Zach Braff's 'Wish I Was Here' meets its $2M Kickstarter goal

Ever since the incredible success Rob Thomas achieved with his Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign, the backlash against the crowd-sourcing site has been significant. So there have been a lot of eyes on Zach Braff's campaign to fund his directorial follow-up to Garden State, a film titled Wish I Was Here. Braff hoped to raise $2M to ensure he could maintain complete creative control, and based on the results from over the weekend, he'll have that and considerably.

The campaign reached its goal in under three days, with over 30,000 backers pitching in. It's a show of Kickstarter's strength that Braff was able to drum up this much support basically on his name alone, unlike Veronica Mars which had legions of fans itching for a continuation of their favorite TV series. There are still 25 days to go in Braff's campaign and he's already over $2.2M.

As for what the film will entail, it seems to be treading in similar waters as Garden State, following 35-year old Aidan Bloom, a struggling actor, father, and husband, who is still trying to find a sense of purpose. When his father can no longer pay for his two kids' private school, Aidan decides to homeschool them, coming up with his own unique curriculum. In the process, "Aidan gradually discovers some of the parts of himself he couldn't find." Braff co-wrote the script with his brother, and plans to cast Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) in the role of Aidan's friend.

Now it's up to Braff to make sure his film measures up. Whatever your thoughts on Kickstarter may be, there's no doubt that it adds an extra layer of pressure on filmmakers to perform, because they'll have to answer directly to their fans rather than some monolithic studio.