Rule number one when asking for money: Be humble. Actor Zach Braff nailed his new role as earnest fundraiser for his upcoming movie Wish I Was Here when he said in his video for the project: “I have no idea if raising money on here is going to work, but I think it’s worth a try.” It’s working. By 6 p.m. ET on April 24 (the first day of the campaign), the star of the long-running TV show Scrubs and creator of the 2005 movie Garden State had raised more than $1 million toward his $2 million goal.
Braff, who will write, direct and star in the movie, says he chose Kickstarter so he could have complete artistic control, from casting to the final cut. “I want you to be my financiers and my audience so I can make a movie for you with no compromises,” he wrote on his Kickstarter page, adding, “Wish I Was Here is the story of Aidan Bloom (played by me), a struggling actor, father and husband, who at 35 is still trying to find his identity; a purpose for his life.”
Braff expects the movie, which will co-star Jim Parsons of The Big Bang Theory and be filmed in part at Comic-Con in July, to be released in September 2014.