This article was published on July 22, 2013

Spike Lee shuns Hollywood studios, launching a $1.25M Kickstarter campaign to fund a new movie


Spike Lee shuns Hollywood studios, launching a $1.25M Kickstarter campaign to fund a new movie

Filmmaker Spike Lee has launched a Kickstarter campaign seeking to raise $1.25 million to fund his next feature film. He did so saying that the current Hollywood studio system isn’t an “encouraging look” for independent filmmakers.

In an introductory movie, the legendary director who brought us Malcolm X, Jungle Fever, Do The Right Thing, and more, says that he saw how successful the Kickstarter campaign was to launch the Veronica Mars film and he hopes to recreate the magic. Few details have been released about the next movie, although Lee says that it will be about blood:

As human beings, we have many addictions: drugs, alcohol, power, sex. This film is about the addiction about blood.

Currently, there are 42 backers supporting Lee’s film, with 29 days left to go to fund it. He has raised just over $1,000 towards his goal in his inaugural Kickstarer campaign.

Why Kickstarter? Lee simply explains it as thus:

I have a different vision of what Cinema can be, a different vision of what some under-served Audiences might want to see. That is why I am here on KICKSTARTER, to raise the Funds for The New Spike Lee Joint, to get this BAD BOY financed. Nothing in Life is Free and if you want something you got to pay for it. If you have liked any of my Films in the past, this is the price it costs to see another one (which can be less than the cost of one Movie Ticket). We feel the different levels on contributions make it affordable for everyone to GET DOWN FOR THE CAUSE.

Naturally, there are tiers in which people can pledge funds in. The higher the donation, the greater the reward, including associate producer credits, tickets to the premiere (if successfully funded and produced), and even a special limited master filmmaker class with Lee at his 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks building.

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The Newest Hottest Spike Lee Joint Kickstarter Campaign

Photo credit: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images

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