Jennifer Stasak
Staff Writer
As we prepare to bid a tearful goodbye to “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries,” which will air its final episode this Thursday, fans have a reason to wipe their tears away and cheer instead. The Kickstarter campaign for the show’s DVD project has raised over $250,000 (FOUR times their initial goal of $60,000) within 48 hours, and – with 29 days still left until the campaign closes – the amount pledged just keeps on growing! So, what exactly do fans of the web series who contribute to the campaign have to look forward to, and what is this money going to be used to fund?
Creator of the web series, Hank Green, explained in a video on the Kickstarter page that the money will be used to fund an eight (or more)-disk DVD set of “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries,” which will include each of Lizzie’s 100+ videos, all of the spin-off web series, episode commentary, bloopers, cast interviews, behind-the-scenes features, and more! Additionally, money will be utilized by the team to create and print a new, “Lizzie Bennet Diaries” edition of the novel “Pride and Prejudice.” The novel will include a brand-new cover design and an introduction written by Green.
The money that is pledged will not just be used to fund the DVD creation and distribution of “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries,” however. Green and his team announced that the money generated will also be used to fund further web series projects including a new series starring Gigi Darcy called “Welcome to Sanditon” – an adaptation of the unfinished Jane Austen novel “Sanditon.” The new project is set to debut in May of 2013. Additional proceeds will also be used as “royalties” to the writers, producers, and other individuals who created the project.
Additionally, backers of the project can select the amount they would like to contribute to the project (ranging from $10 pledges to $1,000 pledges), and will receive special books, posters, and personalized thank-you perks depending on the tier they select. “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries” Kickstarter page can be located here if you are a fan of the show and are interested in contributing in any of the tiers listed: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pemberleydigital/the-lizzie-bennet-diaries-dvdand-more
(And in the time it took me to write this article up, about $2,000 more has been funded for the project, proving once again that when a fandom mobilizes and organizes, there is no limit to what it can do!)
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