New Zach Braff Movie Hits Kickstarter Goal, Could It Threaten ‘Veronica Mars’ Record?

'Wish I Was Here' has raised $2 million in three days

Zach Braff‘s “Wish I Was Here,” the writer/director's follow-up to “Garden State,” has now raised more than $2 million on Kickstarter, surpassing the goal Braff set for it in three days. Fans of the project have 26 more days to contribute to the campaign, which begs the question: how high can that tally climb?

“Veronica Mars” creator Rob Thomas raised more than $5 million on the crowdfunding platform to help make a film out of his popular TV show, the largest sum raised by any film or video project. Thomas raised more than $2 million in a day, and then more than doubled that total over the remaining month.

Also read: Don't Hate on Zach Braff – Rage Against Kickstarter's Perry Chen

Media attention can only help Braff, and he's attracted plenty of it. The former "Scrubs" star started the campaign because he wanted creative control over his next film.

In his message to fans on Kickstarter, Braff acknowledged he was about to sign a “typical financing deal,” but opted against that because “it would have involved making a lot of sacrifices” he thought would hurt the film.

Many have rebuked Braff and Kickstarter over the past few days, both on Twitter and in the press, unhappy that Braff can raise so much money for a project because of his celebrity. More than 60 percent of the 25,000-plus film and video projects launched on Kickstarter have failed and no successful project had topped $1 million until "Veronica Mars."

Also Read: Are Hollywood Millionaires Ruining Kickstarter? Let's Ask the Internet

Kickstarter founders Perry Chen, Yancey Strickler and Charles Adler created the platform to help anyone with a creative idea secure financial backing for their project. They never specified restricting the platform to those without financial wherewithal and have stayed out of this recent scrum.

So has Braff, beyond having this to say to his critics:

"The people who would say, 'Fuck him, he should pay for it himself,' I don't expect those people to be the supporters of this project. […] It's not a scam. If I wanted to make dough, I'd go back and be on another TV show."

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