chance at greatness, giving it their all and possibly failing? Any kind of art that falls outside the mainstream must be supported by like-minded individuals who are excited by things that challenge them, projects that explore any and all sides of humanity. Whether it’s Spike Lee or someone new behind the camera, in regards to pledges and Kickstarter it’s all pretty much the same. I don’t see either side standing out as the “right” one to be on Kickstarter, but I do know that art outside the mainstream will need funding to survive as long as it doesn’t pull in giant box office numbers.