We Want The Funds: A Crowdfunding Update

Why do people hate the fact that Zach Braff is crowdfunding? What do you have to do to get your name tattooed on a man's body? And why is a Daft Punk song being funded by the public? Another wacky week in the world of crowdfunding...

Name: Arcane
Project: Double album
Current Status: 114 pledges, 104% ($10,429) of $10,000 goal. Now 69% ($10,429) of revised $15,000 goal. 54 days remaining.

Say what you will about the heavy metal community, they know how to support one another when it's needed. So when Brisbane metal masters Arcane told their friends and fans that they needed a lazy ten grand to make a double album called Known/Learned, the people responded quickly, getting them to their goal within three days of the campaign's launch. Having said that, the band have been offering some pretty incredible incentives for people to hand over their cash; they're pretty damn serious about getting this money.

The ultimate perk was to have the band's frontman Jim Grey have your name, or the name of your organisation, tattooed onto his arm for $10,000. No one has taken that yet, but that's a pretty serious commitment. Of course if you're a little short then you can just buy a lock of hair from guitarist Mikey Gagen's head.

But what do you do when you're just so damn successful?

Yes, the band are now looking at pressing a special triple vinyl edition of their new LP if they hit the $15,000 mark, so you can keep pledging and know that there's a good reason for it!

Name: Zach Braff
Project: New film, Wish I Was Here.
Current Status: 31,848 pledges, 111% ($2,237,976) of $2,000,000 goal, 24 days remaining.

Zach Braff is probably best known as the lead character in that annoying show Scrubs (come on, even if you like it you have to admit it is very annoying…) or the director and lead actor in the 2004 sappy comedy Garden State. Well he's looking to make a new film and he wants his fans to finance it.

Seeing as Garden State cost around $2.5 million to make and grossed something in the vicinity of $35.8 million at the box office alone, you've got to wonder why he's decided to take this route. As you'll see in the above video, it has much to do with the ultimate creative direction of the project; Braff wants full control.

If you do sign up to help, you can get weekly music playlists from Braff (how is that worth money??) as well as all the usual tickets for screenings, autographed merch and DVDs and you can name characters and be an extra if you're willing to bid big amounts of money. That's all well and good and nothing too out of the ordinary.

What is a little bit different is the kinda vitriolic backlash that Braff has copped since the campaign went live last week.

“People seem to think I have Oprah Winfrey money. I've done well in my career, but I am not sitting on $22 million," he told the LA Times.

But that's not stopping the comments. Tim Heidecker went so far as to write a sample scene.

hey @zachbraff I wrotescene for your new movie. It's very meta. read with an open mind.please cast me. twitter.com/timheidecker/s…

— timheidecker (@timheidecker) April 25, 2013

Then someone decided to make that scene…

Here are a few of our favourite anti-Braff tweets:

I'm starting a Kickstarter to fund my very elaborate, expensive plan to make sure Zach Braff's Kickstarter project never happens.

— Har Mar Superstar (@HarMarSuperstar) April 29, 2013

FYI- We're all living in a world where fans will give Zach Braff $2mil to make a movie but we can't show red dye in a tampon commercial.

— kelly oxford (@kellyoxford) April 27, 2013

Zach Braff Kickstarter asks for $2 million -- "or 1/4 of what he made on each season of Scrubs" bit.ly/12pGGN7 (via @richonfilm)

— Luke Buckmaster (@lukebuckmaster) April 26, 2013

Why would anyone donate a cent to millionaire panhandler @zachbraff

— Neil Hamburger (@NeilHamburger) April 25, 2013

I was about to send some relief money to Bangladesh when I found out about Zach Braff's kickstarter. That was a close one!

— Doug Lussenhop (@douggpound) April 24, 2013

We could go on, but you get the idea.

Underbelly Pozible 2013 updated version 29/4 from Applespiel on Vimeo.

Name: Underbelly Arts & The Keir Foundation
Project: Dollar for dollar pledges
Current Status: $2910 pledged thus far.

Underbelly Arts and the Keir Foundation have added an extra incentive to the crowd funding campaigns of eight up and coming artists. For every dollar that is pledged on eight particular artist's projects, the Keir Foundation – which is ostensibly a philanthropic organisation whose primary purpose is to foster innovation and excellence in the arts – will match it! So if each project is funded, that will be $16,250 that will be donated.

Each project on the Pozible page is looking to raise money in order for it to be able to be a part of the Underbelly Arts Lab and Festival, which take place on Cockatoo Island in July and August this year respectively.

You can check out the projects here and rest assured that every dollar you spend helping these people achieve their artistic goal is actually going to be doubled. The campaigns launched today and will end on Thursday 30 May.

Name: Brassft Punk
Project: Record a rendition of Daft Punk's Get Lucky
Current Status: 217 pledges, 64% ($1,286) of $2,000 goal, 14 days remaining.

As if you weren't already sick of us talking about this new Daft Punk LP, we're now bringing you the latest from Brassft Punk, a New Orleans brass band who only play Daft Punk songs.

Their latest project is a recording of the new single Get Lucky and they're basically using Kickstarter as a pre-order system, charging two bucks a pop to get a download of the track. For extra, you can get a copy of the vinyl edition of their previous four track EP, which features a few of the French electro dudes' biggest hits.

Are you crowdfunding? Tell us about it!