IMDBLR: I’d Just Like To Thank The Academy
It’s been more than four years since I last sat down and catalogued my contributions to the credits of movies made with the assistance of crowdfunding platforms. This is, in part, because my commitment to ego-blogging wanes considerably with age, but also because Kickstarter is a slow and patient process. The first project I ever backed is still years from completion, and while I’ve received my backer party favors for believing that Detroit deserves a Robocop statue, it’s taken Detroit quite some time to find it a proper home. So films that I excitedly send off my support for don’t always turn around and fly into my mailbox as quickly as my donation flew out of my inbox. So to speak.
But I do enjoy the process of opening up the old Kickstarter account and checking in to see how many projects have actually finished up. Many of them have done the Robocop route of sending out rewards to contributors, but haven’t yet been able to finish wrapping up the project those rewards represent. And with film projects, that’s rarely surprising. Films seem to regularly cost more than expected, and so frequently one of the Kickstarter “prizes” for backing a project is a digital download or stream of the finished video. When this is the case, I leave the little “Got it!” box unchecked in a fit of pique, even if I have accounted for all the sparkly physical gewgaws and whatsits that were promised.
All of which is to excuse my lack of urgency in checking up on how many times I’ve appeared in the credits. But let’s not only make this about me. Let see how often and in what way crowdfunding is acknowledged in the credits of films…
WISH I WAS HERE (Raised its minimum funds on May 24, 2013, released on July 25, 2014)
Availability to be in the credits: Originally, pledgers at the $200 level were going to have their names be graffiti in a scene in the film. If memory serves, the select backers listed in the credits were those people, as the scene didn’t scan sufficently.
Expectation of me being in the credits: None. I backed at the Special Q&A in Boston level.
A MATTER OF TIME (Raised its minimum funds on July 22, 2013, released on Feb. 5, 2016)
Availability to be in the credits: For all pledges of $30 or more.
Expectation of me being in the credits: Yep! This is officially the first project I backed since Benjamin Sniddlegrass and the Cauldron of Penguins where I expected to be listed in the credits because of my contribution. However, I believe it wasn’t the first to be released…
In good company: Old internet friend Han Q. Duong’s name was a welcome surprise in the midst of innumerable strangers and ALS memoriams.
MISERY LOVES COMEDY (Raised its minimum funds on Sept. 26, 2013, released on April 14, 2015)
Availability to be in the credits: For all pledges of $35 or more.
Expectation of me being in the credits: Yes, indeed. (Middle column, fourth from the bottom.)
In good company: Also listed is Thrilling Adventure Hour co-creator Ben Acker.
CIRCUS KID (Raised its minimum funds on Oct. 21, 2013, released on Dec. 21, 2017)
Availability to be in the credits: For pledges of $1,000.
Expectation of me being in the credits: No siree, bob.
NED RIFLE (Raised its minimum funds on Dec. 4, 2013, released on April 1, 2015)
Availability to be in the credits: For $8,000 and up, special titles in the credits and on the DVD case were promised.
Expectation of me being in the credits: None, which is why it was amazing that the special backer DVD case listed my and a bazillion other backers’ names, including 8K+ luminaries separated out from the hoi polloi at the end.
In good company: In addition to Henry Fool trilogy actors Parker Posey, Thomas Jay Ryan, and James Urbaniak helping to ensure they’d be able to, y’know, complete the trilogy, Edgar Wright is listed on the DVD. As are comic book luminaries Brian Michael Bendis, Steve Bissette, Ed Brisson, Matt Fraction, Jamie McKelvie, Tara McPherson, Lou Noble, Bill Plympton, and Meredith Yayanos.
THE BRIDGE PARTNER (Raised its minimum funds on April 11, 2014, released on March 7, 2015)
Availability to be in the credits: For all pledges of $100 or more.
Expectation of me being in the credits: I’m a sucker for Peter S. Beagle’s works, and I was able to participate at a significant enough level to get thanked, as pictured above, on the first screen of Special Thanks. What I forgot, until I was doing the research for this post, was that every Special Thanks credit guaranteed an accordant IMDB listing.
In good company: WHO CARES?! I mean, I think I recognize the name Ben Giroux, but his credits aren’t ringing a bell. I’M OFFICIALLY ON IMDB, BABY! I am the good company I want to keep in these credits! WAHEY! Time to keep my promise to myself and link my newly-discovered profile to the DVD of Kaiju Big Battel.
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