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SEAN ASTIN REACHES KICKSTARTER GOAL IN SUPPORT OF ONLINE POLITICAL RADIO SHOW VOX POPULI; ANNOUNCES NEW STRETCH GOALS TO INSPIRE FINAL DONATIONS
Astin Joins Other Celebrities -- Including Spike Lee and Zach Braff -- Who Have Turned to Crowdfunding for Important Projects
LOS ANGELES (October 24, 2013) – Popular film and television actor and political enthusiast Sean Astin has successfully reached his Kickstarter crowdfunding goal of $30,000 to help produce a second season of his online political radio show Vox Populi: Voice of the ‘Occasionally Interested’ People. The show first launched in May 2012 and has already streamed 31 two-hour episodes over the Internet, brilliantly matching guests with opposing viewpoints. The premise of the show is to use civil discourse to explore often hot-button topics. Astin expertly interviews notable subjects while effortlessly guiding the broader conversation, creating a unique and accessible model for political talk radio.
Inspired by the recent buzz around crowdfunding, and having heard of other notable celebrities who have run successful campaigns, Astin turned to Kickstarter to raise funds for his passion project. “Crowdfunding is a great litmus test for any project,” Astin said. “It’s a powerful market research tool that help creators determine if there’s enough consumer interest in their project to justify moving forward -- myself included.” Astin’s campaign has raised $34,313 (and growing) from 375 backers, with an average donation of $90.
“I’ve had to hustle from day one,” Astin commented. “I have literally contacted everyone I know to help drive awareness and donations for my campaign. I believe in it that much.” Astin recently partnered with FilmBreak, an integrated marketing and distribution platform for filmmakers and studios, to assist with strategy, branding and execution of the campaign. For instance, FilmBreak helped Astin to develop “stretch goals” – new fundraising goals beyond the original target – to incentivize new and existing backers to support the campaign.
Now that he has exceeded his original target of $30,000 – which will be used to secure a physical infrastructure for the show, hire part-time staff and immediately produce a full second season of his show – Astin has introduced new goals. For instance, if he can reach $50,000, Astin will be able to hire a full-time producer, and if he reaches $60,000, he’ll be able to develop a Vox Populi app.
At a recent event hosted by FilmBreak at Cross Campus in Santa Monica, Astin announced a slew of new rewards as well, including a sit-down chat over coffee for $500 (Los Angeles only), or a personal appearance at an event with a one-hour question-and-answer session and another one-hour event photo and autograph session for $10,000. “I know that experiential rewards are really compelling for my fans, and I’m willing to go to bat for my show and for them by offering these kinds of options,” Astin said. With just seven days to go in his campaign, Astin is hopeful that he can close out his campaign with complete success, and continue bringing Vox Populi to life.
About Sean Astin
Sean Astin (born February 25, 1971) is an American film actor, director, voice artist and producer best known for his film roles as 'Samwise Gamgee' in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, 'Mikey Walsh' in "The Goonies," and the title character of "Rudy." In television, he appeared as 'Lynn McGill' in the fifth season of "24" and currently voices 'Raphael' in the Nickelodeon "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" TV series. Astin is currently in production for the much-anticipated series "The Strain" for FX based on Guillermo del Toro's Novel Series.
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