Every week, we round up some of the stories about our projects that made the press. We're happy to see them out there in the real world, and excited to share their progress with you! Read on.
Thomas Ricker of The Verge wrote a thoughtful, well-researched piece entitled "Kickstarted: How one company is revolutionizing product development," in which he looks at the successes of some of 2011's most successful product design projects, including LunaTik Touch Pen, Cosmonaut, Red Pop, GoPano and Revolights. "The million dollar idea. We’ve all had it at one time or another, with very few luxuries to show for our sudden fits of brilliance. Unfortunately, it’s not the idea but its execution that yields rewards. Faced with the daunting prospect of applying for a bank loan or seeking private investors, most would-be inventors wither against the obstacles, shrinking into the comfort and stability of their nine-to-five lives and disappearing into what T. S. Eliot called the shadow between conception and creation. Never pursuing their passion. Never taking a risk to bring something new into this world. Enter Kickstarter, a thoroughly modern twist on the concepts of commerce and patronage; an approach so alluring that it now counts over one million people who have combined to pledge more than $100 million to fund ideas both big and small, serious and whimsical, since it launched in April of 2009."
In a feature story on Kickstarter, Brian Williams of NBC's "Rock Center" said "The rule this time of year is pretty simple. It's better to give than receive. One of the big game-changing ideas on the web right now offers people the opportunity to do both. Like a lot of online success stories. It comes down to something pretty simple. Folks with big ideas but not a lot of money connect with people willing to fund them for everything from documentary films to new technology. The leading site in this area is called Kickstarter." The segment went on to interview Scott Wilson, Colin Hanks and Dr. Jennifer Calkins about the successes they had getting their ideas off the ground using Kickstarter.
Rebecca Rosen of The Atlantic published a piece called "12 Awesome Kickstarter Projects You Should Give to for the Holidays" noting: "Projects run the gamut, from photographers who are documenting life without electricity around the world to a new-and-improved contact-lens case. The sheer quantity of great ideas can make it hard to narrow down where you should donate." Among the projects she highlights: Improv Everywhere Film, Slotto, Baltimore Brew, Mountain Dance Trail, and Approaching the Elephant.
David Drake and Jeff Weiss of Pitchfork wrote up the self-released When Pigs Fly by A.Dd+ in a post exploring their "favorite underrated rap releases of the year." They said "The rap-duo ideal has always been modeled on yin and yang. Complimentary opposites. Q-Tip, the Abstract and the Phife, the Five-Footer. The Pimp and the Bun. On their focused debut, Dallas' Paris Pershun and Slim Gravy of A.Dd+ are the rapper and the poet, the spawn of UGK and OutKast, combining street and cerebral."
Christopher Weingarten of SPIN added Kickstarter funded Indie Cred Test to the mag's "10 Best Music Books of 2011" saying "Pointlessly insular and gut-bustingly hilarious, sacred-cow slaughterhouse Chunklet magazine compiled thousands of takedowns into this 192-page opus of pure passion and bile."
Dan Schoenbrun of Filmmaker Magazine featured narrative film project Welcome to Pine Hill, which is trying to make its way to the Slamdance Film Festival next month (congrats to our own Elisabeth Holm for role producing the film!): "On the heels of this week’s Slamdance lineup announcement, Welcome to Pine Hill, one of the films premiering in competition, has launched a new Kickstarter campaign. A verite, doc-narrative blend (and an alum of the 2011 IFP Narrative Labs), Pine Hill follows Shannon Harper, a former drug dealer who reexamines his past after receiving some life-altering news."
