That Veronica Mars Movie and RIP Google Reader

Twitter was like a super duper roller coaster of news today for me. I wasn't even around for it but I started seeing @ mentions on my phone about the Veronica Mars Movie Kickstarter project and my reaction? Finally Ever since I supported Blue Like Jazz's film campaign (which was also my introduction to Kickstarter!) I've thought that if Veronica Mars was ever going to have a movie this would be the way to do it. I felt like there were enough fans and people interested that the money could easily be raised, I mean Blue Like Jazz worked so fast why not VM? So everytime I'd hear Kristen say something about the movie or whatever, I'd always wonder why they didn't just try Kickstarter.

I am not opposed to giving money to see things happen that I want to see. I've supported other musical endeavors on Kickstarter and other artistic projects in a similar fashion (give a certain amount/buying into a tier type of thing) so I didn't really see a problem with it. I even wrote about patronage of the arts as a possible way forward a couple of years ago after Blue Like Jazz's campaign. I guess I've seen a lot of artists I loved burned through traditional channels that are expected for this stuff, whether that be publishing or music. I have to admit I didn't give it a lot of thought with regards to TV, but I do think Veronica Mars the show was hurt by always being on the verge of cancellation and that includes the way the series ended. A movie has always made sense to me, but Warner Brothers was pretty consistently against it. I think, at the end of the day, this Kickstarter campaign was truly the only way it was going to happen. So at that point a fan has to ask themselves how much they want the movie and are they willing to pay?

I think it's important to keep in mind that giving to Kickstarter is not the same as giving to a charity. You are giving to something because you love it, you believe in it, and you want to see it happen. People do it out of their own free will. And you know I think what I saw today was a sense of empowerment as the project got funded--that fans' voices can be heard. That people can join together collectively and breathe new life into something they loved and be a part of making this oft wished for thing happen. Or as Renay said "so much love for one lady!" I had a lot of fun watching the pledges go up and the feeling of joy and excitement on Twitter.

But of course something like this doesn't happen without critical voices also weighing in and in this case some of them ended up being people I really respect so I wanted to give consideration to them. The biggest problem I think people have with this project is that Warner Brothers is paying for nothing (not exactly true, they will pay for distribution and marketing, etc.) and stands to make a profit. I think this is a valid concern, you certainly don't want to start asking people to invest in something so that big businesses can reap all the benefit. I don't really have an answer to this apart from saying I don't think this movie will make a huge profit and I also don't think it will set a precedent. I do think that others will try, but I really believe Veronica Mars was uniquely positioned by having an unsatisfactory ending, a star that was very vocal and supportive of doing the movie, and the ability to be made on an extremely low budget. It also was lucky to be the first, people won't necessarily have patience to watch this happen again and again. Could others succeed? Yes probably Joss Whedon. Maybe others. I don't know, all I know is that there is no other show that I thought should start a Kickstarter project for their movie.

But...I don't now what I come around to, what I keep coming around to is that this movie was not going to get made any other way. It just wasn't going to happen. And now it is. So yay!

I am curious about all of your thoughts with regards to Kickstarter, though. Like I genuinely don't have a problem paying what I sort of consider to be manufacturer's suggested retail price in advance of something. I usually feel like whatever perk comes along with it works for what I pay, plus I know the thing will happen. I don't know, it's just been interesting to observe the different reactions to this and reconsider my own instant reaction which was joy.

GOOGLE READER WHY??????

Then came the google reader news which I did not react well to. I think I might have screamed my life is ending or something. Seriously, though, and like...yes this is an overreaction, but I almost cried just trying to think of managing my blogging life without it. Google Reader is the dominant feed reader. It's not some little google service they are ending, this is a calculated move on their part and it's infuriating. I wish they would have sold it off or something, anything but simply ending it. While I've devoured the articles on alternative feed reader choices--the truth is there isn't an alternative. This is picnik all over again. I highly recommend weaning yourself off as many google products as possible. (yes I get how how sad it is I'm saying that on a blogger blog)

I honestly don't know what I'm going to do, but I really think this is going to change a lot of things for a lot of people. I suspect some people won't bother to change over anything, so blog readership may go down. Ugh, I'm just really sad about this you guys I can't even say anything that means anything. Though one of the things it does change big time is google as a one stop place. They keep forcing me to go other places for services. Hopefully I can get rid of them altogether one day.

Anyway let me know what you think about Veronica Mars and Kickstarter and Google Reader (sob!).