Stripped: The Comics Documentary (1)

Dave Kellett (creator of Sheldon and Drive) and cinematographer Fred Schroeder are now into the post-production process of their Stripped documentary. The feature-length documentary features 60 of the world’s best and most famous cartoonists to talk about the art of cartooning. The two have started a Kickstarter project to raise $58,000 needed to finish off the project. As of this writing they’ve raised just over $27,000 with 28 more days to go.
UPDATE: The target was reached on August 29th. (See story at the very bottom of this post)

Here’s their pitch video and the description below.

Hi, fellow comics fans! We're Dave Kellett & Fred Schroeder, creators of the comics documentary STRIPPED.  This film is our love-letter to the art form: Bringing together 60 of the world's best cartoonists into one extraordinary, feature-length documentary.  The film sits down with creators to talk about how cartooning works, why it's so loved, and how as artists they're navigating this dicey period between print and digital options...when neither path works perfectly. We want this film to capture the extraordinary people behind the comics you love, to show how they work, and to ask the question: "Where does the art form go from here?"

Set to an *original* score by Stefan Lessard of "Dave Matthews Band," this should be a really special film. It's been a two-year labor-of-love for us, and we can not wait for you to see it.  But the post-production phase is the super expensive phase...and we need your help to finish it.

WHERE WILL YOUR MONEY WILL GO?

Your support will help with all the post-production expenses, including: 

• Editing
• Special Effects and Animation
• Sound Mixing
• Color Timing

We have a lot of incredibly talented Hollywood professionals who believe in the film, and as a result are discounting their rates to help us complete it, but it's still an expensive process. With your financial support, though, a really special film can be brought to life.  

Thanks for spreading the word, and for your donations. That means the world to us!

- Fred & Dave

=============================

"Peanuts" comic strip © 2011 Peanuts Worldwide LLC

=============================

Just for fun, here are screenshots of a few of the talented cartoonists who've joined us:

Posted at 10:17 PM ET, 08/29/2011

‘STRIPPED’: Comics documentary reaches Kickstarter target of $58K

By Michael Cavna

Another popular comics project has hit its Kickstarter target with weeks to spare.

The documentary “Stripped” reached its fundraising goal of $58,000 on Monday — just six days after the film’s financial campaign was announced. Like the “Womanthology” book project that launched last month, “Stripped” hit a sweet spot of high interest, open checkbooks and much goodwill in the comics community.

“It kinda blew our minds,” filmmaker and webcartoonist Dave Kellett(“Sheldon” and “Drive,”) tells Comic Riffs on Monday. “To be quietly working on the film for two years, and then have a week like this one, it’s just been amazing. That’s just an insane outpouring of support from folks, and we’re so humbled and amazed by it.”

Kellett and Sundance-veteran cinematographer Frederick Schroeder(“Four Sheets to the Wind”) say they have interviewed more than 60 cartoonists for “Stripped,” which the filmmakers emphasize will focus on the state of the comic strip amid an industry experiencing profound change. They call their film a “love-letter to the art form.”

“The line we have in the trailer, ‘Everybody Loves Comics,’ has never been so self-evidently true,” Kellett tells ‘Riffs. “Even beyond donations, people have been coming out of the woodwork with volunteerism, kind words and leads for the film.”

With three weeks left in the Kickstarter fundraising window, Kellett says that “even a modest increase over our goal will help us make a far, far better film.”

Among the improvements the L.A.-based filmmakers hope to make is closed-captioning, which Kellett says would cost about $2,500.

Additional donations, he says, could go toward increasing the quality of animation footage within the film; improving the sound mastering; buoying the travel budget for interviews; and, most expensively, making all 230 hours of interview footage available via iTunes.

“People clearly want to see this film,” Kellett enthuses, “and want it to be really good.”