Braff not just depending on Kickstarter for film

CANNES (AP) — Zach Braff isn’t just counting on the $2.7 million he raised on the crowd-funding platform Kickstarter to make his follow-up movie to “Garden State.” Worldwide Entertainment has stepped in at Cannes as a financier for that film, “Wish I Was Here.”

It’s not uncommon for a film to find additional foreign investors at Cannes, but Braff has come under considerable criticism for relying on fans to bankroll his second directorial effort.

In one of the most high-profile Kickstarter campaigns, the “Scrubs” actor lobbied his fans to contribute money. The film’s 38,000-plus backers earn various levels of rewards, from a copy of the script to a part in the film.

On his Kickstarter page, Braff denied that he was doing anything to undermine the spirit of crowd-funding. He said the additional funds would allow him to make the film as designed, within a budget of $5-6 million.

“I’m sorry for the hoopla,” he wrote. “I’m sorry if your friends think you’ve been duped. But you haven’t been. This is real. Crowd-sourcing films is here to stay.”

Braff follows Rob Thomas’ popular Kickstarter campaign to bring the cult TV show “Veronica Mars” back as a film. That project, too, had outside investment from Warner Bros.