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New RiffTrax KickstarterThirty days to go and they’re already over halfway to their goal. Let’s make sure they make it, and more.
15 Replies to “New RiffTrax Kickstarter”Commenting at Satellite News
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Could somebody please explain the whole kickstarter ‘thing’ to me (or at least answer some/all of these questions) ?
I get the basic idea (I think)…..a person, or persons, or, as in this case, a company wants to raise a substantial amount of money to fund a project, so they set the kickstarter up in hopes that many different people will ‘invest’ their money to achieve the stated goal.
Okay, so the basic question I have is how it works, at least from the ‘investors’ side of it.
Do the people who invest actually receive any monetary compensation, similar to a return when investing in the financial world?
If not, do they at least receive SOME kind of (non-monetary) compensation?
Or no………..the only compensation received is knowing that the money invested went toward a project they ‘like’, that (hopefully) was successful.
And what about kickstarter campaigns that are NOT successful…..if the person/persons/company that instigated it don’t raise enough money to fund the project, are they under any obligation to return any/all of the money received?
Finally…….does anyone know why a company as (seemingly) successful as Rifftrax needs to go this route to fund these various projects of theirs? Is it truly the only way they would ever be able to get them done?
Thanks to anyone who doesn’t mind ‘investing’ in MY education…. ;-)
Kickstarter backers aren’t investors, they’re more like patrons of the renaissance era. Back then wealthy individuals would give artists like Botticelli money so he could focus on creating his work. Kickstarter is essentially the same thing, but instead of one wealthy patron, the projects get hundreds or thousands of individuals to give a smaller amount.
There are usually rewards listed with each project. In the case of the Rifftrax Kickstarter, you get get riffed shorts, VODs and DVDs, shirts, posters and more.
If a Kickstarter doesn’t meet its goal, the project is not funded and no one is charged. If it does meet its goal but the creator screws up, runs out of money or just runs off to Cancun, the backers are usually screwed.
Rifftrax breaks down why they need the funds in the Kickstarter link above. In the case of Godzilla, the rights alone were something like $100,000. That’s a big outlay of money for a company that has like a dozen employees. On top of that, they need to rent a theater, pay staff and other expenses. It adds up.
But I don’t consider this an investment. I was just a patron for your pursuit of knowledge.
Thanks so much for taking the time, “joe”, and for the great, detailed information!!! :-)
I’m sitting out of the Rifftrax Kickstarter events until they stop re-riffing already riffed movies. There aren’t enough movies out there to do something else?
I’m just not a fan of these kickstarter things. It’s one thing if you’re a struggling filmmaker, or struggling whatever, and you need the money. But for people who have an already established dedicated fan base to ask for money in addition to the money I spend on buying their movie tickets, buying their downloads, paying for their autographs at cons, etc., I kind of feel I’m already supporting them. If they want to fund it, it’s their responsibility. But I’m most clearly in the minority as these things always get funded and then some so what do I know?
I can’t participate in this one either :cry: . Why must they happen when I’m unemployed? :cry:
“MYSTERY” show? Get it?…That can only mean Trace & Frank, from “Mystery” Science Theater 3000! Yipee!…Of course, I could be wrong…
That’s it. I’m starting the rumor. The mystery show is going to be Twilight.
It’s not Twilight, according to the Kickstarter FAQ.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rifftrax/rifftrax-live-17-samurai-cop-beach-party-and-myste/faqs
I’ll confess at this point that I put in $15.
“I’m sitting out of the Rifftrax Kickstarter events until they stop re-riffing already riffed movies. There aren’t enough movies out there to do something else?”
Now that I have a better understanding of how the whole kickstarter ‘thing’ works, I may, or may not decide to participate in the future……but on a related note, the above comment by another poster is the ONE (and probably only) thing I find myself also feeling VERY unhappy with, when it comes to Rifftrax.
If it were a once in a ‘blue moon’ kind of thing, that would be fine……but the (seemingly) increasing recurrence (lately) of going “backward”, instead of forward, isn’t appreciated, for two main reasons:
1.) Been there, done that.
2.) Takes time and resources away from other (i.e., NEW) projects that could be being worked on.
NOW, if Bridget and Mary Jo were to handle the “do-overs”, THAT could be the one approach I can think of that MIGHT get me interested….. ?:-)
I’ll start contributing to their Kickstarter when they sign Trace and Frank up to do their own movie riffs.
with the mystery film, are we talking a movie that they have not riffed before (including movies done in the MST3K family tree).
The Kickstarter FAQ I linked to earlier states “It’s a title we have never riffed before”. That said, I don’t know if they just mean RiffTrax, or MST3K as well.
I definitely get where you’re coming from. I think Samurai Cop is great, but I don’t know that I need to see it again. Mothra was a great choice for a movie that was an obvious fit for RiffTrax but which they hadn’t done before.
I think it depends on what kind of a deal you’re getting with the rewards. I pledged at the $85 level for Bring Back MST3K; so far I’ve already gotten…I think 12 classic episodes? Granted, I already had a couple of them, but most were new to me (especially the newly-released KTMA eps, obviously). I’m not at my computer right now to check, but since episodes usually cost $10 to buy digitally, then that means if 9 or more were episodes I didn’t already have, then I did better than breaking even…and that’s before the new season even starts. Add 14 brand-new episodes to that, plus I think there’s still a soundtrack coming besides, and I got a *really good deal* for my $85.
Rifftrax tends to go a lot more conservative with its Kickstarters, on the other hand. Getting 2 shorts for $10 isn’t a great deal since shorts normally go for under $5 anyway.
Of course, those are just the rewards that have been posted so far. They added a lot of stretch goals at the end of last year’s Kickstarter; I only paid $1 (I was unemployed — @Laura, I feel your pain) and I got something like 11 shorts, 3 feature riffs, and 2 TV riffs for that. So, again, a *really good deal*. Maybe we’ll see something similar near the end of this year’s Kickstarter.
Basically, while Kickstarter is a patronage system, I recommend treating it more like a straight transaction: look at the rewards, and if they’re a good deal for your money, then go ahead and contribute.
(Of course, if we’re talking about Kickstarter projects in general, I’d also add that it’s important to factor in how confident you are that you’ll actually get your rewards; there have been plenty of projects that have folded and never delivered the goods. But since we’re talking about Rifftrax specifically, there’s no need to worry about that; they’ve already done four of these, and always delivered what they promised (aside from having to change last year’s Castleton T-shirt to a different kind of T-shirt for trademark reasons). You can rest assured that if you back this project, you’ll get your rewards.)
I definitely feel that they double-dip too much. I would totally be on board if Mary Jo and Bridget were part of this. They have a great dynamic. Also, I would not hesitate if Trace and Frank were part of this. Their performance was the best part of the reunion show.
Saying that, I may do the $50 package. I haven’t decided. On one side, I love the first Samurai Cop riff but don’t think they need to do it again. On the other hand, I have purchased all of the re-riffs and Samurai Cop won’t be any different. So if I will eventually buy both of these shows, I probably should throw them the few extra dollars for support.
Yet still, I think the quality of Rifftrax has gone done in the past few years. Maybe it’s the additional writers. I don’t know who writes what something has to explain the writing quality that was top level 5 years ago and now seems to be “say something off the wall here that may get a chuckle.” Sorry guys.