Kickstarter just closed funding for a big successful project on the classic 1851 whaling novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville. “Moby Dick, or the card game” was backed for $102,730 (410% of the amount requested!). The whaling card game is one of ten Moby Dick theme Kickstarter projects listed, five of which were funded (four over-funded) and five of which did not meet their funding target. 50% success is a good since an estimated 75% of startups fail. Overall, Kickstarter has had 100,600 projects, of which 44% were funded (as of 30 May 2013). In comparison, there have been 128 Kickstarter crowd-funded projects with a William Shakespeare theme, 43 of which were unfunded and three of which are still in process – at least a 66% success rate. Literature is good business!
The Kickstarter projects with a Moby Dick theme since 2010:
- Moby Dick, or, The Card Game by King Post
- Jeff Finlin – “Moby Dick”
- Emoji Dick by Fred Benenson
- The Moby-Dick Variations: Theatre of Multiplicity by John Zibell
- Sea Monster: a 3-D stereoscopic web series exploring new film grammar. by Gray Miller
- A Beautiful Annotated Edition of Moby-Dick by Chris Routledge (not funded)
- Project 40/Moby Dick by Benny Lumpkins (not funded)
- HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL: ISHMAEAL by Benny Lumpkins (not funded)
- Call Me Ishmael: One song for every chapter of Moby-Dick!!! by Patrick Shea (not funded)
- Zomby Dick or, The Undead Whale by JD Livingstone (not funded)
When I was studying English at the University of California at Berkeley, seniors could follow one of four teaching paths: Shakespeare, Milton, Chaucer, or a great author chosen for that year. Melville was the author for my year. I wrote my honors thesis (“Goneril as a Complete and Motivated Character in King Lear”) on Shakespeare under Dr. Hugh Richmond but I was so tempted to study Melville. Of course, I am one of the 2,583 Kickstarter funders for “Moby Dick, or the card game”. I look forward to receiving my game copies, postcards, and the other goodies in a few months.
Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson
Links updated 3 April 2014
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