Fund This: For $6,500, A ‘Snarky Sidekick’ Lands A Starring Role

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: Snarky Sidekick

Asking For: $6,500 on Indiegogo

Amount Raised Thus Far (At Time Of Post): $3,390

Days Remaining In Campaign (At Time Of Post): 19

Description: Snarky Sidekick is a comedy web series that takes a satirical swipe at Indiana Jones and National Treasure. Its protagonist is Simon, a computer nerd who throws out one-liners from the comfort of a surveillance truck while assisting treasure hunter Tom Raker in his quest for priceless artifacts. When Raker dies, Simon is left in charge of his mission, and that requires him to go into the field and outside of his comfort zone. In the Snarky Sidekick pitch video, creator Matthew Starr displays the comedic tone of his series. “He too is afraid of snakes,” says Starr of Simon, “and also girls, and deep water…generally, he’s risk averse.”

Creator Bio: Starr, as with many other comic actors who create their own web series, plies his trade at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre

in New York and on the UCB YouTube channel. For Snarky Sidekick, he is continuing his work with Thursday Shoots, which previously produced a series for Above Average and popped onto our Indie Spotlight radar thanks to Tiny Office.

Best Perk: The Snarky Sidekick Indiegogo campaign offers a variety of clever perks. For instance, at the $25 level, backers receive a coded message hidden within the Declaration of Independence, which could be part of a great National Treasure-themed practical joke.

Why You Should Fund It:  Superhero parodies have become a popular premise in the web series community, but Indiana Jones has not received the same treatment (despite being ripe for satire). The actors, writers, directors, and crew members involved with Thursday Shoots have a number of strong TV and web credits among them, so its easy to trust them with the task of a funny send-up that delights fans of adventure movies.

This is also a chance to give the computer-savvy geeks their day in the sun. For far too long, the roguish, daring explorers have saved the day and gotten the girl. It’s time for Simon to exact the revenge of nerds, so long as he can protect the precious Native American artifact he seeks.