Screenwriter Mark Staufer has hit his $75k target on crowdfunding site Kickstarter for a project called The Numinous Place, which will be released as an ebook and app for iPhone, iPad, Android and e-reader devices, as well as computers.
With a few hours still to go, the project reached its funding goal through just 158 backers, although they included actor Russell Crowe, who pledged $25k. Staufer and Crowe both grew up in New Zealand, and have been working together on a biopic of comedian Bill Hicks.
Staufer is the creator of the project, and will be working with British digital agency Brandwidth to publish it. Their ambitions are high, judging by their Kickstarter pitch:
"The Numinous Place has the visual impact of a Hollywood blockbuster, and the pace, depth and intrigue of an irresistible work of fiction... We artfully merge video, audio, images and text to reveal the greatest conspiracy of all time. It's like if The Da Vinci Code came to life in your hands showing you actual video footage of the clues and interviews with suspects, presented the real life historical documents and artifacts, and played you recordings of crucial pieces of evidence."
As with similar crowdfunding campaigns, backers could choose from several tiers of pledges, each with its own rewards. $25 secured a download of the first instalment on its day of release, and a thankyou in the credits, rising to $10k or more for an executive producer credit or a major character named after them, as well as a guided tour of LA with Staufer and other rewards.
The Numinous Place taps into several well-hyped digital media trends: book-apps on one side, and the growing interest in "transmedia" storytelling within the TV and film industries.
Now that it has been successfully funded, the project's first instalment is due to launch in December 2012.
If it proves popular with readers/users/players (it's hard to know what terminology to use with projects like this) there will be opportunities to spin the storyline off as other formats and on other devices.
