Penn Jillette Launches FundAnything Campaign To Scare Up $1 Mil For New Thriller

Magician and performer Penn Jillette announced today the launch of a $999,972 FundAnything.com crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for his new feature-length thriller, “Director’s Cut.”

Jillette, who wrote and will star in the film, plays an obsessed psycho-fan stalking a young actress. This movie-within-a-movie concept turns the traditional narration of a director’s cut version of a film on its ear. The film will be directed by Adam Rifkin, who has helmed cult classics including “LOOK,” and “The Dark Backward,” as well as his most recent drama, the critically acclaimed "Reality Show," which premiered opening night of SXSW 2013, and continues to be a popular entry on the festival circuit. “Director’s Cut” will be produced by Penn Jillette, Adam Rifkin, and Peter Adam Golden.

Jillette has launched the campaign to finance Director’s Cut on the popular crowdfunding website FundAnything.com. In a video posted on the site, Jillette calls on his fans to “help me realize my dream of being the creepiest bad guy you’ve ever seen.”

“There are some things in my heart that are hard to pitch to ‘Hollywood suits’ and I’d rather pitch directly to the people who will see my movie,” said Jillette. “Crowdfunding through FundAnything.com is a great way to grab art away from Hollywood and give fans the power to help create this movie. I think there's a bunch of people who want to see me as a really bad guy. Let's hope it works.”

Jillette has promised to include the name of each major contributor to his FundAnything campaign in the film’s credits, saying, “This movie is from my heart. I love it as much as anything I’ve ever done. I want to make sure that everyone that helps me out gets the full credit they deserve.”

Jillette is not the first celebrity to turn to FundAnything.com to finance his independent motion picture. A recent FundAnything campaign for Adam Carolla’s “Road Hard” film brought in a record-breaking $1.4 million.

“We’re very excited that Penn Jillette has chosen FundAnything to raise money for his exciting new film,” said Bill Zanker, co-founder with Donald Trump of FundAnything. “This is a great opportunity for Penn’s fans to help make a movie they wouldn’t get to see any other way.”

To learn more about Penn Jillette’s “Director’s Cut,” visit: http://fundanything.com/Penn.

About Penn Jillette
An Emmy and Writer’s Guild award winner, Penn Jillette is a prolific magician-comedian, musician, actor, and best-selling author known for his work as the larger, louder half of Penn & Teller. Jillette wrote, produced and co-hosted eight seasons of Showtime’s longest-running series, “Penn & Teller: Bullshit!” He also co-produced and co-directed “The Aristocrats” (2005), and produced “Tim’s Vermeer,” a documentary directed by his partner Teller, which has been called “the sleeper hit” at this year’s Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals.

About FundAnything
FundAnything is a fast way for anyone to raise funds for anything. Individuals or groups can create campaign pages that highlight their personal stories or needs. Campaigns can offer incentives to contributors such as products, gifts and services. Campaigns can range from business startups and people dealing with personal crisis to celebrations of happy events. There is no limit to the amount of money you can raise. Contributions go directly to the campaign creators, and they can withdraw their funds immediately. Donald Trump also picks projects he personally funds. The crowdfunding industry is growing quickly, and is expected to exceed $8 billion dollars by the end of this year.