Setting out to get his directorial debut film Hits into theaters, actor and stand-up comedian David Cross has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kicsktarter to raise $100,000. Per its synopsis, Hits is a story about a small town in upstate New York that plays host to its inhaitant’s delusions of grandeur. Its cast includes Meredith Hagner, Michael Cera, Matt Walsh, and Amy Sedaris.
Explaining the project, Cross shared on the campaign’s website, “Last year I made a movie called Hits, a low budget indie thing, with a bunch of my very talented friends. It stars Meredith Hagner, Matt Walsh, James Adomian, Jake Cherry, Derek Waters, Wyatt Cenac, David Koechner, Jessie Ennis, Amy Sedaris, Michael Cera, Amy Carlson, and Jason Ritter. It’s a dark independent comedy exploring the nature of fame in 21st century YouTube America and we’re releasing the film in February.
“We went to Sundance and while we received offers from some great distributors, their plans with the film were a little lackluster… so we decided to release it ourselves in an unusual way, as an experiment! We’re launching it nationally in theaters and on BitTorrent as a Pay What You Want release! It will be on iTunes and other platforms but they will be more traditionally priced.
“We want you to decide how much tickets cost and you pay artists directly, not distributors or studios. This is an experiment, a first of its kind to see if we can make it more sustainable for both fans, and filmmakers. In order to do this in theaters as widely as possible we need your help to raise $100K. We are distributing ourselves and there are costs associated with making all of this happen. In addition to theater rental fees, we need to cover our marketing and publicity efforts. We ideally want to be in 50 markets, but the more money we raise the more theaters we can be in, so if we go over $100k, we’ll just expand our plans, which would be great!”
Those who donate to the project will receive various awards based on their donation. This will include a mix CD made by Cross ($200), a piece of Cross’ beard ($500), and even a spot as an extra ($5,000). Sharing the risk and challenges that the Hits team will face, the Arrested Development star then added, “We have a pretty solid plan in place and an awesome team of producers who have already supported me in successfully completing the film, so I don’t anticipate many risks or challenges.
“That said, we are hoping to release the film in February, so please be patient with us if it takes longer than expected to receive a response with regards to awards etc. Everyone over here is really busy. That said, we’re excited to be releasing with your help, so we’ll do our best do make sure you’re all kept informed and feel taken care of.
“Your goodies like t-shirts and posters for helping us make this possible will be sent out by a professional fulfillment company. For those of you who are attending an event or joining us on set of a future film, we will do our best to keep you in the loop on our schedule.
“If you become an extra or receive a part in a future movie, you must be a US citizen or have a US work visa, and not be a member of SAG/AFTRA.You must be over 18 or accompanied by a parent or legal guardian (who will count as your plus one) to attend the premiere or visit the set. Extras must also be over 18. Some rewards may require additional paperwork. If you are appearing in a film, you will have to sign a release. Some rewards may require travel. We will not take care of any travel expenses – those will be the responsibility of the purchaser.”
The Hits crowdfunding campaign is set to close on February 4th.
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