Fund This: New Game Show Asks Couples To ‘Assemble This’

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.
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This edition of Indie Spotlight is sponsored by Indiegogo.

Project Name: Assemble This

Asking For: $7,500 on Indiegogo

Amount Raised Thus Far (At Time Of Post): $10,320, though creator Peter Johanns has more stretch goals planned.

Days Remaining In Campaign (At Time Of Post): 33

Description: Forget crying children and boring jobs; for many couples, the most feared nemesis is self-assembly furniture. Confusing Ikea instructions have led to innumerable screaming matches since the Swedish chain’s arrival, and a new game show will bring that drama to viewers. Peter Johanns is funneling his own frustrations with finicky furniture into Assemble This, which will pit two couples against each other in a race to see who can first assemble a household item from a bewildering set of instructions.

“Everybody knows that assembling something out of a box is frustrating and nerve-wracking experience,” reads the Assemble This Indiegogo page. “This feeling is often intensified when a couple is working on it together. Add the pressure of competition with the prospect of winning money and you have a television show that is compelling, fun to watch and something to which an audience can relate.

With the funds he raises on Indiegogo, Johanns hopes to create three episodes, which he will then market to TV channels like HGTV and TLC.

Creator Bio: Johanns is a professor of TV and Radio at Ithaca College in New York. For Assemble This, he has enlisted some of his best students, who will assist the production of the show.

Best Perk: Backers who contribute at least $50 will receive a copy of Johanns’ diploma. As he notes, it is very useful for “lining a cat litter pan.”

Why You Should Fund It: Assemble This is, simply put, a great idea for a game show. The combination of a fast-paced race against the clock and reality TV-style squabbles is sure to form an entertaining package for fans. The quippy photos included on the Indiegogo suggest a light tone that will fit the show well.

For those of us who grew up watching programs like Supermarket Sweep, Assemble This figures to include quite a bit of nostalgia. It hearkens back to a simpler time, when all you needed for a game show was a few open-minded couples and some good old-fashioned domestic confusion. As the campaign has already reached its baseline goal, I’m curious to see what Johanns and his team come up with.

Got a crowdfunding campaign you’d like to see featured in Fund This? Be sure to contact us here.

Indiegogo empowers people around the world to fund what matters to them. As the largest global crowdfunding platform, campaigns have launched from almost every country around the world with millions of dollars being distributed every week due to contributions made by the Indiegogo community. Indiegogo is an open platform dedicated to democratizing the way people raise funds for any project – creative, entrepreneurial or cause-related. The company was launched in 2008 and is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Los Angeles and New York. For more information, visit www.indiegogo.com