Producer defends use of crowdfunding site for new film

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One of the producers on Zach Braff's new film, Wish I Was Here, has defended the use of crowdfunding to raise money to make his film.

The former Scrubs actor has been criticised over his use of the website Kickstarter with many people saying the site is meant to be for up and coming film-makers, not established stars.

Stacey Sher said traditional methods of raising cash were "challenging".

She said: "It's definitely harder to get iconic personal films made."

The film's Kickstarter window closed with 46,000 fans donating to the project.

The original target was $2 million (£1.3m) but Braff managed to raise more than $3 million (£1.9m).

Depending on the amount donated, people were offered extra roles, advance screenings and soundtracks.

Stacey Sher said: "I could either bemoan the fact that I didn't raise traditional financing or I could celebrate the fact that this tool has been developed and it's a tool for anybody, not just for us."

Zach Braff calls his film Wish I Was Here the "spiritual follow-up" to 2004's Garden State and is about a struggling actor who has to home-school his children.

Braff was also criticised after he secured additional financial backing from a company called Worldview Entertainment.

The actor and director defended the finances of his film in a statement on his Kickstarter page.

"I am absolutely contributing my own money to the funding of the film, but I actually can't afford to cover the entire cost of production," he said.

"With a combination of my own personal funds, backing from my fans and the sale of some of the film's foreign rights, I will be able to make the film I intended to make which I am hoping is a film you want to see."

In another interview Braff said he'd also helped to raise awareness of crowdfunding sites.

They work by people giving money towards making a project, such as a film, which is then made or produced if a financial target is met. If it isn't no-one is charged the money they have pledged.

Stacey Sher added: "All traditional routes of funding had not achieved the amount of money that we needed to shoot the film this summer."

The organisation Catapult is being used to help ticket holders of Beyonce's charity Chime for Change gig this weekend in London see exactly how their cash is spent.

They will get to pick which women's charity their money goes to.

Her plan is for fans to be able to scrutinise how their cash is being used for each charitable project.

She said: "Instead of the donation going off to one place and the fans losing track of the money and their donation and what happened to it, it's instead going to go directly to loads and loads of organisations and the fans get to choose exactly which one.

"It's completely natural for people to want to know exactly where their money's going."

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