Reeler Film Market: Fund a Documentary Today!

We noted this today on ReelerTV, but Brooklyn filmmaker Christina Goulden is going on the Internet offensive to raise funds for 420:NYC, an ambitious new documentary about marijuana culture in New York. The press release came over Tuesday morning, and it pretty much speaks for itself:

With the Sundance Film Festival 2008 late deadline approaching at the end of September, Goulden seeks to raise funds using a little inspiration from the successful SaveKaryn (a one-time popular site which raised money to help pay a shopaholic's credit card debt) and with a lot of help from strangers. Through Internet communities such as MySpace and YouTube, Goulden hopes to build traffic for the website and a general enthusiasm for the project. "I think you'd be surprised that strangers can sometimes be as generous and supportive, if not more so, than your friends and relatives. If I can get 1,000 people to donate $20 or 2,000 people to donate $10, we'll be able to fund this project entirely on the kindness of strangers."

The film's website located at www.nyc420.com allows visitors to view a sneak preview promo of the film and those who wish to make contributions can do so via Paypal. "I think that marijuana smokers will appreciate this film because they will see a bit of themselves in the people in it. And even non-smokers can enjoy the story because (almost) everyone knows someone who's a stoner."

As a veteran journalist I only associate with confirmed alcoholics, but that doesn't preclude a heart-softening warmth at the word of Goulden's unstoppable ambition. The 420:NYC Web site's Bong-O-Meter is up to (as of this writing) $1,752.67, roughly 8 percent of the filmmaker's $20,000 base goal for July. There's a vivid MySpace presence as well. I don't know if we'll be checking in with Goulden come Sundance time, but hey, there's always Tribeca.

Meanwhile, the Cinetrix noted recently that the makers of the film critic documentary For the Love of Movies are also going door-to-door for their own finishing funds. Written and directed by critic Gerald Peary, the doc evidently reveals the history, drama and legacy of American film criticism, from Crowther and Farber to Kael vs. Sarris to quote whores and even -- wait for it -- "Harry Knowles, who improvises his much-read Web reviews while lying on his tiny bed." Roger Ebert, Elvis Mitchell, Lisa Schwarzbaum and Tony Scott are in there as well, apparently all sitting up straight in chairs.

The film's home page offers a PayPal option if you're more inclined to get behind a critic chronicle than plain old chronic. If you're torn, then just send me your money. I'll find a constructive use for it.

Posted at July 11, 2007 11:23 AM