{"id":15304,"date":"2014-06-30T14:50:24","date_gmt":"2014-06-30T18:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.albany.com\/movie-blog\/2014\/06\/star-trek-the-next-generations-levar-burton-breaks-kickstarter-record-with-reading-rainbow-reboot-ca.html"},"modified":"2018-06-29T08:25:45","modified_gmt":"2018-06-29T12:25:45","slug":"star-trek-the-next-generations-levar-burton-breaks-kickstarter-record-with-reading-rainbow-reboot-ca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.albany.com\/movie-blog\/2014\/06\/star-trek-the-next-generations-levar-burton-breaks-kickstarter-record-with-reading-rainbow-reboot-ca\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Trek: The Next Generation’s LeVar Burton Breaks Kickstarter Record With Reading Rainbow Reboot Campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

Star Trek is known for breaking down barriers and bringing people together as much off-screen as on. Seizing on that influence, Nichelle Nichols may have been the first Trek alum to leverage her celebrity to promote real world change when she was hired by NASA to recruit new astronauts. (She even recruited Sally Ride.) Imagine going for an interview, and sitting down with Lt. Uhura!<\/p>\n

Today, George Takei enjoys perhaps greater popularity as a gay rights activist than at any other time in his life. Patrick Stewart has become well known for his vocal support and outreach on domestic violence issues. And Bill Shatner is… well, he’s Bill Shatner.<\/p>\n

Be sure to watch the hysterical promo video for <\/em>the Kickstarter campaign below!<\/em><\/p>\n

LeVar Burton’s time has arrived. Known worldwide for playing Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation<\/em>, Burton had previously garned attention for playing Kunta Kinte on the 1977 TV mini-series Roots<\/em>. He’s also been a cast-member on PBS’ Reading Rainbow <\/em>since it began, back in 1983. So what’s he done to elevate his real-life persona to the cosmic heights of his peers? It’s a lot more grounded than Nichelle’s work, but still really impressive…<\/p>\n

Reading Rainbow <\/em>was cancelled in 2009. In an interview <\/a>with Jessica Goldstein on ThinkProgress.com, Burton explains the government’s No Child Left Behind policy forced schools to make different choices in which programs got funded. Burton intends to change that.<\/p>\n

He argues that before Reading Rainbow <\/em>was cancelled it was the most used television resource in America’s classrooms. “So the idea that I am trying to somehow revive a failed endeavor is bullshit. That’s right. I said it. Bullshit.”<\/p>\n

And, he’s got proof. Reading Rainbow <\/em>has already created an iPad app, and it’s become the tablet’s #1 educational app for kids.<\/p>\n

Enter Kickstarter<\/a>…<\/p>\n

‘Crowdfunding’ has proven a very successful way for any niche project to find its fan-base and get off the ground when traditional venues for seed money don’t pan out.<\/p>\n

In fact, when the people behind TV show Veronica Mars<\/em> couldn’t get a film project off the ground, they turned to the show’s fans, via Kickstarter. With a goal of raising $2 million, the campaign went on to not only receive nearly $6 million in pledges, it also broke the Kickstarter record for most individual backers ever – over 91,000 of them.<\/p>\n

Now a producer for Reading Rainbow<\/em>, Burton got the idea to also reach out to fans, to fund a campaign to revive the show. But he want’s to do more. Given the digital realities of today, Burton wants Reading Rainbow <\/em>not just in every classroom, but on every tablet, console, and smartphone out there.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, LeVar’s campaign went live. He was seeking $1 million to get the project off the ground. The goal? Originally, the campaign set out to fund delivery of Reading Rainbow <\/em>and supporting materials to 1,500 classrooms, for free, as well as develop a web app so children can access the service at home.<\/p>\n

The result? Like most campaigns, this one hoped to reach $1 million in pledges in 30 days. Burton and his team hit their goal in 11 hours. You can see his heartfelt reaction here:<\/p>\n