Dearest backers,

I put a huge fat stack of Bummer Summer DVDs in the mail today. If you satisfy all three of the following conditions, one of them was for you:

1) You donated $15 or more.
2) You don't already own a copy (you know who you are!).
3) You provided your address.

If satisfy the first two but not the third, that's very silly of you. Message me with your address! I owe you a DVD!

As far as other rewards are concerned, "amateur conspiracy enthusiast/New York City arts and culture socialite Robert M. Malone" has received the phone numbers of qualifying backers and will be hitting all of you up very, very soon.

Meanwhile, preparations are about as much in full swing as they can be with all key figures being in different cities. We've set our tentative arrival date for Feb. 1, we've got a leading lady(!!!), and lodging arrangements are in the works. Keep an eye on the blog (http://blog.lotlmovie.com) for red-hot updates.

Enjoy Bummer Summer, and let me know what you think!

Love,
Zach

Zach here. I've spent the past week either getting rugged in the wilderness or stressing over the evacuation of my giant skate warehouse/illegal residence. But come this weekend it will be time to focus my energies on something new...REWARDS.

That's right, I haven't forgotten about you guys. In fact, I think about you every day, and I'll be slanging Bummer Summer DVDs in the direction of qualifying backers come the beginning of next week.

Almost everyone has provided me with their address so far, but there are still those who haven't. If you fall under the latter category, please be sure to get me your address as soon as possible so that I can get you what you're owed.

Also, a lot of you qualified to have your photo posted on the Newhard Entertainment blog, but only two have stepped up to the plate so far. If you donated $100 or more, don't be shy...send me your photo! Look how good these other guys wound up looking! You could look that good!

http://blog.lotlmovie.com/...

Alright, that's enough. Rewards are coming soon.

Love,
Zach

Dear, sweet backers,

Yesterday evening, a little after six, I got a text message letting me know that we'd hit our goal. And I was at a beautiful outdoor wedding reception. Can you imagine a more joyous moment? Maybe if the reception had been held on a giant trampoline...on a spaceship. But I haven't been to many of those.

Such monumental successes are often accompanied by a surging sense of accomplishment, self-worth, and the urge to listen to rap music about overcoming adversity with no help from anyone. That was obviously not the case here. Nearly a hundred people were compelled to put up their own money in support of my very personal creative endeavor, and dozens more took the time to help spread the word and bring others on board.

No, yesterday I didn't feel much like listening to "Can't Tell Me Nothing". I was in more of a Cat Stevens mood. I was thoroughly humbled, and basking in the warm, fuzzy glow of community, generosity, and overwhelming support.

Kickstarter is a beautiful thing. There are only so many options when it comes to funding a movie, and almost all of them necessitate some sense of indebtedness or obligation. This is no exception, but I can't say that I'm at all distressed about feeling indebted to such a fine group of people who expect nothing in return for their support other than for me to do a good job (and to receive their backer rewards, of course). In fact, it does me good. You've lit a fire under me. I now feel that it's my duty to deliver nothing less than my absolute best effort. And I will, I promise.

I extend my sincerest thanks to all of you. Everyone who donated, everyone who spread the word, and even those who took the time to visit the page and read about the project. Production won't begin for several months, but you can always drop by http://blog.lotlmovie.com to check on our progress, or write to us directly at info@newhardentertainment.com.

I owe you all a solid. Please don't hesitate to take me up on it.

Love,
Zach

Magic has happened, something like 25 new backers have come on board since yesterday, and we're now just two hundred ninety nine little dollars away from success (although there's nothing wrong with going over, either). This is very nearly cause for premature celebration, but I'm going to hold back lest I jinx anything. Just know that I'm very excited right now and I owe it entirely to you guys. It's special stuff.

Two orders of business. The first: we can't let this momentum go until Sunday night when the fundraiser officially ends. If every backer so far found someone to give just four or five bucks, we'd cruise way past the finish line. So as always, please keep spreading the word where you can.

Second order: if you're in or near New York City tomorrow night, there will be a FREE screening of Bummer Summer! Check here for details: http://sceneblock.com/2010/08/10/bummer-summer-screening-this-friday/

I wish I could be there, but I'm 3,000 miles away running another, more intimate fundraising campaign that consists of a cubicle and uncomfortable shoes. :(

With huge heaping piles of gratitude for all of the support thus far,
Zach

P.S. Hey Dario, the location from the beginning of the video is a very small town on the coast of the state of Oregon called Pacific City. Saludos!

Alright, wow. We've got exactly five days left to meet our goal, and as of right now we're sitting within pretty feasible distance at $6,819. So I'm here to say the same old thing that I've been saying all along, but with a renewed sense of urgency...

WE CAN DO THIS BUT WE DESPERATELY NEED YOUR HELP.

It's definitely possible, but it's definitely close. I humbly ask all of you to share the project with others in any way that you can. Facebook has been a great way to do this. No pressure, of course, but my eternal gratitude would be yours. This website is amazing, the support we've seen so far is amazing, and actually achieving our goal come Sunday night would trump all of that in its sheer mind-blowing magnitude of amazing.

Live from the cafe where I'm sitting, I solicit your invaluable help.

So much love and affection,

Zach

Hello!

I just thought I'd write to alert everyone to the fact that there is now a Facebook event dedicated to the promotion of this page. The link is as follows:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php...

Check it out! Invite your friends!

Won't you please?

Everlasting love,
Zach

Zach here. Things have slowed down considerably, which makes sense considering that I have admittedly been slacking on my end. I'm realizing more and more that the amount we can put together is very directly proportional to the amount of exposure we can give this page.

As the one month remaining mark approaches, I humbly ask for your help, and remind you that it does not have to be monetary. If you can't give, maybe you can spread the word about this page in some way. Our goal is very feasible, it's just going to take a big, huge group effort.

Meanwhile, there's a new post up on our blog about the hometown screening of my first film that went down last weekend. Read all about it here: http://blog.lotlmovie.com/...

Very much love,
Zach

Dear beautiful, generous people,

Thanks to your contributions, we're ten percent of the way there. There's mad work to do yet, but by slowly and steadily pushing ourselves all over everyone on the internet I think our goal is feasible.

In other news, the July issue of Dazed & Confused came out last week...and I'm in it! The problem is, it's only out in England. For some reason the magazine takes a couple extra weeks to get its new issues overseas.

HOWEVER!...my sister found some sort of way to check out the article online. I have no idea how she did this, but I want to offer the link up to you Kickstarter folks. Be the first to check it out!

http://www.exacteditions.com/exact/browse/396/434/7216/3/130...

That's all for now, but expect more updates as progress continues...

Love,
Zach