Ed Catmull, President of Pixar Animation Studios, gave a talk at USC last December, in which he stated that his (and Pixar's) secret to success was to "fail early, fail often, and learn fast." At this year's TED conference, James Cameron expressed a related sentiment, that "failure is an option -- fear is not." And of course, the old adage of which the source is unknown, "You have only truly failed when you give up completely."

Well, as you see, we didn't make our goal by the deadline, which means the project is "unsuccessful" on Kickstarter. We failed to raise the funds we were looking for in the time allotted.

But that doesn't mean we're giving up. We're just getting started.

First and foremost, our heartfelt thanks go out to those who did pledge their support to our project. Even with a modicum of success and examples of our work on YouTube, making a feature film is a very different beast, and it took a lot of faith on the part of our supporters to say -- without having even seen the script -- "I believe you can pull this off." It's enough that so many of our fans gave the minimum, as that alone would have been successful had enough people contributed even that, but many of you contributed well above the minimum, pledging $15, $25, $100 or more to help us make this happen. Though we will not get any money from this Kickstarter project, knowing that people out there understand and believe in what we are trying to do is just as valuable.

Another adage regarding the topic of failure comes from the world of software programming: "The only truly failed project is the one where you didn't learn anything along the way." We have learned from this Kickstarter experiment, and we are learning still. We are now putting together a more traditional business plan and seeking financing via more traditional indie routes. The internet age has changed the landscape a lot, but we have learned there are still no shortcuts to be had. We won't be making another attempt to raise grassroots financing for this particular project -- it's not the fans' job for this kind of project. All we should expect, all we hope for, is that the support we've been shown carries through and makes the final film a success.

You can continue to receive updates about the project by following @KungFuRED on Twitter, including the launch of the project website a few weeks hence. We've got a great script, a great team, and we are making this happen. And though we have "failed" on this occasion, and will fail again on others, we will finish this movie, and it will be better for our failures along the way.

Because we aren't giving up just because of a setback, and we won't give up after a hundred setbacks. If movies were easy to make, everyone would be making them. We're in this for the long haul, and we hope you'll all stay with us for the ride.