Update 2: Goal has been met. At 10:19pm, EST, the campaign reached $5 million in donations, with over 100,700 backers. If you want schwag or to attend an event, you can still donate for the next 16 hours.
Update: The campaign reached 100,000 backers at 9pm tonight, EST. With a sudden uptick in activity, they’re now just $50,000 away from their goal.
It’s a nail-biter, folks! With just 24 hours to go, the Reading Rainbow Kickstarter campaign has just $194,000 left to reach its goal. Burton and crew have again added another incentive, this time relating to the total backers figure.
Having already broken the record for most Kickstarter backers ever, just a few days ago, the campaign set a new goal: to reach over 100,000 total backers. If they do, everyone who donates over $10 will receive a free set of Reading Rainbow stickers. This is in addition to the free bookmarks for backers over $5 that was added last week. Of note, given the uptick in donations during the remaining days, the campaign is on track to close with over 103,000 total backers. (Yay!!!)
Incidentally, Jezebel.com hosted a live Q&A with Burton this afternoon, part of a massive final 24 hour push to reach their $5 million goal. One particularly insightful question came from Ari Schwartz, regarding the evolution of media:
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- Ari Schwartz: Dark Lord of the Snark
How do you think tools like Kickstarter will change the media landscape? As someone who hasn’t had cable in almost a decade, TV is no longer about time slots, but it still feels tied to “network entities.” Do you think you may be in the vanguard of a new model of show production on a larger scale? I personally get the sense that we may be seeing a massive shift in how media is produced, but I’d like to hear thoughts from “insiders.”
Now, will they reach the really important number, that $5 million goal?
Be sure to read our full article on the campaign, including some of the crazy incentives they’re giving away, and a slightly unintentionally, very funny promotional video LeVar filmed.