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: 20 Seconds To Live
Asking For: $10,000 through Indiegogo
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Amount Raised Thus Far (At Time Of Post): $8,960
Days Remaining In Campaign (At Time Of Post): 2
Description: Author Mark Laidlaw recent went viral when he proposed that any novel could be improved by making “and then the murders began” its second line. To see an applied example of philosophy, check out 20 Seconds To Live. Ben Rock and Bob DeRosa‘s short-form horror series counts down to on-screen deaths, and despite the strict nature of that format, the result is far from predictable.
Episodes of 20 Seconds To Live, which rarely last more than a few minutes, set up standard horror movie situations before starting a 20-second timer. As that clock counts down, tension builds, and by the time it reaches zero, one of the characters on the screen bites the dust. In the first episode of the previously-produced first season, for example, a mysterious figure eavesdrops on a couple from a nearby bush. Once the timer reaches zero, however, expectations are subverted, with 20 Seconds To Live delivering a combination of gore and laughs.
After finding some success with their first go-round, Rock and DeRosa have come to Indiegogo to fund a second batch of episodes. Should they raise the money they seek, they will deliver more unexpected kills to their bloodthirsty fans.
Creator Bio: Rock has been directing short-form content for TV and the web since the 90s. DeRosa‘s credits include a TV gig as a story editor for USA’s White Collar.
Best Perk: A $25 contribution will get you a personalized death certificate, which is exactly the piece of identification you need to sneak into that cool dead man’s party.
Why You Should Fund It: The first season of 20 Seconds To Live, which is available in its entirety online, displays the inventive plotting, eye-winking genre awareness, and snappy humor that viewers can expect from the show’s forthcoming episodes. Rock and DeRosa managed to take a concept that should have limited them and build it into an entertaining series of short vignettes. As a result, they received awards at web festivals in Berlin and Nashville. They certainly deserve another opportunity to let the blood flow, and I hope they’ll receive it.
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