Should you invest in the Blade Hunter Indiegogo campaign?

On 4th December, Richard Driscoll will launch an Indiegogo campaign to raise funding for his film Blade Hunter. Actually, let me qualify that. Richard Driscoll says he’s going to launch an Indiegogo campaign on 4th December. But as he has a long track record of saying he’s going to do things that he then doesn’t (or in some cases, claiming he’s done things that he certainly hasn’t, his grip on reality being somewhat tenuous), any announcement like this must be taken with a grain of salt.

The Man Himself, rocking the baseball cap look.

In fact this is what it says on the film’s website:

The Blade Hunter crowd funding campaign will start Friday 4th December 2015 on Indiegogo Where you will get the opportunity to become involved with this exciting project. Become a member of the “Secret world of Blade Hunter” and receive a weekly update of all that is new with the film. Receive free gifts and get your chance to meet the stars and buy exclusive merchandise that will not be available in any store.

Now let’s assume for a moment that he does indeed launch his Indiegogo campaign next month. The question is: should you contribute? Let’s consider the pros and cons.

• PRO: There is a chance we might get to see a new Richard Driscoll film, and they are never less than hugely entertaining. It’s been too long since Eldorado.
• CON: There is a chance we might get to see a new Richard Driscoll film, and they are never less than completely, jaw-droppingly, astoundingly awful.
• CON: Richard Driscoll and his business partner, Ronald Bassett-Cross, are both convicted fraudsters recently released from prison. They have set up their company in Ireland because they are banned from holding company directorships in the UK. Do you really want to give them money? Danger, danger, Will Robinson.
• PRO: To be fair, Driscoll and Bassett-Cross have paid their debt to society (though not, I think, their debt to the taxman) and received due punishment. Should they not now be given another chance? Perhaps one or other of them has turned his life around. To forgive these two men their past sins and support them in their enterprise would be the Christian thing to do.
• CON: The artwork on the Blade Hunter poster has been used without the artist’s permission. That doesn’t bode well for a Damascene conversion…
• PRO: For a very small investment, you’ll be able to get a ‘thank you’ in the end credits of Blade Hunter (and potentially the IMDB credit that goes with it). For a bigger investment you could get an official sounding credit like ‘Associate Producer, ‘Co-producer’ or even ‘Executive Producer’.
• CON: You could potentially end up with a Richard Driscoll film on your IMDB page, bringing shame and disgrace on your family name and causing film fans across the globe to openly mock you.
• CON: There is absolutely no guarantee that Driscoll and Bassett-Cross will honour their side of the bargain and include your name on the film.
• CON: Richard Driscoll has a long history of spelling people’s names wrong so even if you get in the credits, there is no guarantee your name will be spelled correctly.
• PRO: You will “receive a weekly update of all that is new with the film”.
• CON: There is every chance that there won’t be anything new with the film. Or no weekly update.
• PRO: You will “Receive free gifts and get your chance to meet the stars and buy exclusive merchandise that will not be available in any store.”
• CON: Bull. Shit.
• PRO: A very small investment is surely worth it for the fun of seeing how long this pretense can continue.
• CON: If the film does actually get made, you will be facilitating the employment of naïve film school graduates by Richard Driscoll, and historically that has often not gone well.
• CON: Blade Hunter has been in and out of ‘production’ for at least 13 years. What reason does anyone have to suspect that it might get made now?
• CON: As and when the rights holders to Blade Runner get wind of this, they will most likely slap it with a cease and desist order faster than you can say ‘Voight-Kampff Machine’. 
• CON: If the rights holders take legal action, anyone with an official sounding credit like ‘Associate Producer, ‘Co-producer’ or even ‘Executive Producer’ runs a risk of being named in the lawsuit.
• CON: Although Ireland is a friendly country with attractive tax schemes that encourage film-making, they do nevertheless have actual laws against things like not paying your employees, not returning borrowed equipment, and claiming you have paid money to a dead actor.

I would say the CONs have it. Much as I would love to see another Richard Driscoll movie, Blade Hunter is never, ever going to get made so save your money.

On the other hand, there are lots and lots of great little movie projects on Indiegogo and Kickstarter that you could invest in, which will get made, aren't based on ripping off the copyright of major Hollywood Studios and aren't produced by convicted fraudsters.