Approximately two years ago,
Matt McUsic (producer) and
Joel Schroeder (director) of this film project contacted me asking about doing an interview in Los Angeles. At the time of they were interviewing I wasn't in LA so I wasn't much help. However, they've kept in touch with me, giving me updates on
DEAR MR. WATTERSON. Now that the film is nearly done, I mentioned the film to a couple of people I know who are very interested in displaying
DEAR MR. WATTERSON in their theater.
This is a film I would love to see. I'm sure that many of you feel the same way. If you feel compelled to help with a pledge, bravo! If you want to offer support by sending these folks a note to that effect, I have no doubt that they would appreciate the kind words. If you would like to be contacted for a possible interview, let them know!
Here is the Facebook message I received from Joel Schroeder earlier today:
Subject: 15 days to go for Dear Mr. Watterson
In the last 75 days, 257 Calvin & Hobbes fans--mostly complete strangers--have pledged a little over $17,000 for "Dear Mr. Watterson."
Thank you so much to those of you who have contributed, helping to give this film a huge boost. We believed that fans would flock to support this project, and "Dear Mr. Watterson" is now the 21st most popular project on http://www.facebook.com/l/fba81;Kickstarter.com, out of hundreds of projects! Greater participation will make the project even more visible in the Kickstarter community.
With 15 days left to raise money on Kickstarter, we want to go all out and make every minute of fundraising count.
Considering how quickly we reached our initial goal, it isn't impossible to finish off this fundraising drive by actually doubling that amount and hitting $24,000 if we can finish as strong as we started.
The more we raise right now, the more likely we'll have the flexibility to be able to travel to interview cartoonists such as Jef Mallet of "Frazz," Richard Thompson of "Cul de Sac," Jim Davis of "Garfield," Bill Amend of "FoxTrot," Stephen Pastis of "Pearls Before Swine," and other cartoonists living all over the country.
Our Facebook group has over 3,600 members, and this may be your last chance to support the film so easily--you've already got a Facebook account to sign into Kickstarter, so all you need is an http://www.facebook.com/l/fba81;Amazon.com account. Pledging at Kickstarter guarantees you'll get exclusive updates as we continue production, which will include occasional previews of interviews and scenes from the film.
And there are great perks when you support through Kickstarter: for instance, a gift of $75 includes a credit in the film and a DVD signed by the crew, including a disc of special features.
We hope you're inspired to make a pledge, and please spread the word about "Dear Mr. Watterson" so that we can complete our fundraiser with a bang.
Here's the link:
http://www.facebook.com/l/fba81;www.kickstarter.com/projects/fingerprintfilms/dear-mr-watterson-a-cinematic-exploration-of-ca
We'd love to see our number of backers climb to 400 or 500, and we can't do that without your help!
This is a film that will explore the magical world that Bill Watterson shared with us. Thank you so much for helping us to make it happen.
Joel
p.s. Oh, and check out page 18 of the March issue of Wired--we got a mention!
