Spike Lee Defends Kickstarter Funding Plea Because of Negative Reaction! Will Wonders Never Cease?

Oldboy director Spike Lee announced last week he wants to make another film in the horror genre, but he wants you to help fund it via Kickstarter… I mean, he has to be hurting for funding money, right? What studio would take a chance on a no-name director who’s never done anything?

Oh wait…

He’s done plenty and is probably a millionaire three times over. Why not seek more money from his fans? Honestly, we didn’t cover it last week because it just seems kind of wrong to help someone fund a project who’s already a well established filmmaker who’s already raked in enough fan dollars from the millions who have seen his movies. Here’s Spike’s original pitch video, in which he’s seeking $1.25 million in funds. According to Lee the project will focus on human beings who are addicted to blood – it’ll be “funny, sexy, and bloody (and it’s not Blacula).”

Of course there were others out there who think a filmmaker of his stature should be able to make his own movies, and as a result Lee has come out in defense of his campaign.

“I’m bringing people to Kickstarter who never even heard of Kickstarter,” he said in an interview with FilmCourage.com. “I’m talking [about] a lot of people of color who’ve never heard of Kickstarter, who’ve never made a pledge on Kickstarter. I really think it’s a fallacy, it’s a misconception, and it’s just plain-out wrong, with a capital W, that because someone puts $5 on my film, that was $5 that a young filmmaker was going to get.”

As of today, Lee’s campaign had received $356,388 from 1,848 pledges. Just think! If you pledge $10k he’ll take you to dinner and a Knicks game. Here’s his defense video. Tell us how you feel about this below.