Kickstarter rewards can range from small intangibles (e.g. sincere thanks) to high-ticket items (e.g. thousands of dollars worth of electronics), but we doubt any can top a rock star’s entire house. Director and actor Alex Winter launched a new campaign today in support of his prospective documentary, Who the F*@% is Frank Zappa? The backer who has $9 million to contribute will be rewarded with the family home of the late artist, who was known as a musician, filmmaker, actor, composer, and more.
The $9 million price tag is so expensive that it can’t actually be sold on Kickstarter. To skirt the issue, the campaign lists it under the $25,000 option with a link to eBay, where the transaction can take place. It is made very clear that backers contributing $25,000 won’t actually get the house — or anything at all, in fact. Whoever puts in $9 million, however, will gain the home, plus all of the other offered rewards and an executive producer credit in the documentary.
The Hollywood Hills home, where the artist lived from 1968 until his death in 1993, is described as “8,000 square feet of California rockstar paradise.” The property features a swimming pool, rooftop tennis court, recording studio space, guest house, mosaic art, and more. There’s even a subterranean vault where Zappa stored his extensive private archives.
The documentary’s director and producer, Alex Winter and Glen Zipper, have been given access to Zappa’s vault, and they are raising funds to comb through the numerous hours of unreleased footage, boxes of tapes, and other work in order to digitize and preserve the archives. They intend to use some of this material in the documentary, while still more will be used “for limited, gradual release and distribution, and the enjoyment of Zappa fans for generations to come.” Another aim is to create a companion book that would include some of the artist’s never-before-seen artwork.
The goal is to raise at least $500,000 to start the documentary immediately, but the filmmakers ultimately need $2 million to finish the entire movie. Backers can contribute as little as $10, but it takes $25 to get access to a “backers-only archive” of select downloadable material. As usual, rewards keep getting more impressive with bigger contributions, with items including posters, a collector’s edition DVD or Blu-ray, some of Zappa’s own possessions, a chance to play his guitar in a private recording session, and more.
The Kickstarter has already raised over $160,000 with 30 days left (at the time of publishing), and Zappa’s house is still available.
