Agent 88 Makes A Killing On Kickstarter
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 24, 2012 -- "Agent 88" (http://www.Agent88Films.com), a dark action comedy that tells the story of the world's deadliest assassin - an 88 year old British woman with Alzheimer's - has accomplished an unprecedented achievement via Kickstarter raising the most funds ever for a live-action web series pilot further pushing the "Agent 88" brand initiative.
"Agent 88" is a comic book-style cinematic romp full of martial arts action, amazing special effects and unforgettable characters. Under the guidance of Creator and Director Digger T. Mesch and Producer Jan Utstein-O'Neill, Agent 88 gathered support from some unlikely avenues. Tapping into gritty genre fans and rabid collectors sparked an enormous interest in not just the concept but the many donation incentives, eventually leading to its historic Kickstarter run.
"The Agent 88 Kickstarter mirrored the character herself, a little old lady that no one notices until she explodes into action. In the end the A88 campaign couldn't be ignored," says Digger T. Mesch. Jan Utstein-O'Neill added, "We're very proud to have pulled off such a milestone achievement in becoming the most well-funded live-action web pilot on Kickstarter to date. We thank everyone for their support and are so pumped to get this project started!"
Kickstarter (http://www.Kickstarter.com) is a crowdsourcing platform that helps avant-garde projects get funded online by both friends and strangers. It's powered by an all-or-nothing funding method where projects must hit their predetermined dollar goal before any money changes hands. This brand new breed of grassroots financial support was the strategic avenue Digger and Utstein-O'Neill chose to embark on. "Agent 88," at first underexposed due to a tragic turn in world events, ultimately raised over $50,000 dollars in its final 48 hours. With a slick "88" conceptual campaign of raising $88,000 by 8:08 pm on 8/8/12, it met its goal in the final 2 hours of the campaign then grew to nearly $105,000.
With only a handful of results through organic Google searches a mere month ago "Agent 88" now boasts over one million hits to its brand properties with the help of thousands of genre fans and big-name industry players including Kevin Eastman and Ernie Reyes, Jr. ("Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"), Carlos Gallardo ("El Mariachi"), Peter Mayhew aka Chewbacca, Rosario Dawson ("Sin City"), Alexis Cruz ("Stargate"), Tyler Mane ("X-Men"), Damion Poitier ("The Avengers"), and Jon Schnepp ("Metalocalypse").
"Twilight" and "Angry Birds" Licensing Agent Russell Binder of Striker Entertainment gave his own brand of congratulations: "Fan-f---ing-tastic! Does that mean that Digger will stop hijacking Facebook? We all look forward to seeing that old (bleep) kick some ass!"
For more information about the "Agent 88" series and brand initiatives, please email the press contact on this release or visit http://www.agent88films.com or the Kickstarter page http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1460783231/agent-88-the-web-series.