Filmmaker Wants $50,000 to Make Zelda Documentary

StewShearerOld

Geekdad News Writer
Jan 5, 2013
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Filmmaker Wants $50,000 to Make Zelda Documentary


Joe Granato has launched a Kickstarter campaign hoping to raise funds for It's Dangerous To Go Alone: The Movie, a documentary about The Legend of Zelda.

The Legend of Zelda has a pretty dedicated fanbase. There are people that have been devotees of the franchise since its earliest inception and for many gamers the adventure to save Hyrule was a landmark of their childhoods. Hoping to explore the effect the series has had on its fans and gaming culture, filmmaker Joe Granato has gone to Kickstarter seeking $50,000 to help fund his documentary, It's Dangerous To Go Alone:The Movie.

"From the time most of us first touched [The Legend of Zelda], our lives were changed. As children, the fantasy game contained in that golden plastic NES cartridge was our initiation into our own imaginations," said Granato on his Kickstarter page. "Many of us have gone on to become creatives...writers, filmmakers, game designers, painters, sculptors, illustrators, animators...and we owe our first creative compulsions to our adventure contained in that golden cartridge." It's Dangerous To Go Alone: The Movie aims to explore the root of the Zelda franchise's appeal and the depth of it's influence on people around the world. The documentary will focus a lens on artists, musicians, authors and filmmakers whose work has been influenced by the Zelda games. "For those of you who have invested thousands of hours in the world of Hyrule, it will validate your passion."

Regardless of the passions being validated, $50,000 could come across to some as a somewhat hefty sum to answer the question of why people like Zelda. Granted, it takes money to make movies, and Granato isn't asking as much as many other documentary filmmakers that are crowdfunding via Kickstarter. That said, he also doesn't offer much explanation on his project page as to where the funds will be actually be going, something that potential contributors might appreciate. The price tag notwithstanding, this is a subject that many fans of Zelda and gaming, myself included, would probably enjoy seeing discussed. In the least, it would be nice to have a film telling us the hours we spent trying to burn every bush in Hyrule weren't wasted.

Source: <a href=http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1316851183/its-dangerous-to-go-alonethe-movie>Kickstarter


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PunkRex

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Feb 19, 2010
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Arn't there people on Youtube who do this shizz for free, don't get me wrong the guy sounds legit but I find it weird that you get peeps who put hours of their own time into making a fine piece of media while others feel the need to throw vast sums of money at it?

Whatever, sounds interesting.
 

Ukomba

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Oct 14, 2010
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Can't he just go around smashing pots like the rest of us? He'll grind up enough rupees in no time.
 

josemlopes

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Jun 9, 2008
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PunkRex said:
Arn't there people on Youtube who do this shizz for free, don't get me wrong the guy sounds legit but I find it weird that you get peeps who put hours of their own time into making a fine piece of media while others feel the need to throw vast sums of money at it?

Whatever, sounds interesting.
And in the end it ends up being one of those "This thing that we are talking about is the most important thing ever, IT CONSUMES MY LIFE!" kind of documentary like this bullshit:
Its a font that some guy made and it happens to be nice to look at, who cares...
 

Therumancer

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Nov 28, 2007
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PunkRex said:
Arn't there people on Youtube who do this shizz for free, don't get me wrong the guy sounds legit but I find it weird that you get peeps who put hours of their own time into making a fine piece of media while others feel the need to throw vast sums of money at it?

Whatever, sounds interesting.
Well, it seems like a scam to me. Sort of like how Troll Queen Anita Sarkeesian decided to rally a bunch of liberals to do feminist rants about tropes in video games, the idea being that with their donations she could produce a series of a quality she could not otherwise achieve. Fast forward a bit past all of the contreversy, the series arrives, and it's exactly the same thing (quality and all) as she was doing on her rant-channel to begin with. Questions of "Hey Anita, where's the money" have largely gone unanaswered, and are valid even to those who were otherwise supporting her and don't think she's a troll (which I do, and this reinforces it).

As you point out, people do crap like this on Youtube out of their own pocket all the time, why the guy needs $50k is a good question, I'd imagine like seems to be the case with Anita is that he'll just pocket it, dial out your typical Youtube production, and call it a day.

To be honest with Kickstarter becoming increasingly well known, and so many accusations of scams circulating, I pretty much recommend not getting involved with anything you don't have a good idea of where the money is going with. It seems like geeks are becoming targets of choice for trolls and scam artists. With things like Youtube out there, anyone who claims that they need money for a digital video on "geek topics" should be treated with suspician.
 

RJ 17

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Nov 27, 2011
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PunkRex said:
Arn't there people on Youtube who do this shizz for free, don't get me wrong the guy sounds legit but I find it weird that you get peeps who put hours of their own time into making a fine piece of media while others feel the need to throw vast sums of money at it?

Whatever, sounds interesting.
I know that the Angry Videogame Nerd did one and it was pretty good.


But this does beg the question of "Why Zelda?" Granted it's one of the biggest names in gaming, but if all you're trying to do is find out why it's such a successful franchise, why not do Elder Scrolls? Why not Mass Effect? Why not Mario?

I dunno, it'd be neat but I'd never pay to see a movie like this one. :p
 

rasputin0009

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Feb 12, 2013
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I'd be interested if he had an opportunity to interview Miyamoto from a Western perspective. Other than that, I don't care what the fans think. It's just like when the local news goes out on the street and asks people what they think about the weather. Incredibly mundane.
 

EstrogenicMuscle

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Sep 7, 2012
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PunkRex said:
Arn't there people on Youtube who do this shizz for free, don't get me wrong the guy sounds legit but I find it weird that you get peeps who put hours of their own time into making a fine piece of media while others feel the need to throw vast sums of money at it?

Whatever, sounds interesting.
It all depends on the position and scope of such things. The "Brony" documentary was by no means cheap to do. Nor was Indie Game The Movie. Nor are most documentaries.

The fact that some people are willing to do it for free does not mean it does not have value.

The fact that some people put things up on youtube for "free" does not mean they don't have value. Most music videos are not up on Youtube for free. Does that mean they don't have monetary value?

This is up on youtube for free, officially, by Warner Music. It is still incredibly protected intellectual property. Aimed at making a profit.

It is as if, since some people like making vlogs on youtube as a hobby, every piece of content on youtube is suddenly free, easy to make, has no monetary value, and that anyone who asks for money is a scam artist.
Therumancer said:
Well, it seems like a scam to me. Sort of like how Troll Queen Anita Sarkeesian decided to rally a bunch of liberals to do feminist rants about tropes in video games
Oh God, not this again.
 

Kyogissun

Notably Neutral
Jan 12, 2010
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Yeah, if it was someone with an established and credible background like... 2PP or something, I might be more interested.

Also, the absence of how the money will be spent is definitely going to deter people, especially after a certain someone and their claims of how the money would be spent and there being a general lack of clarity on how it was used and how it appears said money wasn't used towards the research and production was was promised.

So, sorry Mr. Granato, I have no interest in giving you any of my money. Give more clarity on the idea behind the project, how the cash will be spent and more clear cut direction on the intent of the movie and I might think about it.
 

Eric Milligan

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Mar 6, 2013
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Therumancer said:
PunkRex said:
Arn't there people on Youtube who do this shizz for free, don't get me wrong the guy sounds legit but I find it weird that you get peeps who put hours of their own time into making a fine piece of media while others feel the need to throw vast sums of money at it?

Whatever, sounds interesting.
Well, it seems like a scam to me. Sort of like how Troll Queen Anita Sarkeesian decided to rally a bunch of liberals to do feminist rants about tropes in video games, the idea being that with their donations she could produce a series of a quality she could not otherwise achieve. Fast forward a bit past all of the contreversy, the series arrives, and it's exactly the same thing (quality and all) as she was doing on her rant-channel to begin with. Questions of "Hey Anita, where's the money" have largely gone unanaswered, and are valid even to those who were otherwise supporting her and don't think she's a troll (which I do, and this reinforces it).

As you point out, people do crap like this on Youtube out of their own pocket all the time, why the guy needs $50k is a good question, I'd imagine like seems to be the case with Anita is that he'll just pocket it, dial out your typical Youtube production, and call it a day.

To be honest with Kickstarter becoming increasingly well known, and so many accusations of scams circulating, I pretty much recommend not getting involved with anything you don't have a good idea of where the money is going with. It seems like geeks are becoming targets of choice for trolls and scam artists. With things like Youtube out there, anyone who claims that they need money for a digital video on "geek topics" should be treated with suspician.
Uh. First of all. Kickstarter is a donation service, if you decide to give somebody your money through kickstarter you should know what to expect. She didn't scam anybody. Second, she doesn't just make shitty webcam videos, I don't know if you noticed but she actually does produce high-quality videos using animations and other things. She has to pay people money to do that shit, and many people are totally ignorant about production costs and assume that making high-quality videos is far less expensive than it actually is. You not only have to pay animators if you don't do it yourself but also have to pay for high-quality cameras and other equipment. I have no idea what you mean when you call her a "troll". Seriously, what the fuck does that mean in this context? It's also worth noting that she only asked for 5000$ but people gave her more money ON THEIR OWN BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO. Anita never expected to get that much money, and she sure as hell didn't scam anybody. Whether you like her or agree with her or hate her and disagree with her, you should at least get your facts right.
 

Nexxis

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Jan 16, 2012
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Eric Milligan said:
Therumancer said:
PunkRex said:
Arn't there people on Youtube who do this shizz for free, don't get me wrong the guy sounds legit but I find it weird that you get peeps who put hours of their own time into making a fine piece of media while others feel the need to throw vast sums of money at it?

Whatever, sounds interesting.
Well, it seems like a scam to me. Sort of like how Troll Queen Anita Sarkeesian decided to rally a bunch of liberals to do feminist rants about tropes in video games, the idea being that with their donations she could produce a series of a quality she could not otherwise achieve. Fast forward a bit past all of the contreversy, the series arrives, and it's exactly the same thing (quality and all) as she was doing on her rant-channel to begin with. Questions of "Hey Anita, where's the money" have largely gone unanaswered, and are valid even to those who were otherwise supporting her and don't think she's a troll (which I do, and this reinforces it).

As you point out, people do crap like this on Youtube out of their own pocket all the time, why the guy needs $50k is a good question, I'd imagine like seems to be the case with Anita is that he'll just pocket it, dial out your typical Youtube production, and call it a day.

To be honest with Kickstarter becoming increasingly well known, and so many accusations of scams circulating, I pretty much recommend not getting involved with anything you don't have a good idea of where the money is going with. It seems like geeks are becoming targets of choice for trolls and scam artists. With things like Youtube out there, anyone who claims that they need money for a digital video on "geek topics" should be treated with suspician.
Uh. First of all. Kickstarter is a donation service, if you decide to give somebody your money through kickstarter you should know what to expect. She didn't scam anybody. Second, she doesn't just make shitty webcam videos, I don't know if you noticed but she actually does produce high-quality videos using animations and other things. She has to pay people money to do that shit, and many people are totally ignorant about production costs and assume that making high-quality videos is far less expensive than it actually is. You not only have to pay animators if you don't do it yourself but also have to pay for high-quality cameras and other equipment. I have no idea what you mean when you call her a "troll". Seriously, what the fuck does that mean in this context? It's also worth noting that she only asked for 5000$ but people gave her more money ON THEIR OWN BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO. Anita never expected to get that much money, and she sure as hell didn't scam anybody. Whether you like her or agree with her or hate her and disagree with her, you should at least get your facts right.
I agree with you, but there are always going to be people out there who will forget those facts because they want to. I'm surprised that she's brought up and not the people who did the kickstarter for Tropes vs Men who rode off the wave of hate for her. However, unlike her, they DID take the money and run. I saw a thread about it a while back, but it paled in comparison to the threads aimed at her for one reason or another.

OT: I would love to see this documentary. I've seen nice videos where people have put together trivia for the Zelda franchise, but, considering the amount of money they're asking for, I assume they're planning for something bigger than just some trivia. I wish they stated a bit more about it. I'd like to know they'd be doing differently.