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As we reported previously, Zachary Levi is seeking crowd funding to support Nerd HQ 2014, and the campaign is now live!
Nerd HQ is an event held alongside Comic Con in San Diego, CA, in July where nerds can indulge in all sorts of activities, from playing the latest video games to watching movies to chilling with friends. Admission to HQ is free (unlike Comic Con). Intimate panels, or “Conversations”, with celebrities from of movies, television, games, and more are a major draw. Conversations are ticketed, with the cost of admission donated directly to Operation Smile. So far Nerd HQ has raised $415,000 for the organization. Fans who can’t attend Nerd HQ are able to watch the Conversations live on YouTube free of charge.
Zac and The Nerd Machine are seeking to raise $1 million by April 25 to secure the venue and begin preparations for Nerd HQ 2014. Previously production costs were covered by sponsorships, but that’s no longer a viable option.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Zac explained how Nerd HQ was funded the past three years, and why that model almost killed the event last year.
“Nerd HQ was this thing we started and believed in for three years, and we just found that the financial model for how we were doing it just wasn’t working anymore,” the 33-year-old actor tells The Hollywood Reporter. The plan was to keep Nerd HQ “as free and accessible as we could,” which meant Levi and his counterparts relied on sponsorship dollars — “that way we could put all the cost on that” for things such as securing the venue and paying production staff. While that strategy worked the first two years, “it didn’t really work well at all” last summer, Levi admits, alluding to sponsors pulling out at the last moment, forcing him to pay out of his own pocket. “I got hit hard with it; that was a sign of ‘I don’t know if this really works anymore.’ ” That doesn’t mean Nerd HQ will be solely financed by the fans; Levi insists sponsorships will still be on the docket — he’s just guaranteeing that last year won’t happen again.
In the video below, Zac explains why the campaign is a necessity, and why there are no physical rewards. Take a look.
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For more details and to donate, visit I Want My Nerd HQ at IndieGoGo.
this drive is also a dry run to see if we can raise money for a chuck movie – http://t.co/a18t2z62ah source- zaccs podcast – radio interview on 14th march.
We need all #chucksters.
We covered that in our first post about the campaign (linked in the article above).