Fund This: ‘Today In New York’ Explores A First (And Last) Day In The Big City

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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Project Name: Today in New York

Asking For: $8,000 through Kickstarter

Amount Raised Thus Far (At Time Of Post): $1,155

Days Remaining In Campaign (At Time Of Post): 26

Description: There have been many great stories told over the course of a single day, and the team behind Today In New York hopes there is room for one more tale in that canon. A studio called Produced By Actors is behind that new series, which tells the story of a woman’s first and last day in New York City.

The woman in question will be played by Madeline Meigs, who is one of the three co-founders of Produced By Actors. Her unnamed protagonist is an upstart who has just moved to the Big Apple, but unbeknownst to her, she is also spending her last day there. The series will chronicle her lone day in the city across a series of vignettes, which will shape her struggles with the surrounding hustle and bustle.

Judging by its pitch video, which includes some archival footage and seems to borrow some cues from the opening scene of Woody Allen’s Manhattan

, Today in New York is interested in providing an artful take on a well-worn story:

Creator Bio: The three co-founders of Produced By Actors — Meigs, Michael J Labbadia, and Gus Halper — are all based in New York. They all have acting experience, particularly in the realm of theatre.

Best Perk: At the $25 level, backers receive a sticker that says “Stories are like assholes, everybody has one,” which is just about the most New York-y sentiment imaginable.

Why You Should Fund It: The Today in New York campaign is well aware that you’re probably sick of “young people struggling to find their way in the big city” shows by now. The narrator of its pitch video calls New York a place with “more web series and podcasts than any city could possibly have use for.”

That said, this seems like it will be a particularly inventive, smart, and well-balanced version of that story. Produced By Actors has shown that it is willing to bring an attention to detail and a skillful craft to its project, in order to make it something that truly engages with its viewers. Hopefully the studio will be able to show us what it has in store.

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