US actor Don Cheadle is perhaps best known as Robert Downey Jr's sidekick in the "Iron Man" films. Now, he is using his celebrity muscle to make a movie about jazz icon Miles Davis.
But he needs more cash for the project – and has turned to crowdfunding website Indiegogo to make up the shortfall weeks before he makes his directorial debut shooting the relatively low-budget movie.
British blockbuster actor Ewan McGregor is also adding his star power to the long-gestating project, in which Cheadle will star as the "Kind of Blue" trumpet player.
"There are a lot of different mechanisms that go into us being able to get our budget, not least of which is me putting money in myself, which is supposed to be a cardinal sin in movie making," he told AFP.
"But I'm doing it because I believe in it and I want to do it," added the 49-year-old African American actor, who was nominated for an Oscar for 2004's "Hotel Rwanda."
Cheadle – who is due to return as "Iron Man" character Colonel James Rhodes in comic book blockbuster sequel "Avengers: Age of Ultron" next year – says he grew up with Davis' music.
He first had the idea of making a film about his musical hero in 2006 when Davis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but the project became a victim of the global financial crisis of 2008.
"We had several people bid on it. And then the world collapsed, the financial world, the carpet got pulled out from under everyone," he said, adding that it had been "very difficult" to resurrect it.
"We pulled it back and retooled it," he added of the film, which avoids a biopic-style overview, instead focusing on a period in the 1980s when Davis was trying to reboot his career after a so-called silent period.
Even so, the film has a budget of up to US$10 million (RM32.1 million). And Cheadle has turned to Indiegogo to help raise funds.
He is not the first star to use crowdfunding. Spike Lee, Zach Braff and Kristen Bell have used Kickstarter campaigns, with Bell netting a record US$5.7 million (RM18.3 million) for this year's "Veronica Mars," according to industry journal Variety.
Cheadle's campaign, launched June 3, raised a little more than half of its US$325,000 (RM1.04 million) target by this weekend. The funding drive is due to end on July 10. It can be seen at www.indiegogo.com/projects/join-miles-ahead-a-don-cheadle-film#home.
Filming is due to start in early July in Cincinnatti and last for six weeks.
"We're making it in two weeks' time and that money's gonna have to be there," Cheadle said in a June 23 interview. "It just has to so we're rolling the dice big and we're hoping people go check it out."
To entice people to pledge money, there are a range of "perks" for investors, ranging from CDs and T-shirts to set visits and lunch with Cheadle, and even an assistant producer credit on the finished movie for a US$25,000 (RM80,325) donation.
The actor – who has been learning the trumpet to prepare for the role – says Davis would have approved of crowdfunding, as he rejected the description of his music as jazz, preferring instead "social music."
"I take that inspiration and the way he lived his life, about the way we're trying to make this movie, doing outside the regular confines of moviemaking," said Cheadle, who recalls seeing Davis in the 1980s, before his 1991 death.
Now, Cheadle acknowledges that his own celebrity could help bring the musical icon to a wider public.
"It's my hope that we have created a story that isn't niche and isn't precious and doesn't require you to know anything about Miles Davis to come in and enjoy it," he said.
"Hopefully you come to the story and you learn the other things, and we smuggle in all the music that we can... But it's first and foremost a story about a man trying to figure out what to say."
AFP
Sun Jun 29 2014
A file picture taken on Dec 11, 2009 shows Cheadle posing as he visits the "We Want Miles" exhibition about American legendary trumpeter Miles Davis (1926-1991) at the Cit de la Musique in Paris. - AFP Photo/FILES/Martin Bureau
Suspek kes kematian Nur Farah Kartini direman tujuh hari
Perintah reman terhadap suspek lelaki berusia 26 tahun itu dikeluarkan Hakim Nurul Mardhiah Mohammed Redza.
Impact of cloud complexity on cybersecurity risk and AI's role in this mix
Organizations who are adopting multi-cloud or hybrid cloud environments are having to navigate new complexities that emerge as they expand on cloud. As these cloud environments lead to the expansion of attack surfaces, a global survey conducted by Gigamon found that 93% of IT and security leaders predict cloud security attacks will increase this year.
[Data & Statistik] Prestasi Bursa Malaysia setakat 16 Julai 2024
Jumlah dagangan meningkat kepada 5.36 bilion unit bernilai RM3.95 bilion daripada 4.58 bilion unit bernilai RM3.72 bilion pada Jumaat.
[Data & Statistik] Kedudukan MYR berbanding SGD setakat 16 Julai 2024
Niaga AWANI bawakan prestasi terkini prestasi MYR berbanding SGD.
[Data & Statistik] Prestasi ringgit setakat 16 Julai 2024
Ketua Ahli Ekonomi Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid berkata walaupun ringgit merosot, kontrak niaga hadapan Dana Fed menunjukkan bahawa penurunan kadar faedah mungkin akan berlaku pada September depan.
Sekurang-kurangnya 4 maut, insiden tembakan di masjid di Oman
Beberapa orang turut cedera akibat terkena tembakan di sekitar masjid di Wadi al-Kabir, Muscat.
Penjara menanti pesalah MH17 jika keluar dari Rusia - Pendakwa raya
Menurut Digna van Boetzelaer, kerajaan Belanda tidak pernah meminta ekstradisi mereka kerana Rusia tidak mengekstradisi rakyatnya sendiri.
E-invois dibimbangi tekan pengusaha PKS
Isu yang timbul ialah pengetahuan dan kos tinggi yang diperlukan untuk melaksanakannya, termasuk kos latihan dan penambahbaikan sistem dan perisian.
Tawaran pengambilalihan MAHB dimuktamad suku ketiga 2024 - MOF
Tawaran pengambilalihan Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) dijangka akan dimuktamadkan pada suku ketiga tahun ini dan ia perlu dipersetujui oleh sekurang-kurangnya 90 peratus pemegang saham sedia ada MAHB.
Kementerian Kewangan berkata memandangkan tawaran itu merupakan satu urusan transaksi komersial, maka ia tidak mendatangkan sebarang implikasi kewangan kepada kerajaan.
Kementerian Kewangan berkata memandangkan tawaran itu merupakan satu urusan transaksi komersial, maka ia tidak mendatangkan sebarang implikasi kewangan kepada kerajaan.
[KOLUMNIS] Masa depan industri perhubungan awam: Memperkukuh kepercayaan, keterlibatan melalui integriti, inovasi
Dengan sokongan tiga pertubuhan utama, ekosistem ini hadapi cabaran signifikan, namun berpotensi besar untuk berkembang dan berinovasi.
COVID-19: Pelakon X-Men derma RM1.5 juta untuk pembelian sut perlindungan jangkitan
Bintang filem itu menyumbang kepada kempen pendanaan awam (crowdfunding) yang dicetuskan oleh kumpulan doktor untuk digunakan bagi membeli sut perlindungan peribadi (PPE) buat petugas perubatan.
Kekal bersaudara: Kaum Sikh bantu Muslim di India, bina masjid atas tanah percuma
Berita umat Islam di India menghadapi pelbagai tekanan disambut kaum Sikh yang menyumbangkan tanah untuk membina masjid.
SC minta pandangan awam tentang Tawaran Syiling Awal (ICO)
SC Pelawa Maklum Balas Awam Mengenai Cadangan Rangka Kerja Tawaran Syiling Awal dan Pendanaan Hartanah Ramai. Cadangan harus dikemukakan sebelum 29 Mac 2019.
Anda ada RM8? Gunakan untuk bina rumah bersama Maxis
Lazada, Zalora, Gem Five, Rakuten dan Happyfresh bekerjasama dengan Maxis dan EPIC Homes untuk membina rumah dengan cara crowdfunding.
#msmw2015: Manfaatkan kelebihan crowdfunding di media sosial
Crowdfunding boleh dijadikan medium untuk mengaut keuntungan di media sosial jika dipraktikkan dengan betul.