Stargate Universe and Kickstarter

Darn. I really liked SGU. I'd like to help bring it back. But, correct me if I'm wrong, this seems like a lot of magical thinking on his part. Godbless him. But it sounds like some real pie in the sky wishful thinking.

He's attempting this without any agreement with anyone? For one thing, might as well not even bother if you don't get Robert Carlyle onboard, not to mention the rights holders. Would that be SyFy?

And SyFy has already cancelled the show due to lack of ratings. What would be different after fans raised this money? It would still be a show not enough people watch, right?

Admittedly, I don't have a head for this stuff. But how do you get from $50,000 to $50 million again? It's nice that he assures funders a partial refund if the funds are raised but it turns out no one wants to make it, or it cannot be made.

But this...

Failure to secure a distribution/broadcast agreement.

In any case, part of the budget is to establish a internet based download service. Qualifying backers will be given free access to download all episodes. It is envisaged that securing a broadcast agreement for the largest kickstart project to date should be straightforward. In the event of the show being produced, and no networks want to broadcast it, backers who opted for the download or dvd box set will still be able to watch the show. Part of the negotiations will be to ensure that should this eventuality arise, the download service & box set will be made available for the general public to purchase, with appropriate revenue being made available to the existing rights holders.
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This surely must be fantasy (albeit a lovely fantasy). Isn't the idea that the third season would be produced without a broadcast agreement very far fetched? Even more so that downloads or DVDs will be produced? Or in other words, isn't it fanciful to think the show would be produced just so funders would get their downloads and DVDs, if that's what he's saying?


But yeah. I wish they hadn't cancelled it in the first place. Thanks for sharing this, WB. =)
 
I'd pride myself in saying that I'm probably one of, if not the, biggest Stargate fan on this forum... I've seen every episode of all three shows more times than I can count, and I'm specifically going to Chicago (Where I'm going to school next year) three weeks early just to go to the convention...

With that said... Screw SGU - It was a terrible show, and I hope it stays dead. It took the wonderful formula of Stargate and botched it terribly, turning it into some awkward stuck-on-a-ship space soap opera. Just... no.

I'd much rather see the Stargate fan-base promoting a reboot, which is currently up for debate than bring back SGU.

EDIT: Having watched the "video" for this Kickstarter campaign - There's no way on earth something like this is going to get off the ground. "Make History... Give Us Your Money..."
 
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Just simply asking for $50 million is a unique way to get publicity. But there's no way in hell he could raise that. I wonder what his true end game is...
 
My guess is he's probably just a lonely fan who has no idea what it takes to make his dream happen.

Thankfully, no one is going to waste their money on this because the chances of it getting to $50mil are literally 0. But I don't think there's anything cynical about the project (would be happy to be proved wrong), just quite...sad.
 
Yep, as much as I love stargate, including SGU , this guy seems to be just dreaming. By the looks of things he hasn't talked to any of the producers, main cast etc. Moreover I think MGM own the stargate rights?? which is why they never made the Atlantis and third SG1 movies, because of the financial difficulties they were in at the time.

I actually liked the show and thought the reason it failed was scifi using its shovel to bury the show much like it did to Caprica, but that's a debate for another thread haha.

thinking about it though, if you somehow managed to get the cast and producers on board and the backing from MGM (or whoever owns the rights) then I can see if reaching a $50 million goal no problem.
 
welsh_gambit said:
if you somehow managed to get the cast and producers on board and the backing from MGM (or whoever owns the rights) then I can see it reaching a $50 million goal no problem.
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Isn't the largest crowd funding campaign for a production in the 4 million dollar range? Is there any reason you think that 12.5 times that amount is "no problem" ?

If all the stars aligned and you get double the world record, you're still more than 90% short of the budget. Maybe if you hit 2.5x the record, you may be in the right ball park to attract other sources of finance.
 
Sweetie said:
Isn't the largest crowd funding campaign for a production in the 4 million dollar range? Is there any reason you think that 12.5 times that amount is "no problem" ?

If all the stars aligned and you get double the world record, you're still more than 90% short of the budget. Maybe if you hit 2.5x the record, you may be in the right ball park to attract other sources of finance.
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I believe you're about right. The largest production crowdfund that I'm familiar with is:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/559914737/the-veronica-mars-movie-project

That.
 
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Sweetie said:
Isn't the largest crowd funding campaign for a production in the 4 million dollar range? Is there any reason you think that 12.5 times that amount is "no problem" ?

If all the stars aligned and you get double the world record, you're still more than 90% short of the budget. Maybe if you hit 2.5x the record, you may be in the right ball park to attract other sources of finance.
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Yeah, I suppose you're right it would be an extremely uphill task. I still think it would be do-able with the right marketing campaign and the cast/crew promoting it as well. I didn't really look into it, I was going on the assumption that the cast would promote it (highly unlikely as they are busy people). For example Rob Carlyle has 200k followers on twitter, if he could get 1/4 of them to donate $30 etc etc.

I think a good question would be what happens if it's backed by marketing from MGM and reaches its goal? would the floodgates open for the large studios to start crowd funding their movies.
 
I believe you're about right.
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Correction, 5.7mil. I knew it was the Veronica Mars campaign, didn't track it much beyond the 4mil mark. Guess it kept on growing.

I still think it would be do-able with the right marketing campaign and the cast/crew promoting it as well.
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It's probably be easier (and perhaps cheaper) for the studio to fork out the cash to make the show, instead of spending the money to sign up the stars and pay for a marketing campaign to promote the crowd funding. This is partly why we're not seeing studios use crowd funding.

For example Rob Carlyle has 200k followers on twitter, if he could get 1/4 of them to donate $30 etc etc.
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People usually over estimate response rates. 25% response rate would be insane. 1% to 2% is considered an amazingly high response rate in marketing.
 
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