Showing posts with label Kickstarter. Show all posts

LeVar Burton makes a 'Reading Rainbow' plea

FILE- This June 19, 2012 file photo shows LeVar Burton introducing the all new Reading Rainbow adventure app to the media, publishers and parents at the "Reading Rainbow Relaunch" event in New York. Burton's campaign to bring "Reading Rainbow" to the online masses is off to an impressive start. It reached its fundraising goal within hours of its launch on Wednesday, May 28, 2014, on Kickstarter, according to the fundraising website. (AP Photo/Reading Rainbow, file) Photo: Uncredited, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeVar Burton'sfundraising effort to bring "Reading Rainbow" to the online masses is a by-the-book success.
The goal of raising $1 million by July 2 was reached within hours of the campaign's launch Wednesday on Kickstarter, according to the website. More than 23,000 donors had pledged $1.1 million and counting.
Burton was the host of "Reading Rainbow," the children's literacy program that aired on public TV through 2009.
"It was my mother who taught me that, by picking up a book, I could 'go anywhere' and 'be anything,' " Burton said in a posting on Kickstarter.
Contributors can claim rewards ranging from autographed memorabilia to a private dinner with Burton to a chance to put on the visor that the actor wore on "Star Trek: The Next Generation."
"We're not just getting pledges, but so much email love that our server froze," said Mark Wolfe, Burton's business partner. "I'm so happy to help. LeVar taught me to read," is among the typical messages, he said.
A tablet version of "Reading Rainbow" was released in 2012 and became a top-selling education app. It provides access to hundreds of books and Burton's videotaped "field trips" to historic and other places, said Wolfe, who co-founded the for-profit RRKidz company with Burton.
The Kickstarter campaign is intended to help bring an online version to more children for a $5 monthly subscription fee, Wolfe said. Many more families have access to computers than tablets, he said.
An educator-specific format will be created for schools and made available free to at least 1,500 of the neediest classrooms, RRKidz said.
Burton and Wolfe hold the global rights to "Reading Rainbow" in partnership with the show's creator, public TV station WNED in Buffalo, New York, according to a release.
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Online:
Kickstarter: http://www.helpreadingrainbow.com
Source:

7 TV shows that would make great movies


CLEVELAND, Ohio – There are reasons "Veronica Mars" works as a television showand a movie, but it has nothing to do with mainstream popularity.
"Veronica Mars" was not a ratings success. But it was a smart, well-written series with an attractive female lead that showed flashes movie star potential. Kristen Bell has gotten several chances to establish herself on the big screen, finally living up to her potential in "Frozen," even if that was just her voice.
Bell now returns to the role she was born to play in "Veronica Mars," a show with a loyal enough fan base to build a successful Kickstarter campaign last year that will likely translate into a solid box office.
Obviously, not all recent TV show have the potential to be a movie. Look at "Sex and the City," whose film adaptations never quite hit the mark.
However, there are some currently on TV that, like "Veronica Mars," would make the transition to the big screen seem relatively easy. Here are seven that make sense:

"How I Met Your Mother"
First, there's the cast. Alyson Hannigan, Josh Radnor and, especially, Jason Segel have all had solid success in the movie world. Second, if there's one main criticism of "How I Met Your Mother," it's that the show has dragged on too long. Still, the concept is brilliant and would certainly work in a rom-com film format. I imagine it would look something like Radnor's previous film projects ("Happythankyoumoreplease;" "Liberal Arts"), which had some very endearing moments. Surround him with the cast of "HIMYM" and it's a winning formula.

"The Walking Dead"
"The Walking Dead's" pacing has been a bit slow as of late, but a commenter recently suggested the current season reminds him of the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's"The Road." I enjoyed that film (minus those annoying flashbacks with Charlize Theron's character). Of course, Frank Darabont would have to direct.

"Scandal"
It's such an over-the-top thrill ride. I can't help but think fans would flock to theaters to see a film version. I'm not saying it would win any Academy Awards, but "Scandal" would benefit from the same kind of audience that enjoys Tyler Perry's work. Only, Shonda Rhimes characters seem slightly more realistic... slightly.
What TV show would you like to see as a movie? Tell us in the comments section.



"House of Cards"
Netflix's hit original series does have a cinematic vibe to it. It doesn't hurt that lead actor Kevin Spacey is a two-time Academy Award winter who can handle just about any type of storyline.

"Vikings"
The success of the History channel's "Vikings" has been a big surprise. The show's style and vibe would certainly fit in with recent films that have hit theaters recently like "Pompeii" and "300: Rise of an Empire." "Vikings" already has the proper lead in Travis Fimmel, who will star in 2016's "Warcraft."

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"Sons of Anarchy"

The biker tale that draws influence from Shakespeare's "Hamlet" is a great TV show and maybe the only one on this list that might work even better as a movie. It would have been quite easy to see Jax (Charlie Hunnam) riding into town to seize control of his late father's crew now run by the uncle-like figure that ultimately murdered Jax's papa. When "SOA" wraps its television run after next season, I wouldn't mind seeing a movie sequel, prequel or spinoff in the works.

"True Detective"

Well, this one is pretty obvious. The show's first season, which just wrapped, starred two of Hollywood's best film actors in Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. Watching "True Detective" each week was invigorating. Still, I don't think anyone would argue against a film version.

Source: www.cleveland.com





















SXSW: Fan-Fueled Phenom 'Veronica Mars' Recaptures the Magic of the Original Kristen Bell Series


Can you ever go back to the past after you've closed the book on it, and would you want to? Will you like what you find there?
These are not just the central questions in the movie "Veronica Mars," which premiered yesterday at SXSW, but questions that filmmaker Rob Thomas, his cast, and the audience who enjoyed the three-season TV series have addressed. After seven years, can you successfully return to the setting and characters of a TV show to make a low-budget feature film?
The answer is yes. Thomas and his co-writer Diane Ruggiero have penned a self-avowed love letter to the fans of the series, but grounded it in a solid thriller with compelling characters and bright comic moments.
After a short recap of Veronica's (Kristen Bell) high school private investigator days, the movie leaps ahead nine years after the last episode of the TV series to show us where the title character ended up. She left the bizarrely corrupt town of Neptune, CA and has closed the door very firmly on her past, as she prepares to take the bar exam and work as a high-powered corporate New York attorney. But it’s her past that's getting her in the door for job interviews, like it or not.
READ MORE: Jason Dohring on Stepping Back Into The Role of Bad Boy Logan Echolls For The 'Veronica Mars' Movie
After her old teen flame Logan (Jason Dohring) is accused of murdering one of their fellow high-school classmates, Veronica ventures back to Neptune, trying not to get sucked into a growing mystery. She's also hoping to avoid her 10-year high school reunion, but there's no way this film would miss the opportunity to show us such a quantity of characters from the TV series in a single setting.

Sequences like the reunion are part of the many ways Thomas caters to the "Veronica Mars" fanbase that funded the film in a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign. Fortunately, the film winks at the fans without patronizing them, and without making other audiences members feel left out. Minor but beloved characters appear briefly, and the theme song pops up unexpectedly (performed by Alejandro Escovedo). Thomas might have underestimated fans' enthusiasm, however, and doesn't allow enough time for audience reactions to happen without stepping on the next lines. (He needed maracas, a la "Some Like It Hot.")
A well-paced, well-structured mystery keeps the film exciting for all audience members, with shades of Hitchcock and "Charade" lurking around several scenes and characters. The dark silhouettes and sinister framing in several shots provide reminders that these mysteries are grim situations Nancy Drew never had to deal with.
It's the characters and their relationships that anchor "Veronica Mars," working in tandem with suspenseful aspects of the movie to keep it engaging. Veronica's relationship with her dad (Enrico Colantoni) has always been my favorite part of the series, and it's just as sweet and funny here. The scene where Veronica returns to her father's office for the first time to surprise him hits all the right notes... and economically shows the futility of her desire to shut out the past.
Veronica is far more interesting in Neptune than in New York. She has a smart mouth on her. She's absolutely fearless. She hates injustice and wants to get to the bottom of anything that smells fishy. This is a character I want to have a beer with (and not at a bad karaoke dive), as opposed to the corporate-lawyer-to-be in the prim suit with the boyfriend who works for "This American Life." It's easy to see that Veronica can't escape what's bred in the bone, to paraphrase Robertson Davies.
The supporting characters drawn with the broadest strokes work best in the film. Ryan Hansen as Dick Casablancas gives the film its goofiest comic moments... apart from a couple of cameos by familiar faces in a nightclub scene. Venal Sheriff Don Lamb (Jerry O’Connell), loopy groupie Ruby Jetson (Gaby Hoffman) and Krysten Ritter's party girl Chloe -- I mean Gia -- are over the top but entertaining. Unfortunately, Jason Dohring as Logan is a character whose passionate personality traits are talked about more than shown -- if you haven't watched the show, he seems little more than the Wronged Woman stereotype with a gender reversal.
Because the movie Veronica Mars is set nearly a decade after the TV show, it lacks the high school stratification setting many fans believed was integral to the series. (For those of us who prefer mysteries over mean girls, this is a boon.) And at times, the voiceover narration, a stock feature of the show,  feels excessive and unnecessary here -- too much telling, not enough showing. On the other hand, the snappy dialogue, another carryover from the series, gives "Veronica Mars" a sassy edge, balancing suspense and smartassery quite successfully for all viewers.
Criticwire Grade:
Rating: B

News Source: www.indiewire.com

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