The power of the Browncoats is still strong, more than a decade after Firefly and Serenity.
That’s the only way to explain how an IndieGoGo campaign to produce a web comedy about an actor trying to live on the fame of having been in a sci-fi TV show that ended too soon…especially since his co-star went on to be a major movie star.
It also doesn’t hurt if you have Alan Tudyk as the actor and Nathan Fillion as the big star, and get Joss Whedon’s blessing through Twitter.
How else can you explain Con Man breaking its hefty goal of 425 thousand dollars in hours, and now closing in on two million dollars in less than a week?
Tudyk is writing, directing and starring in the story of Wray Nerely, one of the co-stars of Spectrum, a TV show that most fans say ended too soon. He was the pilot of the spaceship. Fillion is Jack Moore, who was the captain, and is now a major movie star. While Moore enjoys all the perks of being on the A-List, Neary maintains his fame in a long series of conventions, comic book store openings, and fan events. Fillion, by the way, is producing the show with PJ Haarsma, creator of the Softwire book series and the Rings of Orbis online game.
In the description on the project site, Tudyk says it’s a strange look at sci-fi cons, and a guy who learns to love and embrace his fans.
The original plan was to make three ten minute episodes, but 12 episodes will be made thanks to the incredible support of fans of not only Firefly, but also Castle, Dollhouse and Disney cartoons where Tudyk is becoming a regular. This is the video that announced the project, with Alan and Nathan giving their resumes and explaining the show
Guest stars that will be appearing include Seth Green, Gina Torres, Felicia Day and James Gunn. They seemed to be skeptical about the project in the video, but that was before the donations rolled in. Now, there’s even plans to make an episode of Spectrum.
The project has already released concept art of what the Spectrum looks like. It looks more sleek than a Firefly.
Here’s another clip, where Nerely is trying to get some privacy, if not for a persistent fan.
Tudyk’s success in getting this show funded is amazing, but maybe not that surprising. Remember, Felicia Day got The Guild off the ground partially through PayPal donations seven years ago. That led to bigger and better things. Crowdfunding also helped give Veronica Mars the encore she deserved, and allowed the former crew of Mystery Science Theater 3000 to mock three mainstream sci-fi movies in theaters nationwide.
Imagine if Joss Whedon decided to produce Dr. Horrible 2 through IndieGogo or Kickstarter. The question isn’t whether he’d meet a goal of, say, a million dollars, but if he’ll meet that goal before lunch.
Fans can still help out and get some great premiums like getting a preview of the show on Vimeo On Demand, t-shirts, posters, autographed photos and even props. For more info, visit https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/con-man. The project will continue until April 10th. Filming of the show is expected to start over the summer.
Finally, here’s one more video from Alan after getting more than $1.75 million, which has a special message that got through before Nathan erased it. It also shows why Alan will be a go-to voice for Disney for a long time:
