Roger Ebert’s death earlier this year was felt not only in Chicago, but in the film community all around the world. Whether you loved him or loathed him, it’s hard to argue against how influential Ebert was for film criticism and journalism. I’ve shared my thoughts on how Ebert personally impacted me previously, but now, people can truly show support for the iconic film critic.
Life Itself, named after Ebert’s memoir of the same name, is a documentary about Ebert’s life that attempts to show Ebert not as the film icon he was known for, but as the fully-realized person that he was outside of his status. Director Steve James (Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters) is handling the documentary with famed director Martin Scorsese (The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street) serving as executive producer. James began production four months before Ebert’s untimely death, gathering interviews from colleagues and filmmakers as well.
While the majority of the budget has been made and the documentary has entered post-production, the crowdfunding campaign is to help cover extra costs for the documentary for things such as hiring a composer for an original soundtrack, high quality graphics and animations, music licensing, video archives, and much more. Supporters have access to a number of incentives, including an early online link to stream Life Itself in its entirety, limited-edition signed copies of the doc on DVD and blu-ray, shirts, and more.
If you’re interested in donating money to the Life Itself campaign, visit its Indie GoGo page for more information. Below is James’ video proposal for the Life Itself campaign.
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[via Indie GoGo]