Interesting counter-point to these Kickstarter projects:

Whether reacting to the news positively or negatively, many people have pinpointed the Veronica Mars film as a watershed moment in alternative methods of film financing, and with Braff jumping on the metaphorically crowd-sourced wagon, they have their confirmation. Together, these two projects have set a terrible precedent. Filmmaking is an art, but it's also a business. It's a profit-seeking venture done by people and businesses with enough money to risk millions of dollars on a product that people may or may not want to see. That risk is the essence of capitalism. You're supposed to spend money to make money. You have to make a sacrifice to reap the rewards.

Those who have donated to Veronica Mars have given over $5 million to Time Warner (Warner Bros' parent company), a multinational corporation, for an unknown commodity. Those who have donated money to Zach Braff have given millions to a millionaire for another unknown commodity. Collectively, fans have said that it's OK for rich people to eliminate the factor of risk when they make films. The past five years, with its bitter recessions and global financial crises, has effectively removed the make-up from late capitalism's ugly, bitter face, but these two Kickstarters are a sign that capitalism is eating itself, bit by bit, starting with the entertainment industry.

It's always interesting to see how people use the "tools" that are *available* to them.

It's also interesting that Kickstarter favors the rich and the famous. The rich can use it to get richer.

Here is Zach's detailed (and long) explanation of why he used Kickstarter: