Whilst the project is still going ahead as fully described in the Kickstarter, the team has some unfortunate news for the 2 top tier backers:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_ ... 0307145897To our generous backers and supporters thus far,
We are beyond grateful for all the support and positivity in the responses around our latest trailer and the Kickstarter campaign in general. Seeing the community I’m part of come together behind my dream project has been incredibly inspiring and tells me I wasn’t crazy in my belief that we can indeed make this documentary something special.
However, we have some unfortunate and disappointing news that has emerged in the initial success of our campaign. If the campaign is successful our crew of four-person team will be travelling to Japan to film inside the YSnet studio and we thought we would be able to bring our two top backers - Big Gold Medal Tier backers - with us.
And we cannot.
This is incredibly disappointing for the backers, for us and for Ys Net, but there is no other option here. For legal reasons our visit to Ys Net is limited to our initial four crew members and knowing what we now know, we understand fully and agree that there is no other option. As such, we've had to rework the Big Gold Medal Tier.
We've notified the two top level backers - a sad duty on both sides - and they have withdrawn their pledges, which is why we are now $6666 CAD further away from our goal.
While this sets us back, we're still very early into our campaign and we know we can bounce back. We have over 350 Shenmue fans who’ve already shown their faith in this film and we’re confident we’ll find more fans out there willing to get behind the project and see the final film.
Please know that, despite this setback, nothing has changed in our overall plan. We're still working with Yu-San and YSnet to tell the Definitive History of Shenmue and help preserve its legacy. On the surface this is a fan made documentary about Shenmue, but it is much more than that. It’s a film about how a passionate community of fans - through sheer grit and determination, and despite seemingly impossible odds - were able to keep the spirit alive for 15 years, fans who will finally see their dreams come true.
We go into this campaign in the certain knowledge that we will make the best film possible and we'll share our process, our passion, and sometimes our problems and shortcomings with you, in full transparency.
You’re on this journey with us and we want you to know everything we’re legally able to tell you good, bad and ugly. You've all worked hard helping us get to our goal and I hope you’ll continue to do so.
- Adam, Randall and the Definitive Film crew