Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Charlie Kaufman Turns To Kickstarter

This week the Shmooze brings you yet another story about a filmmaker striking out on his own to finance a project.

But this time our enterprising artist isn’t a struggling young film student. It’s a pair of well-established Hollywood successfuls, Charlie Kaufman and Dan Harmon. They have turned to Kickstarter to fund a stop-action movie called “Anomalisa,” about “a man crippled by the mundanity of his life.”

In the promotional video on their Kickstarter page, a bearded old claymation fellow asks, “Can you imagine the unique world of Charlie Kaufman, realized in stop-motion, without the influence of the Hollywood studio system?”

While it might seem strange that two heavy hitters like Kaufman and Harmon are offering hand-crafted set props and personalized Twitter thank yous in order to entice people to back “Anomalisa,” their vision seems remarkably simple: “We just want to make something ourselves. Something pure. Something beautiful.”

And it could be just that. Then again, Kaufman, known for off-beat but beloved projects like “Adaptation” and “Being John Malkovich,” has recently faced some difficulties in getting his projects to the public. His latest movie was written and casted, yet fell apart before it could get shot. Last spring, Harmon was also famously fired from his show, “Community.”

Though the Shmooze is sympathetic to the personal setbacks of these men, we’re also pleased that something genuinely innovative can come from their frustration with the system. It feels like a truly American act; a little exercise in for the people, by the people. They’ve already raised $140,589 of their $200,000 goal, and with 59 days to go, it’s likely they’ll get this film off the ground and onto our screens — we wish them the best.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.