If the fans don't rise up in this moment, it ain't gonna happen.
It was insanity. It was absolute insanity.
With Veronica Mars, it feels like there's some unfinished business.
I think that we all want to see how Veronica turned out.
The original idea was film noir.
That worked shockingly amazingly well on a TV show...
...but I feel like it would work even better in the compressed format of a movie.
I think Rob can tell a really great detective story in 9O minutes to two hours.
I'm looking forward to seeing him try.
Two million dollars in a day? Crazy.
You guys did it.
With this show, it's such a devoted audience.
It reminded me a lot of, like, the rock bands of my youth...
...in the way people really clutched this to their bosom, this is a special show.
You kind of forget, "Oh, yeah, I helped make this."
The money I gave is the reason why it's even made. You're not even thinking about it.
You're thinking, "I get to see so and so. I get to do this. This is so cool."
I've never done anything like this before. I have memories for a lifetime. It's amazing.
I feel a bit like I'm about to explode.
The thing you gotta know is it was never about the money.
It was that Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell really knew their fans.
All right, 8:19. We have an hour and 11 minutes before we launch.
I am terrified that any number of things could go wrong.
Particularly things like driving to the office, I will crash my car.
I think that Veronica Mars has earned the right to be a movie.
It felt like it was inevitable that there would be another incarnation of Veronica Mars.
I don't expect for immediately a million dollars to rack up.
I think it will take a while for the news to disseminate.
And I imagine that it's going to be a painful process...
...launching and not seeing contributors right off the bat.
I called Kristen and asked, "Hey, are you on board for this?"
And I had kind of heard of Kickstarter.
And I thought it was brilliant...
...because it was really the way for us to answer the question, "Do the fans want this?"
I love her for saying, "Okay. Yeah, if it gets the movie made, let's do it."
If we don't hit 2 million, it's dead. Um--
And with it dies the shot of there ever being a Veronica Mars movie.
Like, this is-- This is the last-ditch attempt.
I don't remember the exact moment he mentioned it. I do remember thinking:
"That sounds a bit crackers." Um--
But, you know, Rob's had some crackers ideas over the time.
Like, "Why don't we just shoot the Party Down pilot in our backyard...
...and try to sell it as a series?" I'm like, "That sounds crackers, but let's do it."
And it led to the series.
Okay, launch the Kickstarter page.
All right, here, I'm hitting the launch right now.
"Congratulations, your project is live on Kickstarter.
Drum roll. Here's your project URL."
- We are live. We're live. - Yeah. I think...
We have a new backer. We have our first backer.
One backer, 100 dollars for the first backer. All right.
That's pretty crazy.
All right, our first one.
We have a hundred dollars.
We said, "You know what, why don't we just make a video?"
That way they can have something to look at.
They can have something tangible to say, "This is what we mean.
This is what we'd try to be promoting to make this movie happen."
When I saw the video, I thought, this is--
If a fan saw this, urn, in an environment like Kickstarter...
...I think it could really be a trans-formative thing.
So this is literally the room where the Veronica Mars movie came to life.
In the end he, I think, was able to pull that off. Basically saying to the fans:
"We need to show the studio that this is a worthwhile investment for them...
...but once we do, having the studio on board...
...will help us-- Will let us make a bigger, better movie that goes wider."
Rob was there with an incredibly clear vision...
...and personal passion for the project.
And that was really the key thing at every point.
Okay, here we go, like, 15 seconds later, will we be over 28?
Oh, God, that was a thousand dollars in 2O seconds. That was-- That was crazy.
That first hour was so unbelievably exciting.
Like, seeing, like, the first 100,000 dollars roll in quickly and then--
And then it just became-- It became insane.
All I could do was keep looking at the Kickstarter page rising and rising.
I woke up when it was at 400,000 or something.
Because I was very pregnant. I'd slept in.
I opened my computer and I was just in shock.
Kristen?
This is insanity.
Best case, I did not imagine we would do a million in the first four and a half hours.
You say all of the time, like, "Okay, cool, we get a fair amount of feedback...
...about people who want the movie. We'll do it for them. "
But this is just-- It's overwhelming.
I think the next update is gonna take us over.
One million-- One million one thousand dollars.
Oh, my God, I'm so happy right now.
I couldn't believe that, A, it was showing signs of success...
...B, that we were probably gonna make our goal within a day...
...which had never happened before.
Veronica Mars fans rule.
I mean, we've always known it, but they're--
They just rule.
It was all crazy surreal.
Okay, 21,000 dollars to go.
Maybe we're at 10 hours and 1O minutes.
But this is the biggie. This is--
You know, a million was nice, but 2 million was our goal.
So, when this clicks over, we are a green-lit movie.
Um, we are making this movie.
Oh, look at that. Yes!
Two million. We are green-lit.
I didn't know if it would be sustainable and we would reach our goal...
...but it was, it was sustainable.
You guys left a Shaq-size footprint on Kickstarter...
...with Veronica Mars' name right in the middle of it.
If it wasn't for you guys, Veronica Mars the movie, would never be happening.
And I love Kickstarter and I love all 91,000 of you for actually making this happen.
So excited to bring you guys the best movie possible and to see everyone again.
I'm just, um, excited to be Dick Casablancas again...
...and just celebrating the movie.
- I'm excited too, man. -Nice.
I'm so haPPY-
I'm SO, $0 haPPY---
...to be a part of this whole weird, wonderful thing.
- Veronica Mars. - Veronica Mars.
creator Rob Thomas raised--
- Veronica Mars will be a movie. - The Veronica Mars movie.
Veronica Mars starring Kristen Bell.
Veronica Mars might have the best fans in the business.
In less than a day.
That's a record.
It's, uh, beyond my wildest dreams.
You know, I was hoping that we would pass the 2 million dollar mark...
...but I never could have imagined that we'd do it in, you know, in half a day.
Oh, my God. Jason.
Jason Dohring is here.
Honestly, I had high hopes.
And yet, there was this little bit of doubt in my mind.
I really thought, like, what if the people telling us to make a movie...
...has been, like, the same 2O people?
What if we launch on Kickstarter and there are, like, eight fans?
I am so overwhelmed, uh, and overjoyed by the reaction to this.
It has been first, the most exhausting month of my life...
...and the best month.
It has been so much fun, not to discount the birth of our children, honey.
All right!
We have 5.7 million dollars!
Four, three, two, one!
This is incredible!
Ninety-one thousand, five hundred donors?
Number one by a long way.
5.7 million dollars.
That's number three by a long way.
We're number three! We're number three!
I'm excited about the movie we're gonna do. Thank you so much.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
You had, you know, all these fans kicking in for it.
Suddenly you need to deliver.
And I hadn't spent much energy on that.
I had spent all of my energy on just getting the thing off the ground.
And so there was, uh, absolutely a moment where it dawned on me...
...that, "Oh, and now you have to make this, and it better be good."
This is not exactly how it's gonna be...
...but I love what you were saying about, "My name is Veronica and I'm a private eye."
I just think this is fucking brilliant.
At some point, I figured out I need help on the movie.
I called one of the best writers of Veronica Mars...
...and had done so many great episodes...
...and I'd asked her to help me with the script.
Takes the seat at her father's desk and it's, "Hi, my name is Veronica and I'm a private eye."
And then, "Hi, Veronica."
- So I just--
I-- Honest to God, I have goose bumps.
- I'm excited because I kind of loved that. -I do. I got--
I genuinely got goose bumps. That feels right on.
She, as always, wrote great stuff.
The tech scout wore us out.
It was, uh, 13 hours on a bus with a lot of really terrific talented people...
...but still exhausting. -Two days in a row of that.
- Two days in a row, it was-- -Of wonderful location scouting.
There has been a guiding philosophy of, like, what would the fans enjoy?
What would bring them, you know, special merriment in seeing the movie?
With other movies you're always trying to make a great movie. In this one you, like--
We feel the spirit of the fans kind of at our backs...
...in a good way, kind of lifting us through the whole thing.
- It is all about the backers. - Yeah.
Way more than I would've thought.
Everything we do, we have to think about it in terms of--
And we're both-- And all of us are really happy to because it does give--
It makes you feel like you're doing something more special than just another movie.
- Action. - B marker.
When you're set, please.
It feels far more important because, um, fans invested in us.
When you get a response like 90,000 people chipping in for something...
...you just can't believe that.
I've never really been a part of something that's been viral like that.
And they asked us to complete this for them.
And they, um, made it financially possible.
So it feels really important to get it right.
So I think we're all just bringing our A game.
And trying to make the best movie possible.
Going to shoot my first shot.
It's been, uh, seven years. Maybe eight years.
But I was nervous for about one second...
...and then it just all went away and now it feels totally normal again.
I'm so excited to be here.
And, um, seeing everyone again, uh, is a lot of stimulus.
Hi.
It was the best feeling. I was worried about whether or not I needed a prosthetic wig.
- Ha-ha-ha. -I just wanted to make sure I was in the thing.
Agh! Ha-ha-ha.
That's my homeboy. That's--
That's my man.
I hope we give the fans what they want.
I think thankfully there's no bigger fan of the show...
...than Rob and Kristin and the rest of the cast.
I think because this movie is funded by the fans and there's a real want for it...
...there's a great energy and vibe on set. It's really fun and everyone's excited to be here.
I know that Rob loves these characters.
I know that all of us love these characters.
Like, obviously we don't wanna let anybody down.
- It's bizarre. It's really weird. It's like-- It's a lot of yelling and screaming.
- Aah! Aah! "it's been eight years."
- Ah, ha, ha! -Oh, thank God. Ha-ha-ha.
I'm not special. That's how he greets everybody.
And it's every day.
You should hear stories from Just Shoot Me!
To have these opportunities, man, and to be here again it just gives you this feeling like...
Almost more than being a part of this movie...
...I was looking forward to seeing everybody.
Cut the sleeves off all of my shirts, uh...
...immediately stuck my head underwater, slicked it back...
...and then, uh, I watched a lot of pornography.
I got a phone call saying, "Hey, you gonna do "Shit, this is rad."
It's a treat because I don't get to see these guys very often, you know?
I bump into them once in a while, sometimes.
But for the most part, I haven't seen these guys.
So it really is a reunion for us.
It's super sick, I gotta be honest. We're all just like kids.
And just to see what happened over those few years of filming and then to pause...
...then to come back five years later, I mean, it's really...
I was so happy to be part of this. I feel like it's movie history.
-It's been terrible. I have to see this girl. -Heh.
What are you talking about? This is, like, the highlight of your day.
Yes, it is. It's been amazing.
- This is my buddy. -I know.
It was a great experience working on Veronica Mars the first time.
And, uh, I love the character. She's, you know, sort of a mean girl.
So it's fun to play.
It really is like, "Aah! Ha, ha!"
Except for Rico. Yeah.
I'm getting dressed. What are you doing? Get out of here.
Yeah. Mm-mm.
Going to the Mars house, first day.
Kristen didn't wait two ******* minutes to make fun of me.
Like, right out of the gate she said my acting was subhuman.
It's like you've been here ever since.
- I think it's got that feel to it. -Like a Twilight Zone episode.
These characters have never really gone anywhere. They're right here.
You think, Kristen, as an actor, you can just, uh, snap into and out of it quick?
- With this character, yeah. -Yeah.
My body wants to be Veronica...
...like it wants more oxygen.
It's fun to be back.
Somehow our location leaked.
So there was a group of fans standing outside...
...sort of taking pictures of our set.
And so rather than being standoffish, you know...
...they just wandered out into the middle of the group of fans...
...and took pictures and signed autographs.
Regular fans are fine.
Veronica Mars fans are awesome.
That's pretty much the main difference, I think.
- Oh, no way. - Just a different breed.
They know more about, like, the show, the character...
...like, who your character's gonna grow up to be than, like, I even knew.
The difference between regular fans and Veronica Mars fans...
...is I don't have any regular fans. I only have Veronica Mars fans.
Like, they actually knew where we were shooting today and I didn't.
These guys, the fans, unagi. Okay?
My name is Mariana and I'm from Brazil. Heh.
I really wanted to support this movie.
This is something that we fans are hoping to happen for so long.
I never stopped being a fan, you know?
Back in Brazil, I moderate a community for Brazilian fans...
...that had, like, over 10,000 people.
We were hoping, like, to see maybe glimpses, you know, of the shooting.
But we were like-- When they came out and talked to us, it was so amazing.
I was, like, shaking. I couldn't take a picture. It was amazing.
Kristen was so kind and she spent a lot of time talking to me.
All of them, actually.
They are all so great.
It exceeded my expectations.
It's fun to see. You know, maybe someday if we get to do 10 of these we will become jaded...
...but right now, at this point, everyone's pretty giddy to get to be making it.
- I think I just made a Kickstarterjoke. -Good. Very good.
- I think I made the first Kickstarterjoke. -You did.
And, you know, it was great reuniting the old cast...
...but we had a lot of new friends that joined.
We come up with a really good, like, little cameo that someone can do.
We're really excited for them, because it's not in the film. No one knows about it.
We haven't announced it. And there's so many fantastic surprises...
...coming down the pike. -Some we're not gonna announce.
And we think that the guest actors had a terrific time on the movie as well.
It's 2:30 in the afternoon, our exact call time.
This is a triple banger of Veronica, Logan, and enter new character, Ruby.
What? You'll see.
My name is Gaby Hoffmann, and I'm playing Ruby Jetson.
I mean, I know that the show has had...
...an amazing huge following. I feel like it's...
...one of, like, three shows of the last decade...
...that people are just truly, truly obsessed over.
I just like the idea that the fans became very proactive and said:
"We'll fund it. We'll put the money up."
And I think that's just a nice, lovely...
...vote of confidence for both the fans and the creative team here.
Why do you think you're worthy of being on Veronica Mars?
Like, imagine, like, the best person, and then...
...just, like, raise that by a notch, like, almost...
...almost Jesus.
That's how I would describe him.
Clearly, the caliber of actor that they have on the show already...
...warrants an upgrade.
Luckily, they're Kristen's fans, so I have very little pressure on me.
I'm free to disappoint on all levels...
...and I hope to really do that.
I think everyone-- Especially, you can tell the mood.
I think everyone is excited to be part of something this unique.
Paid the money, had never met Kristen before, got a call from her personally...
...which is also crazy. Uh, and then I thought, like, well, maybe it's because I'm an actor...
...and, like, maybe there's that thing.
Apparently she's been doing that with everybody who's contributed...
...I think it's 20 or more dollars, urn, and they get to actually be in the movie.
I've been a part of projects that were completely funded by me...
...and my brother and some friends. Ha, ha.
But no, nothing like this, especially nothing like...
...however many 90,000 funders there are. It's truly special.
Uh, this is pretty groundbreaking.
Um, aren't you--? As a reporter, aren't you supposed to go, like, "Three, two, one"?
- Oh, yeah, that's right. Three, two, one. -And then go into it?
Uh, you guys know who this is?
Jerry O. That's what I call him.
- That's right. -Jerry O'Connell.
This is pretty seamless. I'm playing a version of myself...
...so it wasn't that hard to do.
Who has changed the most?
- Kristen's breasts. -Ha.
- Hands down. Wow. -She's got a baby at home, man.
Full of milk. Did you see those things?
-It's just-- Not-- -Beautiful. Good for you, Dax.
It's a little exaggerated, like most versions of myself on camera.
Similar to This ls the End, although, uh...
...PG-13, not R. Heh.
This is Ira Glass. I'm Chris Lowell. We just shot a scene together.
So I was in your world completely being totally terrified to be in your world.
And I'm in your world now, interviewing you and being totally terrified.
I think my relationship with the film is the same as the people who donated.
- I'm a fan of Veronica Mars. - Right.
And so I'm excited in the same way that anybody who liked Veronica Mars...
...is excited there's gonna be a movie. How does it feel to be in it?
It's amazing, because I'm a fan.
This is so much more respect than I get from anybody in my own life.
- Come here anytime you need it. Yeah. -Seriously?
Oh, and we have to go.
What happens now? Do I shake your hand? Is that how you normally do it?
Yeah, no proper interview ends without a handshake.
- Really? -No.
So we already had a special thing going on set when the cast got back together.
That felt like a wonderful reunion.
When the backers came out...
...that's when the vibe just went into the stratosphere.
Having this unique thing where the backers came to set and visited.
The people who had made the movie possible came out...
...it changed the whole vibe. It was wonderful.
I'm Monica. I'm from San Diego, and I manage contracts for a living.
I'm Lillian. Urn, I'm from Hawaii, and I'm a flight attendant.
There's nobody who's a bigger Veronica Mars fan than her.
And, like, I love Veronica Mars, but Lillian is, like, the biggest, biggest fan.
I've watched the whole series. I can't even tell you how many times.
I'm guessing it's somewhere around 15 times, beginning to end.
All three seasons. I'm a few hours behind California time, because I live in Hawaii.
And I just remember seeing that all the packages were gone.
They were slowly disappearing. They were getting better and better.
And I saw that there were premier tickets gone, and I was just sitting there devastated.
I could still donate money, but all the reward packages that I wanted were gone.
And I was, like, as far as I'm concerned, no one's a bigger fan, so how--?
How can I not get one of these reward packages? And I was just very upset about it.
And that same day I was actually going to visit her in San Diego...
...so I got to her house, and was just kind of venting about...
...you know, I'm so glad it's happening. So glad.
I'm so proud of the fans, but man, am I bummed out...
...that I did not get a reward package.
I'm not gonna be, like...
...oh, it's all gone, and now I'll get nothing.
- Want to go to the premiere? -I do want to go to the premiere.
If the premiere tickets come back up, I will buy them.
You could just go.
And then she surprised me with a printout from the Kickstarter.
She had, um, bid for a reward package for us.
Oh, my God. Oh!
We're going to the Veronica Mars premiere.
- And then, we're going to the after-party too. -Oh, my God.
That was the best surprise ever. Like, I--
I thought if there was ever a more perfect present for her, then this is it.
So I was really excited to get that.
You're gonna meet Kristen Bell, and you're gonna see the cast and--
- Yeah. -Yeah?
- I love you. -I love you.
Kickstarter was the perfect platform for it. I'm so glad...
...that the creators and the actors...
...were still interested in making the movie happen...
...because it really gave the fans the hope that we needed.
Anything that we can experience. Just anything.
- And there's Jason Dohring. Right there. -Yeah, and we'd like to meet Jason as well.
- Oh, my God. Oh, my God. -And that was Jason Dohring.
- How are you? -Hi.
- Hi, Jason. Nice to meet you. I'm Lillian. -Jason.
- Lillian? Oh, cool, that's my daughter's name. -Yes.
- I have a daughter. -Can I say I know without sounding stalker-ish?
- No, no, no. -it's hard to say that. It's nice to meet you.
- Twins, are you? Okay. -Yes. I'm Monica.
Jason. Nice to meet you. If there's anything I can do--
- This is kind of-- -This is our little behind-the-scenes film.
You guys are gonna be superstars now.
- Yeah, this is kind of a highlight right now. -Yes, this is pretty--
I don't really know how much better the day can get...
- Oh, gosh. Jeez. -...right now. Heh.
- Nice to meet you. -It was really nice to meet you.
We'll see you guys around. Will you be around most of the--?
As long as they'll let us. They'll have to kick us off to make us go home.
- Okay, good. Well, I'll see you later. -Bye.
We just met Jason.
Antwane Owens and Katrina Rock. This is my girlfriend.
- Heh. -Um, and we're both from Dallas.
- I'm from St. Paul, Minnesota. -From Houston, Texas.
- Suffolk, Virginia. -We are sisters, and we live in Chicago, Illinois.
I'm from Boston, and this is my father.
- San Francisco. -New Jersey.
- Seattle. -We came here from Providence, Rhode Island.
- From Richmond, California. -Sacramento, California.
- Philadelphia. -From New York City.
- Columbus, Ohio. -We're from Hong Kong.
There was no conversation. Andrew mentioned that he'd read it in the paper.
I said, stop. I went on to Kickstarter.
I checked it out, and it's, like...
...how deep do we want to go?
I told him there's an opportunity, so can I hit the bid if we get it?
Absolutely.
We looked at each other, and we're like, you know...
...if not for Veronica Mars, then for who? So here we are.
I texted her. I was like, "Hey, we're going to be extras in Veronica Mars."
- And it was-- -And I texted back, "Are you drunk?"
And then he just wrote "no," and I said, well, that's really awesome.
Because I thought he was kidding.
So my friend and I were getting really excited...
...and one day he send me a message, and says, "You're gonna be in Veronica Mars."
My boyfriend, uh, knows that I'm a huge Veronica Mars fan.
And he got this for me for my birthday.
My sister bought actually this for me as my birthday gift.
Which was pretty much the best present.
She didn't tell me what she contributed.
I didn't tell her what I contributed, and I did not buy her an extra spot.
Sorry, Tooey. Heh.
Uh, I texted her, "if you can get these days off...
...we would be extras in the Veronica Mars movie."
And I was like, "What?" I, like, texted her back, like, "What?"
And I was like, no, no, and I called her up, and I was like, "What?"
We can tell people we made that. We were part of making that happen.
- Correct. -"That's my elbow." Ha, ha.
Or, "That's me in the background."
You know what? Screw it.
I'm not gonna take a vacation. I'm gonna go be in Veronica Mars instead.
And I'm so glad I did, because it's just been incredible.
March 13th is when the Kickstarter happened for Veronica Mars and March 19th he proposed...
...so six days later, in a matter of one week...
...my entire world was just kind of-- it couldn't have got any better.
Contributing money is one thing so it can get made...
...but also literally being a part of it and a part of the shooting...
...and meeting the cast, stuff like that...
...all of that seemed like an invaluable kind of experience.
It's so nice to just meet people...
...and feel like you have so much in common with them already...
...because you have the same frames of reference.
You have the same-- You get excited about the same things.
You have-- You know, you can refer to story lines...
...and everybody's on the same page.
It's just an all-around great experience.
Anything that involved interacting with our backers was my responsibility. On set...
...that meant having the chance, when our 93 backers showed up as extras...
...to be kind of the first point of contact, to meet them, to get them to wardrobe...
...to show them around, give a tour, to make sure they got to hang outwith actors at lunch.
I thought we'd get introduced, and we'd see them around.
I didn't quite realize how intimate the set would be...
...or how accessible the stars would be.
Kristen came and talked to us for a really long time at lunch...
...and that was really special.
And she's such a genuinely warm, enthusiastic person...
...and it's just infectious, and so you just feel good being around her.
They were just so warm and so open and so sweet about everything...
...that it made it a really...
...rare experience to have, and I'm really grateful.
What I was interested in bringing to the project...
...was making sure that we didn't lose sight...
...of why fans wanted to be involved. That we could make good on that promise...
...of what they really were hoping for, give back to them what I think they deserve...
...for making the movie happen, which was an exceptional experience...
...a chance to really understand that we valued them, not for their money...
...but because their passion made this possible.
If everyone else was sort of producing the movie...
...I think I was there to produce their experience...
...and their time spent interacting with the movie.
And it was possibly one of the most rewarding and fun things...
...I've ever gotten to do in my whole life.
Probably the craziest thing she's done while we do her makeup and hair...
...is, um, pumped.
She needed to pump for her baby.
- Copy, standing by for Kristen. -Copy, 15 mommy minutes.
- Multitasking is mandatory. -Yes.
It feels oddly comfortable to be hooked up to a milk machine...
...while you're getting your hair curled and your makeup done.
In the moment, it's so fun.
And then at the end of the day, it's so exhausting at the same time.
But we have so much fun while we're here that that's what gets us through.
I don't think you can plan for a situation like this.
There are certain things that happen that you have to attend to...
...right after you have a baby, and if you're breastfeeding, you gotta get it done.
So I think when we decided to do this movie so soon after I'd given birth...
...we just built in, urn...
- ...pumping times. - No, she's a pro.
I mean, I'm really impressed. This is pretty crazy.
We work, like, 14, 15 hours.
- Add an hour driving each way. 17-hour days. -Hour driving each way.
She pumps every three hours. She's in every scene. She memorizes her lines.
She's multitasking. Retouching her makeup, hair. It's crazy, you know?
- Everybody's working very hard. -She's doing it.
Everybody is, yeah.
I mean, it is a non-stop party, don't get me wrong...
...but it's also kind of not a non-stop party. It's, like, a lot of work...
...and everyone's working so hard.
To zoom out is very dangerous.
We gotta stay focused and stay in the day-to-day...
...and accomplish everything we can. Otherwise, we'll lose our minds.
I've never been on a film that is shot this fast in my life.
And I feel like-- And I've done a lot of TV.
And TV, you know, is like--
They go much faster than film...
...but this goes faster than normal TV.
Because I think everybody kind of...
...did an all-hands-in, in the beginning, and said:
"This is the budget we have...
...but we want to make it look like a $25-million picture. Can we do it?"
And somehow I think we're-- We might pull it off.
People are going above and beyond theirjob descriptions, I feel like.
Yeah. Kristen does my makeup most of the time.
But everybody seems to be, you know, hopped up on Red Bull...
...and excitement and-- It has a good independent feel.
Movie feel. You know what I mean? With everybody pitching in and stuff like that.
- And I kind of like it, you know what I mean? -I do too.
Yeah. It's not very standoffish.
Everybody wants to be here...
...and it's a really, really nice environment.
- Stepping. -Here he is.
- And Rob is like-- -Really...
...really cool. -Not only-- First of all, he looks great.
- He was handsome before, but-- Oh, hey, Rob. -Oh, hey.
- Hey, Rob. - And action! Action! Action!
Sometimes you feel like you're not even awake, dude.
Like, it's so late, you feel like you're talking to someone...
...and you're like, am I even awake? It feels weird.
Half of your brain just wants to just crawl up under a rock...
...and just fall asleep.
Tell you the truth...
...watching everybody else bust their ass...
...it's pretty inspiring at 5:00 in the morning.
This guy too. He dragged--
This is, like, the 20th time he's dragged me out of the car.
And I think the best thing that we can do at 5:00 in the morning...
...is just be ready to go when they're ready.
Yeah, that's true, because all of a sudden it changes.
We're all sitting around, you're falling asleep eating pretzels...
...and then it's like, "rolling," you know?
- Yeah. -You've got to *******...
...jump up and down, get ready. -Yeah, because they're busting their ass.
But it's cool. If I was gonna stay up till 4 doing anything else...
...I'd much rather be doing this.
You feel like you're doing something productive.
- For real. -it's like this every day.
It's like this every day.
Yep. In the next-- Next movie...
...two people in an elevator.
Two people in an elevator.
I don't regret the decision, you know? The big decision of being aggressive...
...and trying to do an expansive, low-budget movie...
...as opposed to doing, like, something much smaller in scope.
I still think it's the right call, but we knew what we were getting into.
That it would be hard and grueling, and stressful...
...and, uh, it has been. It being such an ambitious schedule is because I--
You know, all those things that fans wanted to see in the movie...
...I want to see most of those too...
...and I'm trying to figure out ways to get to them.
Like, there are concerns that we could have done some things better...
...with more time and focus...
...but I would do it the same way again.
- Maybe not a better view from there. -Yeah.
- Tom, we got it. -No, we don't need the insert.
- Good gate, was that? - Good gate.
That is a good gate.
Ladies and gentlemen...
...thank you very much for a great day.
- That's a wrap. -That's a wrap!
Hey, it's 4:20. All right, 4:20.
We can't use that, can't use that.
It went by so fast, are you kidding me? I can't believe--
I can't believe it's over. I don't know what I'm gonna do now.
I feel happy, dude. I think it's gonna be a great movie for the fans.
I love them for it. I love them so much.
And, uh, I just hope I get to do this more. I don't want it to end.
Funny how the great things that are happening in my life now come full circle.
It started with Veronica Mars.
And now the big screen nationally...
...through Veronica Mars, so I'm happy, man.
I had the most fun ever doing the show...
...and so to be able to do the feature film version...
...with the same people that I love is a gift...
...and I will dearly miss it.
We had some really hard, really long, really tense days...
...but I think, um...
...honestly, the people, like, behind Veronica Mars have the best sense of humor...
...and we laugh all the time.
You'll see Dick again, for sure.
Oh, yeah. Spin-off.
The Casab/ancases.
So even through the really stressful, really intense moments...
...I feel like there was so much camaraderie and humor and fun...
...that kind of-- It gets you through it.
It was-- It was hard...
...but I'm so, so glad that we did it, and I really, really hope...
...that we made all the fans that contributed very happy.
Knowing that these people are paying for the movie too...
...also just made me want to work that much harder.
When I'm there and I know that this is like literally people that work 9-to-5 jobs...
...and they're giving us their money? Like, I'm not gonna let them down.
I'm gonna work 24 hours a day. I'm so delirious right now.
I have not slept a good night in, like, the last two months.
And that's for you guys.
They were constantly on our minds...
...to make the best movie possible, and I feel like we really worked--
If it's possible to work even harder, we worked even harder for them...
...because we wanted it to be great for them...
...and give them back a great movie because they did so much for us.
- We're at Comic-Con. -Yes, we're at Comic-Con.
When Veronica Mars was announced to be at Comic-Con, it was like...
...this is the reason we are going.
Like, we have no other purpose to go to Comic-Con if not for this day.
So today has been Veronica Mars day.
We looked out our hotel room and, uh, we saw, like, lines of sleeping bags.
Like, in a formation. And then the line went across the street.
Today she was like, "We have to go to the line."
It was, like, 4 p.m. and we were here.
There was no line yet, so we were, like, one of the first ones in line.
- We're going to Hall H at Comic-Con. - No, no. Don't tell them.
They filled this thing called Hall H.
Which is, like, the biggest freaking hall. It's a huge room.
I thought, no way. Hall H, that's too big.
That's too, too big for us. That's where the big shows go.
- Ten thousand people. -Is that true?
- No, I think it's, like, 6, but a lot of people. -Point being, there's a lot of people.
Being able to be in Hall H on a panel...
...and having been the first people to do all these crazy things on Kickstarter...
...it was just-- It felt like we were Comic-Con royalty or something. it was really crazy.
Six-fifteen, we'll travel you to the location. Six-forty-five, arrive at location.
- I was like, where are we going? -It is less than a half a mile.
Literally across the street.
But they had to drive, like, eight zones out of the way to get--
I mean, the whole thing was such a circus.
I'm very nervous. I don't know what to expect. Um...
- You know. - Just let me know how--
- Piz is ready. Piz is ready. Piz was born ready. -I'm very excited.
- This is gonna be like Pizneyland. -Totally.
I'm feeling good. I'm feeling good about this. Comic-Con, where comics happen, right?
We're going to the panel, man. This is-- I'm getting nervous.
It's gonna be exciting.
I had a Team Logan shirt on...
...to try and make up for the fact...
...that everybody wants to crucify me.
Getting ready to hit Hall H, man.
I have to get on that stage, in front of 6, 7000 people, I think?
First time for me. I've spoke in front of the church a couple times.
Gave a couple of Martin Luther King "I Have a Dream" speeches, but nothing like this, man.
But in 2007, the CW canceled the series.
Fans were left with cliffhangers that they thought would never be resolved.
But early next year, they're finally going to get some answers...
a movie paid for by the fans themselves.
I was really excited to show the sizzle reel because I had only seen the sizzle reel...
...like, three days before and it was just replaying in my head.
Like, "Oh, my gosh, we get to show this off?"
I know the fans were ecstatic.
The energy in the Hall H was, like, incredible.
Everybody around us was so excited, like, listening to every word.
This could very well be my 15 minutes...
...and so I have tried to savor it walking out on that big Hall H Comic-Con stage.
Here I am in minute 10...
...and that was pretty amazing.
And movie-wise, do you want to keep on doing this?
Oh, yes, I do. Yeah.
I want to be a fun franchise.
Our cast is really well-spoken and our cast is genuinely excited to be there.
I think it's sort of-- That's a blanket highlight, but it's the truth.
And Ryan and Chris were great, Jason is great as always...
...but I really think that the Team Piz, Team Logan T-shirts were the highlight.
Number one on Twitter. We're trending.
We're number one right after the panel.
I think it went pretty good. Kristen's amazing at what she does.
She's really good at it, and, uh, great ass. Ha-ha-ha.
She was doing that. That's why I said that. I wasn't like-- You know, great ass.
Yeah. There it is.
Rob made me excited for the movie and I'm in it, you know?
I was like, "I wanna go see that movie."
Why am I...?
You know what's happening right now?
Everybody else is having lunch over there...
...and Piz is all here by himself. That's how this-- This is how it always goes.
- Hey. - Hey.
- Hi. - Hi, how are you?
I'm not ready.
- How's it going? - All right.
And I'm signing.
You know, we thought we had a yes, then they shut it down for six months.
Dick.
Like something that would be really cool to be a part of. Love the show.
Notice how it's all stopped right here? Ha-ha-ha.
- We're ready. We're ready. -Stockpile.
I'm, like, ready to sign. Ready to sign.
- We're ready to go. -it's all the buildup. The buildup.
Roadblock. She should be at the end.
She should be at the end.
- Oh, hey, hi. No, it's all good. -Wow.
- Oh, my gosh. -Hold for Jill. Hold for Jill.
Now we're in the middle of Comic-Con. We're on the ?oor.
Comic-Con 2013. Love it.
- Is this your water? - Yes.
Comic-Con really makes you feel really good about yourself.
It really gives you a delusional look at how famous you are...
...because it's-- -You're like, "What's up? Sign this? Okay."
And then you go home and it's just like:
Later in the day there was another panel...
...only this was for 450 or so die-hard Veronica Mars fans.
When I read the e-mail and he said, "Only 130 tickets, don't get here before 6."
I was like, that's crazy. People are gonna be lining up.
The Kickstarter went so fast. I don't want to miss out a chance on this.
It's about 6:30 a.m.
Me and my man, Francis, are about to go over here and surprise our V. Mars fans, right?
We're about relieve some people 00...
- ...when they only needed to be here at 6. - I peeked out and saw the mayhem.
So it'll be fun to bring them some doughnuts and, uh, tell them thanks for hanging out.
I was in the bathroom, I'm, like, mid-stream and I hear everyone...
...screaming and yelling outside and I'm like, "What?"
I'm running out the door, pulling up my pants...
...like, running out the bathroom, going, like, "What? What?"
They surprised us with doughnuts, but the best part is...
...Percy and Francis came in and brought us doughnuts and I got a hug.
And I'm getting pictures. And I'm so excited right now.
I'm gonna cry.
Sorry. Yeah, I'm just really excited.
Best day ever. Worth every minute I spent awake outside...
...and every minute I didn't sleep yesterday.
It's fantastic.
We've got a lot of doughnuts.
Francis and Percy came out and gave us doughnuts.
Yeah, it was really awesome. We talked to them, took pictures.
It was a total, like, fangirl moment.
And you could feel the, like, energy of squee in this room.
We were, um, sitting on the curb waiting to get brought up here.
I kept saying, "Rob Thomas, where is he? Where is he?
He needs to be out here passing out doughnuts."
Well worth getting up at 5:30 this morning.
Veronica Mars fans are the definition of what a fan should be.
They set the bar really, really high and, uh, it's the best.
I feel amazing, man. It's so incredible to feel the energy from these people...
...and see how happy they are, and just to be here...
...I'm still pinching myself, man.
I can't believe that we're really here and this is happening.
- I'm overwhelmed. -I'm glad we did this together.
- That was so, so cool. Ambushed. -I was so happy when I saw them.
When you went through you were like Muhammad Ali going through there.
Everybody was just like, "We wanna touch you, we wanna touch you." It was awesome, man.
What do I have money for except to give money to things I love?
I love Veronica Mars.
Making more Veronica Mars makes me happy and that's what I want to spend my money on.
Ow! Ow, cramp.
Yeah, I just taught him the Bear in the Shower.
You got to lift up the belly. Get that.
Now, show us your, uh, really pumped face.
Somebody who wants it.
I'm gonna find somebody who wants it.
Well, you'll end up giving it back to me, but that's fine.
- What are you guys doing? - I'm gonna see who can scream the loudest...
...for Chris Lowell. They're gonna get it. -Yes. Thank you.
Thank you.
It's so exciting to see so many Veronica Mars fans still care so deeply and so passionately...
...and freaked out when the cast came out.
So it's so nice to see that after so many years, that passion has not waned at all.
Those are like, our guys, all of them. So that was awesome because...
...it felt more intimate. You know, we could just kind of be ourselves.
It's a franchise that I think we could do over and over.
- Like a lot like Star Trek? - Yes.
So besides the fact that we basically gave you almost 6 million dollars for your movie...
...can you share one of your favorite positive experiences...
...you've had with Veronica Mars fans or fandom?
You know what it feels like? A mutually beneficial relationship.
And in this business, it's not often like that.
We had a lot of backers who paid to be extras in the film...
...and I remember we were going into shooting this day...
...that was, like, overwhelming, we had no time to do it.
It was, like, all these stunts and it was gonna be a huge, crazy day...
...and it actually, I think, made that whole clay just so beautiful because...
...anytime you would get stressed or...
Just being on set or things moving slow or things just being stressful in general...
...you'd look around and there'd be all these people there who are so happy to be...
...standing in the same room.
It's spectacular what you've done for all of us, um, and for the film.
And, I mean, just seeing y'alls spirit is really quite an empowering thing for us.
That was mine. Top that one, assholes.
There were some crying actors, okay?
Forget the fans. We had people on the panel crying.
For good reason. It's a beautiful thing.
Hopefully the fans weren't crying for a bad reason.
As an actor, you're involved with a ton of different projects...
...that sometimes entertain people and if you're lucky, a couple of them...
...have significance to people and actually have helped them in some way or another.
Every single day that I show up on that set...
...I know that you guys put me there.
And it makes my heart break in the best way possible...
...to know that, you know...
...what we're doing and what's so fun to us, like, you get it.
And that means more than anything else to me...
...is, like, Rob could literally have written me, like:
"Hey, Mac's in the background mowing the lawn."
It's always my favorite interaction
"You know what? I was a loner in high school...
...and this really gave me strength to get through it."
It's just-- It makes everything extra, extra special.
There's you guys. Like, throughout this whole ride from then to now...
...dealing with that kind of thing, it's a good feeling to know that there's always...
Well, there's 91,000 Marshmallows out there that love us.
I love you. So I love you, guys, so much.
It's even more special when it's something...
...that has this kind of weight and significance to people's lives.
It's not just something they put on the television...
...it's like, this girl that Rob created means something to people...
...and it's just an honor to get to play her.
Thank you to Rob and the cast for making such an amazing television show...
...that brought together fans on a totally different level.
And thank you all for making this movie a reality.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for letting us do this again.
We're so genuinely grateful.
It's just-- It's exactly what you'd expect of Veronica Mars fans.
Just so committed and driven by this project.
The gratitude went both ways. Um...
You go there and be there when they screened it...
...and you hear people laughing or reacting to different moments or cheering.
It was sort of a constant high when we were there.
I think it has to be a really unique circumstance for it to happen and I think this qualifies.
If Rob had a brand-new idea, as opposed to doing a Veronica Mars movie...
...he's not gonna get 5 million dollars for that.
You had something with preexisting fans who missed it, who wanted it back...
...and when they heard it was coming back, went nuts and started giving money.
In terms of entertainment journalism, it was one of the most-- Really fascinating...
...unusual flashpoint in the emergence of social media.
The newsy aspect of it for us was that so many people wanted to support this.
That's really unusual. A lot of people say they want to do things...
...and are hoping to get alternate source of fundraising, and it doesn't happen.
That this one succeeded made it something that ABC News was interested in.
In the community of showrunners who've had shows that have had...
...early ends to their illustrious lives...
...there's sense of hope. A renewed hope that we will be able to continue...
...to tell the stories that we were so passionately telling...
...on television at one time in a larger format.
From a movie point of view, It's a very interesting development.
I think Hollywood studios are very happy to make films that are 30 million dollars...
...that are 300 million dollars, but small pictures like this...
...they fly too far underneath the radar.
This is an interesting way of getting financing, getting films like this made.
It's amazing. I think it's the right project, and the right movie and the right platform...
...kind of all coming together at the same time.
The fact that this happened and it's not just this weird fantasy is incredible.
And I like the precedent that's been set here...
...and I'm really interested in seeing what people are gonna do next.
It's not about having no money and wanting some money.
It's about enabling projects to get made.
And this is a project that would not have got made if it hadn't been for crowdfunding.
So I think Kickstarter's there to make impossible things possible.
That's a massive game-changer. The idea that fans, even a few...
...can have what they want if they can make it work for everybody.
I mean, there's no end to the stuff we could get back.
I think we won't understand the impact of crowdsourcing...
...and Kickstarter for a generation. It'll take a generation for it to really sink in.
That, "Oh, my God, how did we even do this before there was crowdfunding?"
No matter what happens, this is already a success. It was a Kickstarter success.
It made Kickstarter history. It's bringing so much joy to the other Kickstarter backers.
It's been such a great experience that, you know, it's already a success.
Whatever happens after this. But I think there are more great things to come.
I think that's what everybody wants to see.
I think that's one of the newsy aspects of it, you know?
Having raised the money, can they now make the movie they want?
And can the movie succeed in the marketplace?
That's really part of the story and that's gonna be fun to find out.
It definitely has opened people up to looking at things in a less traditional way...
...which, I think, is really a huge step forward.
How big of a movie can this be? It's all thanks to the publicity...
...that this Kickstarter campaign gave us.
At the end of the day, this movie was never gonna get made without the fans.
It wouldn't exist without that enthusiasm or that support.
Yeah, there would be no Veronica Mars movie if the fans weren't devoted to it.
They played the essential role.
Unlike other movies that start, and, you know, well-meaning enough...
...with a group of artists getting in and make a movie and hope that an audience comes out...
...this one started with the fans saying, voting with their pocketbook:
"Please make this movie. We would really like to see it."
So the fans were the movie.