Welcome to Fund This, a new column here at Tubefilter. Each week, we’ll look at a planned web series or other online video project currently in search of funding on Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or any other similar 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: The Unseen Africa
Asking For: $20,000 on Kickstarter
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Amount Raised Thus Far (At Time Of Post): $7,827
Days Remaining In Campaign (At Time Of Post): 20
Description: The Unseen Africa is a travel show that will bring viewers a close look at the world’s second largest continent. Host Francis Tapon has resolved to visit all 54 African countries, spending enough time in each one to absorb the local culture. He’ll travel from Senegal to South Sudan to The Seychelles. This is a time-consuming undertaking, and while Tapon has already begun his journey, he will not finish it until 2017.
Along the way, Tapon appears to be very exhaustive in his coverage. He will try local foods and examine local customs, even if that custom involves huge piles of dung. He will explore big cities, bushwhack his way through the wilderness, and ascend the tallest peak in each country. Some footage from the beginning of his trek has been cut together to form The Unseen Africa‘s pitch video:
Creator Bio: Tapon is an adventurer who has written books about his backpacking experiences in America and Eastern Europe. As you might imagine, he doesn’t tend to sit still in one place for very long, so he tracks his journeys through an online map. From the looks of it, he’s somewhere near Niamey, Niger right now. Hi Francis!
Best Perk: Tapon has organized his perks into bundles, and the $150 bundle is a good one. It includes an athletic shirt and a message on your voice mail. I assume he has to get out of the wilderness before he records it.
Why You Should Fund It: In a trailer released on his YouTube channel, Tapon describes The Unseen Africa as an attempt to uncover a continent how it really is, free of “tired African cliches of safaris, wars, AIDS, pestilence, poverty, and pyramids.” Tapon will share with the beautiful, unique, and diverse realities with his viewers, adding a veritable educational element to the show.
More than that, though, The Unseen Africa just looks fun. Tapon is a winsome host, and if his pitch video is to be believed, his adventures seem to be filled with plenty of unforeseen surprises.
Of course, we can’t forget the real reason to fund The Unseen Africa. By watching Tapon tour through all 54 African countries, viewers can get really good at geographic Sporcle quizzes. That alone is worth the price.
