a long time ago, we used to be friends* ... and now we're going to be friends again!

Two weeks ago, I arrived home from judging a speech meet, turned on my computer, and saw that my Twitter and Facebook feeds were overrun with Veronica Mars posts. I clicked on one of the links and learned the. best. news. Series creator Rob Thomas (not the guy from Matchbox Twenty) had struck a deal with Warner Brothers—if he could raise $2 million through a Kickstarter campaign, Warner Brothers would greenlight a VM movie.

I'm quite familiar with Kickstarter, as I've backed two (failed) projects in the past. Here's how it works: the creator sets a goal (in this case, $2 million in one month). He or she then offers "rewards" to people who support the project (these people are called backers). A backer can choose how much money to give based on the reward he or she wants. (A backer can also give more or less than the specified reward amounts.) If the goal is met, the project is funded. If the goal isn't met, then no one is out any money.

For a couple hours, I debated whether I wanted to become a backer. Of course I wanted to see the movie, but did I want to actually throw some of my hard earned money behind the project? I finally decided "yes" ... for entirely selfish reasons. I live in small town Nebraska, where chances of a Veronica Mars movie playing in a theater near me are slim to none. Sure, I could wait for the DVD, but did I really want to do that? No! So I'm backing the Veronica Mars movie at the $35 level, which will get me a pdf of the script (don't care), a t-shirt (kinda cool, but not necessary), and a digital copy of the film within a few days of its theatrical release. Now that's the kind of reward I want!

I backed the film when the project was at $1.8 million. Shortly thereafter, it rolled past $2 million. Right now, with 16 days left, it's at nearly $4.1 million. So it's definitely going to happen! Yippee!!!

Thomas and series star Kristen Bell put together this video announcing the project. If you're a VM fan, you need to watch this! (Just be aware there is some language, thanks to "Dick Casablancas" [Ryan Hansen].)



And here's a great article about the film ... including spoilers! (For something like this, I want all the spoilers!)

*The title of this post is a reference to The Dandy Warhols' song that served as the series' theme. You can see the opening credits here.

Have you backed any Kickstarter projects? And are you even remotely as excited as I am for the Veronica Mars movie?