Geeks Pony Up Cash for Nerd-vs.-Hipster Comedy Zero Charisma

Hang around in the dark corners of nerddom long enough and you?re bound to run into someone like Scott Weidemeier. He may work in a doughnut shop, but he also runs a great Dungeons & Dragons game ? and he lords it over everyone. Yeah, it?s pretty easy to hate that guy.

But when you see him in Zero Charisma (teaser above), you can?t help but feel his pain. Elbowed out by some new hipster who has decided that geek is the new black, Weidemeier is like a lot of guys who now find their once-safe nerd zones being taken over by cool kids.

It?s a topic close to writer and director Andrew Matthews? heart.

?When I was growing up it was hard work to be a nerd ? you had to spend a lot of money and do a lot of research,? Matthews told Wired.com in a phone interview about his work in progress. ?Now anybody can be a nerd?. You don?t have to have the commitment to be a nerd anymore, it can be a fashion choice.?

With any luck, it?s a story Matthews will be able to tell. See, the trailer above is just a teaser that the filmmaker ? working with his fiancee and fellow director Katie Graham and producer Thomas Fernandes ? put together to entice people to finance his dream movie. There?s still a lot to do before it could ever hit theaters.

The team got a little closer Wednesday when it completed raising $15,000 in seed funding thanks to crowdfunding site IndieGoGo. Matthews and his crew hope to use that money, which came from more than 150 contributors, to attract more investors and make their passion project.

If the film gets made it should have no problem finding an audience. The concept that geekiness is cool has been ousting real geeks from their own domains for some time now. For the filmmakers, who live in Austin, Texas, it?s a concept they?ve all seen first-hand.

Nerds edged out by cool kids have come forth to donate to the film and are providing a built-in audience the filmmakers can show to investors, Matthews said.

?We had one gal who donated a large chunk of money who just said, ?I?m a dungeon master and I work at a company that?s infested with hipsters, so thank you for making this movie,?? he said. ?Before the movie is even made people are connecting with that idea ? that?s really gratifying.?

Matthews developed the film with Graham after the couple finished working on Best Worst Movie, the brilliant documentary about Troll 2 directed by the film?s child star Michael Paul Stephenson, who Matthews is looking to make an executive producer on Zero Charisma.

If the filmmakers get the funding they need ? they?re still working on the budget and seeking out producers ? the film will go into production this summer. If all goes according to plan, Matthews said, the film will find its way to festivals in 2012.

Having at least 150 people who have already paid money for a movie they can?t see yet should help the filmmakers find investors.

?As we?re preparing to do that right now, we have so much more confidence than if we just had a script and a business plan and said, ?Trust us.?? Matthews said. ?People are really into this.?

Hat tip: io9

Source: http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/05/funding-zero-charisma/

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