How do we feel about fan contributions?

[The Curmudgeon]

In today's climate, it's never been harder to make money in the entertainment biz. Music? Why pay for it, right? One click and it's yours for free. Movies and TV shows? Ditto. Stream that shit for free. We've developed into a "get everything, pay for nothing" culture, and it sucks.

We're not ALL like that, of course, and so it looks like artists and companies are looking to people who actually pay for stuff to foot the rest of the bill. Collector's Editions and Special Edition boxsets, double dip and re-releases are one thing, but there are now things like "Kickstarter" that musicians and indie directors are using, asking genuine, passionate fans to donate cash to help finance a project.

Here's an example, and hey, I'd find it pretty hard to say no to this;

www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3nAw_WtIuY

(For what it's worth, Mrs C actually donated cash to this).

So why is fucking MILLIONAIRE Zach Braff asking ME for money? When did this become acceptable? It's not a charity, it's not for a dying kids or animals. It's so a millionaire actor can write a script for a movie and get it made HIS way (and casual fans steal it off the internet anyway).

So do you agree with all of this? This guy sure doesn't..

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZrUd_6T5KQ

Thoughts?

[trashcanman]

I'm split on it. I do believe that there are small artists who legitimately could use Kickstarter to bypass the "system" and get projects funded that otherwise might not get made. On the other hand, Hollywood could exploit this system to avoid ever having to finance anything completely, thus increasing their already-massive profit margin by fooling fans into financing it for them with cheesy fucking adverts like that one. If I contributed to a project like this, I would need to have a look at the budget. I'm not about to spend my money so that they can have filet mignon and caviar on their on-set buffet. Kevin Smith made Clerks for under $30,000. If you want me to Kickstart this shit, I'm going to have to demand that kind of budget sense.

Again, small projects from legit indie directors and the like could be a great way for fans to show support and help bypass Hollywood, and it sure beats some feminist whiner taking collections for her 100% budgetless Youtube vidya history lessons. But if this Kickstarter thing blows up, then believe me when I say Hollywood will learn to exploit it and sucker folks.