“Star Trek” actor and “Reading Rainbow” host LeVar Burton has created a supremely successful Kickstarter campaign to make a web version of his award-winning PBS show that’s on track to raise $5 million when it ends.
A little “Reading Rainbow” has gone a very long way.
The Kickstarter campaign to create a web version of the award-winning PBS show has broken a record on the crowd fund-raising site for most individual contributors, Entrepreneur magazine reports.
With just one day to go, the effort, created by the show’s executive producer and host LeVar Burton, has amassed more than 97,000 contributors and nearly $5 million.
“Bring Reading Rainbow Back for Every Child, Everywhere” was created at the end of May. In a matter of hours, the campaign surpassed its initial goal of $1 million.
Soon after, “Family Guy” creator Seth McFarlane pledged to match donations to the literary project up to $1 million, Burton announced June 28.
As the “Reading Rainbow” effort quickly became the fifth-most funded campaign on Kickstarter, in an unprecedented move the four bigger campaigns — including the “Veronica Mars” movie project — have all donated rewards to it.
article by Chiderah Monde via nydailynews.com
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LeVar Burton, host of the children’s educational program Reading Rainbow, started a Kickstarter campaign yesterday with colleagues to create an interactive online version of the reading program for kids everywhere and to help schools in need. The goal of $1 million was reached in just 11 hours. (See video of Burton’s reaction below.”
Burton hosted the show since its beginning on PBS in 1983 until it went off the air in 2009 and recently helped launch the Reading Rainbow application for tablets. The Kickstarter campaign says they would like to be on the internet, not just in an app, so the program is accessible to more children.
With the first $1 million, Reading Rainbow could be placed in over 1,500 classrooms for free. New extended goals will be released for donations past their original goal, said CEO and writer/director of Reading Rainbow Mark Wolfe in an update.
The 35 day campaign still has 34 days left. As of Thursday morning, the Kickstarter campaign had raised over $1.7 million with over 37,900 backers who had donated.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-XHuNcSMLc&w=560&h=315]
article by Carrie Healey via thegrio.com
Forest Whitaker’s JuntoBox Films has greenlit production for romantic comedy Sharon Is Caring, while also announcing the shingle’s collaboration with crowd-funding platform Indiegogo.
Announcing the link-up at AFM on Nov. 5, the actor-turned-producer said the JuntoBox-Indiegogo partnership “represents another step toward using social collaboration and the elements of our digital world to empower the voices of independent filmmakers everywhere.”
As a result of the tie-up, entries on the website can now have the access to the production, mentorship and distribution services provided by Juntobox, a “collaborative” film studio chaired by Whitaker.
“Indiegogo’s roots were in film, so we’re excited to partner with JuntoBox to further extend our reach within the independent film community,” said Indiegogo co-founder and CEO Slava Rubin. “The JuntoBox Partner Page on Indiegogo will empower filmmakers to raise money for their films, tap into a global audience and bring more independent film projects to life.”
Founded in January 2008, the San Francisco-based portal aims at facilitating individuals to raise funds for their social or entrepreneurial projects from around the world.
Sharon Is Caring, revolving around two women avenging a man dating them at the same time and to be directed by New Yorker Wesley Mills, is JuntoBox’s fourth approved project this year. Aspiring filmmakers begin pitching the idea online, where members would vote on to pass judgment on whether they merit a launch.
article by Clarence Tsui via hollywoodreporter.com