KICKSTART THIS

Kickstart This: 'Dick Figures', 'Wonder Woman' & 'Video Free Brooklyn'

by Ben Pearson
June 8, 2012

Welcome back to another edition of Kickstart This, FirstShowing's weekly column dedicated to spreading the word about cool indie projects around the web that need your help to become a reality. This week we've got three very interesting projects we want to highlight for you: an animated movie based on the popular YouTube series Dick Figures; a fan film called Wonder Woman: Heritage; and a video store in Brooklyn, New York that needs our help to stay afloat. Take a look at these three new projects, sound off in the comments below, and don't forget to toss the filmmakers a few bucks if you can. Check 'em out below!

First up, there's Dick Figures: The Movie. I had never heard of this web series until I came across their Kickstarter page, but they've had tremendous success in the short time they've been operating, quickly becoming the highest viewed and rated series on YouTube. The hilarious adventures of Red and Blue, two animated stick figures with some pretty epic karate talents (among other things), will be chronicled in a longer adventure depending on how much money the creators can raise. If they hit $250,000, they can make a 30 minute short; $500,000 will get them an hour long film; and for $700,000 they'll create a full-length feature film. They've already got the first five minutes completed (which you can view right here).

For more information on Dick Figures: The Movie, or to help fund the project, visit its Kickstarter page. Let's help creators Ed Skudder and Zack Keller get the entire $700,000 they're hoping for by July 16th, so we can see what level of insanity they can achieve with a full film.

Buried in the announcement that WB is reigniting its efforts to bring a Justice League to the big screen was an offhanded mention about how Green Lantern and Harry Potter writer Michael Goldenberg has been hired to write an official Wonder Woman film. After the failed NBC pilot and with no word on Nicolas Winding Refn or Joss Whedon's previous attempts to bring the character to life, fans are taking matters into their own hands. Wonder Woman: Heritage is a fan-led project that aims to give Diana the story she deserves, and after a successful photo shoot (see the gallery here), they've decided to cast the stunningly gorgeous Sarah Scott in the iconic role. They don't have a pitch video, but you can visit their official website for more information and take a look at one of the photos of Sarah in costume below.

For more information on Wonder Woman: Heritage, or to help support the project, visit their IndieGoGo page. Director Adam Jay and his creative team need $10,000 by July 12th to make this all happen, so if you want to see this awesome cosplay come to life, cough up a few bucks to help the filmmakers out and tell your friends about the campaign before time runs out.

And finally, when a local video store called Video Free Brooklyn was about to go out of business in NYC, film critic and journalist Aaron Hills and his wife Jennifer bought it to do their part to help preserve personal film culture in The Big Apple. In the wake of Blockbusters closing down across the country, they plan to reinvent the concept of a video rental store and offer knowledgeable clerks who can give you personalized recommendations, offer a place where you can have the tactile experience of browsing through physical discs, and use their extra space for special screenings and events. Take a look at their pitch video:

For more information about Video Free Brooklyn, or to help fund their effort, visit its IndieGoGo page. Aaron and Jennifer are looking for $50,000 by July 26th, so maybe all of you NYC film buffs out there can help them out and support indie stores like this one.

That's it for this week's edition of Kickstart This. Hopefully you like the projects featured, so leave us some feedback in the comments. My inbox is always open if you come across something you'd like to see featured in this column in the future, so fire an e-mail my way at BenPears85@gmail.com and hopefully we can get it some extra publicity. As always, thanks for supporting these projects, because these filmmakers (and video store owners) couldn't achieve their goals without your help. For our Kickstart This archive and to check out every project we've featured, visit here. We hope to continue to highlight great projects!

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