MovieChat Forums > Wish I Was Here (2014) Discussion > And knowing is half the battle

And knowing is half the battle

posted 10 years ago by khaleesi-drogo1
14 replies | jump to latest

Memo to all millionaires who think the general public should pay for their projects:

When you tap out your fan base's bank accounts before even releasing a movie don't act surprised when no one has any money left to pay to see your film. I hope Zach Braff is handwriting 46,520 thank you notes and signing them with his tears because all of his very kind and generous fans just kept him and his investors from losing several million dollars. And I do hope all who donated will give to film makers who actually need the money in the future.

[–] MongoLloyd 10 years ago

Can't wait to see Zach Braff's next movie. HAHAHAHAHA.

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[–] khaleesi-drogo1 10 years ago

I'd imagine the studios are taking note. "Veronica Mars" only made $3,485,000 on a $6 million budget. I have no problem with the VM Kickstarter because Kristen Bell put up some of her own money as well. Shows she believes in her work more than Braff believes in his. Also, I know both Bell and Thomas begged the studio to do the feature VM and the studio refused leaving them no other option. Their Kickstarter was done out of desperation to get their movie made.

What bothers me the most about WIWH is after copying the VM Kickstarter, Braff then signs on investors on top of the free money from Kickstarter. That's such an unethical thing to do, IMO. It seems like he just lied about having no other financing options. He has five executive producers listed on here.

WIWH made $3,563,000 on a $6 million budget. It's interesting how close the box office results are on the two very different films. Ultimately, I think it will make the studios very wary of crowd funding successes.

[–] Final_Hitokiri 10 years ago

It seems like he just lied about having no other financing options.

Seems like? The man had enough funds to finance the entire project himself. I'm not saying that was his best business option, but there was no need for him to lie to his fans like that.

Unfortunatley he didn't learn a single lesson either, becuase he didn't lose any of his actual money on this film, just his pride.

Sadly I am sure no "thank you" letters will be mailed.

[–] khaleesi-drogo1 10 years ago

Totally agree, what's most insulting to his donors is that Braff is the executive producer of "Video Games: the Movie" and "The Internet's Own Boy", two documentaries that came out in 2014, so he has no problem investing his own money in others projects.

[–] Final_Hitokiri 10 years ago

Braff is the executive producer of "Video Games: the Movie" and "The Internet's Own Boy", two documentaries that came out in 2014

Sad that he is that greedy.

He's lucky that he had such a lengthy run on a successful TV show. Amazing how a few years turns someone from humble to entitled and avaricious.

[–] MongoLloyd 10 years ago

WIWH made $3,563,000...

And that's domestic gross. After foreign markets, DVD, MOD, and whatever else, they might manage to break even. And yeah, there's a reason when connected talent can't get their movies financed; it's called "your script sucks."

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[–] khaleesi-drogo1 10 years ago

They might, but WIWH spent a lot on advertising. I saw the trailer on NBC and they did things like the IMDb ads, that's going to take a hit on their profits. I don't think advertising is included in the budget on here but I could be wrong. It's crazy that "Garden State" made almost $27 million domestically, and WIWH didn't even make $4 million. What a drop :/

[–] MongoLloyd 10 years ago

People were open to a Wes Anderson knockoff film when GS was released, I guess. Things are different now and you can only get away with copying another filmmaker's schtick maybe one time.

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[–] laballatician 10 years ago

Your math is faulty. Considering VM's budget was provided by the fans, who in return got the movie for free, anything else was just cherry on the cake.

[–] khaleesi-drogo1 10 years ago

I understand VM is different as I stated above. I get VM is pure profit because they raised the majority of the budget on Kickstarter. 3 million is a small return when you factor in even minimal advertising and limited theater rental, in terms of box office either way, and unfortunately most studios are more interested in films that make more than 3 million. I understand VM was a movie made for the fans but my point was WIWH was not. VM raised close to 6 million but that money is gone to cast and crew salaries and expenses such as craft service, location rental, wardrobe, and props and many others. Counting the 6 million as profit is wrong. So my math is just fine.

[–] laballatician 10 years ago

No. You're only counting theater gross, though. You do realize the movie was released to VOD the same day, right?

[–] khaleesi-drogo1 10 years ago

No, the point of this thread is comparing the two films box office gross. As WIWH has not been released to DVD, there are no numbers to compare yet. I was comparing what the two films did theatrically.

Also, the only number I could find for VM home media performance was $2.2 million, unfortunately nothing to brag about when compared to other films. So I'm not sure what your argument really is.

[–] Final_Hitokiri 10 years ago

I don't get what their point was either.

That donors of the "Veronica Mars" movie got the dvd for free and donors of "Wish I was Here" got nothing?

[–] 10 years ago

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