Friday, August 27, 2010
Become a Producer of a Memphis Wrasslin' Doc, With Just a Mouse Click
Posted by Jack Silverman on Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 5:25 PM
There was a veritable Rassle Royal in the Scene editorial hallway last September when Ron Hall's book Sputnik, Masked Men, & Midgets: The Early Days of Memphis Wrestling arrived in the mail. (I managed to make off with the only copy after unleashing the legendary Slaughterin' Silverman Sledgehammer on my nemeses, er, co-workers.) I even recommended it as the ideal holiday gift.
Well, the folks behind the book are nearly done with a documentary on the subject, Memphis Heat: The True Story of Memphis Wrasslin'. And to raise the funds needed to complete the project, executive producer Sherman Willmott (who also edited the book) has turned to Kickstarter, where fans and supporters can contribute to help bring the film to fruition.
For those of you unfamiliar with Kickstarter, D. Patrick Rodgers wrote about it in our Innovations Issue a couple of weeks ago. Here's an excerpt, which gives you the basics:
Launched in April of 2009, Kickstarter allows artists — filmmakers, musicians, performance artists, and more — to use a process known as crowd funding to raise proceeds for their respective projects. Think of it like a bake sale for creative types, only they're hawking self-made EPs and films instead of brownies. Artists select their own monetary goal and deadline, and if their target minimum isn't met in time, money pledged by donors is never collected and the project is scrapped. This means if you're the only person to make a pledge on behalf of your indolent nephew's crappy art film, you get your 50 bones back.
So if this movie looks as awesome to you as it does to us, head on over to Kickstarter and pitch in. They only have till Monday at 5 p.m. to meet their goal of $7,500 (as of this post, they are at $4,615). Otherwise, they don't get any of the money. As for me, I'm signing up for the $25 Plowboy Frazier Package, which includes a Memphis Heat sticker and a DVD when the documentary is released. But heck, if you're more flush than I am, get an official "thank you" shout-out in the film's credits for $100 (The Sputnik Monroe package) or get a "Special Producer" credit with the $500 Andre the Giant package. And remember, if they don't reach their goal, you are charged nothing.
Act now! Deadline is 5 p.m. Monday. What are you waiting for?!
