The Guild reunion movie smashes Kickstarter record, raises over $5.7 million
Felicia Day's Kickstarter campaign for "The Guild: Ren Faire'd" has officially become the most-funded movie project in the platform's history, according to Variety. With 38 hours left in its fundraising window, the movie had raised over $5.7 million, surpassing the $5.7 million record set by the "Veronica Mars" movie in 2013. TheWrap reported the total had climbed to nearly $5.8 million by Thursday morning.
The film is a reunion project for Day's popular web series "The Guild." It will bring back the original cast members, including Day's character Codex, as well as Zaboo, Vork, Tink, Clara, and Bladezz. Per Variety, the story will follow the group on a new adventure at a Renaissance Faire.
In a statement published by Variety, Day called the record "completely surreal." She said the campaign aimed to demonstrate that creators could make unique projects directly for their audience without traditional studio approval. She thanked her fans, known as Guildies, for their overwhelming support.
Day also told Variety the project was denied a California film tax credit, making the crowdfunded money even more crucial. She criticized the state's incentive program for favoring large-budget studio projects over smaller independent films.
TheWrap added context from Day's Kickstarter page, where she explained the reunion was partly inspired by a Hollywood executive who suggested rebooting the series with a completely new, younger cast. That conversation, she said, motivated her to reunite the original actors and fund the movie through the community that supported the original show.
