Prelude To The Introduction To The Beginning

Yesterday I got off the bus and thought "Gee, it's cold. I don't like cold." And then I thought, "Wait, I'll be in Minnesota in February for potentially all 28 days" and thought I shouldn't complain about our mild 40 degrees. So I'm a California boy, born & raised in Stockton, CA where it gets 100+ degrees in summer. I like heat. I've been informed I will need a complete wardrobe makeover and simply walking around without a jacket in SF will not be enough preparation.

I'm Vincent Gargiulo, a filmmaker who makes strange videos. Deeply inspired by Monty Python, classic cartoons, foreign films, bad vhs tapes, and something called music, I've been making stuff consistently since 2007. Each year the films get bigger and I get slightly more acclaim. Slightly. I have a day job which helps pay for these things. For my next project I decided to do an experiment - see if other people will give me money.

I currently have a Kickstarter campaign going on. Launched it a few days ago. Check it out if you'd like to see what I look like in a labcoat. The film is called "Duluth Is Horrible" and is a series of vignettes showing a few lonely people searching for a connection in a bleak winterscape. In it's 20 minutes, you'll see the aftermath of a breakup from both sides, an older zookeeper on a online date, a Redditor complaining about his cat, a karaoke scene, a disillusioned Sex Chat girl, 5 people dressed as Carmen Miranda, a call from Enterprise Car Rental, and a little Disney magic thrown in for good measure.

I'll be using this blog to discuss my success (or possible non-success) of my campaign. Hopefully, it will succeed and I'll be able to continue talking about the film as it goes full force in production.

So far, I find Kickstarter extremely stressful. If you don't get pledges, you worry "Oh god, what can I do? This will never work. I have to do more! But what!? I'm lost. I'm confused! Please donate something" and start crying profusely. On the opposite side, I am amazed by the support of the people who do donate (some friends, some not) and think "You like me. You really like me!" I shouldn't take it so personal, but we know that's not easy. Especially for "artists." We're still early in the process. They say successful campaigns raise 30% within the first week which means 3K by next Wednesday. Possible. Perhaps.

Anybody out there in the internet have Kickstarter tips? I'd love to hear them. We got the video. We got the social media. We got the Spam. Now what?