Welcome to the Fund This column! Each week, we’ll look at a planned web series or other online video project currently in search of funding on crowdfunding sites. We’ll tell you what the series is all about and explain why it is worth your money. Do you have a project that’s currently being crowdfunded? Contact us to let us know and we may feature it in upcoming installments and check out previous installments right here.
Project Name: After Class
Asking For: $7,500 on Kickstarter
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Amount Raised Thus Far (At Time Of Post): $2,174
Days Remaining In Campaign (At Time Of Post): 18
Description: After Class is taking its viewers back to school. It will focus on a group of college freshmen at the fictitious Chicago College Chicago, which seems to be based, at least in some degree, on the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Creators Darren Bui and Alex Poling will use a mockumentary style to follow these freshmen as they navigate a series of typical college-age hurdles. There will be romantic flings, there will be comically-exaggerated reactions to drugs, and (of course) there will be vomit. The foibles of the After Class ensemble are on full display in the project’s pitch video:
Creator Bio: “What do all these names have in common?” asks the After Class Kickstarter page, referring to its cast and crew. “You have never heard of any of them!” It’s true. The team in charge of After Class is still in college, so the experiences they will be depicting should be fresh on their minds.
Best Perk: Backers who kick in at least $100 will receive a nice haul of After Class swag, including an actual acceptance letter to Chicago College Chicago. Finally, an easy way to fake your enrollment at an institute of higher education!
Why You Should Fund It: Its hard to tell, based solely on the footage available in the After Class pitch video, what kind of web series it will be. It might be a smart, incisive mockmentary filled with plenty of self-depreciation from its college-age filmmakers. On the other hand, it could be more of a fun, lowbrow series that doesn’t take itself to seriously and entertains its viewers with a handful of over-the-top collegiate scenarios.
Whatever route the After Class team chooses, their vision deserves to be realized. As I’ve written before, there is a dearth of web series related to life in college. It makes sense if you think about it: College students have less urgency to establish their careers in the arts, and so they have less incentive to create web content that puts their names out in the open. That doesn’t mean, though, that the college comedy isn’t a worthwhile genre. In fact, it’s quite a fun one–so let’s see what the After Class team can cook up.
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