The Veronica Mars Kickstarter Movie Starts Filiming

Often after a cult television show finishes airing (usually due to cancellation) there's always talk of a continuation in some shape or form, mostly by the fans who aren't ready to give up on their favourite show just yet, but occasionally the creators/ writers/ actors themselves express interest in keeping the show going. Buffy, Angel & Charmed all got to continue on in comic book form. Firefly got a film, Serenity (although for Whedon fans that'll never be enough). Arrested Development continued online. And even 24 is returning to television in 2014 after being off the air for three years.

However, for all these success stories it's actually very rare for this to happen. Or at least it seemed that way until about a month ago, when Rob Thomas, creator of cult hit Veronica Mars started a Kickstarter campaign to bring back his beloved heroine for a feature length film. Below is the video that Rob Thomas, Ms. Veronica Mars herself Kristen Bell, and other actors from the show Enrico Colantoni, Ryan Hansen, and Jason Dohring appeared in to promote the campaign:

It's safe to say that before this Kickstarter wasn't very well known, but basically it's an online company that provides the tools to raise funds for creative projects via crowd funding through its website. When the campaign started on March 13th of this year Thomas hoped to raise 2 million dollars for the film and this was done within ten hours. By the  time the campaign closed on the 12th of April, rasing $5,702,153 from 91,585 backers. The campaign broke several Kickstarter records in the process, including the fastest project to reach first $1 million, then $2 million; the highest minimal pledging goal achieved; and the largest successful film project on Kickstarter and the most backers on a single Kickstarter project. I myself donated $100 and I personally cannot only wait for the movie to come out, but also for all the great gifts I get for helping to fund the project, inckuding a limited edition movie t-shirt, poster and a Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack of the movie that includes the documentary on the making of the film.

It's been just over two months since the campaign ended, and having, as a backer of the film, been kept up-to-date with what's been going on with the pre-production (including casting info, scouting locations etc.) of the film I'm excited to say that the film went into actual production today and the movie has begun filming!

While the reaction to the Kickstarter fad the Veronica Mars Movie undoubtedly started has been mixed (Who is Kickstarter really for?, Why do celebrities need money for backing), it's undeniably an exciting time for not only the future of television, but for the creation of all media in general, and I'm very excited to see what this new era of crowd funding will continue to do in the future.

USA Is Not Interested In Happy Endings

You'd look like this too if your show had just been cancelled.

Back in April Sony TV, the leading studio behind ABC's beloved yet low rated comedy Happy Endings, starting exploring the possibility of another studio network picking up the series for a fourth season if ABC did not decide to renew it. The USA network were of particular interest, wanting to branch out with adding some half-hour comedies to their programming. Having acquired the off-network comedy Modern Family, USA were said to be looking for an orignal comedy to pair with the series. And Happy Endings seemed like a logcial move, it aired behind Modern Family on ABC for two seasons, and did reasonably well in the ratings before it was moved to form a comedy block with the now also cancelled Don’t Trust The B—- At Apt. 23.

In mid-May, ABC did what most people thought they would, cancelled their beloved yet low rated comedy Happy Endings. And last Saturday it was announced that USA had opted not to pick up the show for a fourth season. Although the show was seen as doing well creatively by the cable network, its low ratings on ABC meant that it would involve a large investment in marketing and promotion by USA, and having just ordered two of their own comedy pilots, Sirens and Playing House, thought the money would be better spent on developing them.

Fans are still convinced that there is a home for Happy Endings someone though. Last year another beloved yet low rated comedy series on ABC, Cougar Town, which was also in its third season, was cancelled only to be picked up by TBS, where it has proven successful and earned itself a fifth season, and many think TBS should do the same for Happy Endings. Then's there's the online television streaming services as well. Netflix just debuted a fourth season of critical darling Arrested Development, which was cancelled by Fox eight years ago, and despite mixed reviews, has received a lot of buzz. There's also Amazon, who just ordered two comedy pilots, Alpha House and Betas, as apart of their first attempt at original programming.

There are basically any number of possible networks that could renew Happy Endings, but in my opnion, the show best bet for the show to continue was always on ABC. It's a shame that the news of USA's possible acquistion of the show was discovered before it was even cancelled. I would imagine fans would have fought harder for the show if it hadn't, but instead it seemed many were complacement to the idea that USA would pick it, and that that would be that. Do I hear a Kickstarter anyone? Insert-not-really-witty-comment-here-because-every-single-writer-does-it-relating-to-the-title-of-the-show-and-it's-newfound-irony.