Preserving Ebert's legacy

“See you at the movies.”

It’s easy to understand the unprecedented popular success movie critic Roger Ebert enjoyed when you take a look at his signature signoff. Whether or not he liked the films whose merits he had just spent the past half-hour debating, at the end of each episode of “At the Movies” with fellow critics Gene Siskel or Richard Roeper, Ebert would leave his audience with an invitation. His was an inclusionary approach to viewership. “You” were sitting beside him in the theater and therefore it was “you” to whom he was speaking. The cinema was an “empathy machine” so far as Ebert was concerned, with the ability to transcend, engage and connect disparate sensibilities. It’s a nice way to look at any work of art, if one that sometimes trips along the fault lines of prequels, sequels and arty delusions of grandeur. More importantly, with its allusion to a future full of sights yet unseen, it’s an eminently hopeful phrase.

All of which is a fancy way of saying Roger Ebert was a likable guy, the People’s Critic. Hoop Dreams director Steve James, along with executive producer Martin Scorsese, has taken it upon himself to film the first documentary on Ebert, who died last spring. James began shooting before Ebert passed away and is now well into post-production on the film that shares a title with the reviewer’s memoir, Life Itself. Now, James is calling upon Ebert's fans to help finish his paean to the industry luminary.

The director has set up an Indiegogo campaign to help raise funds for costly movie polishes: the documentary’s soundtrack, animation work, and archival footage licensing, among others. Crowd-funding sites like Indiegogo are inherently inclusionary and communal, but James is taking these ideas so important to Ebert’s legacy several steps further. If you donate $25 to the campaign, you’ll be sent a private link that will enable you to live stream the movie ahead of its premiere. After he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2006, Ebert was eventually forced to relinquish hosting duties of his TV show. Instead of retiring, however, he continued to review and build out his fan base via social media. James’ chosen tech angle is apt for a man who used the Internet as stage for his third act.

 

Depending on how much they donate ($25 is at the lower end of the price points), contributors can receive a variety of prizes. You can attend a screening in New York or LA, chat with the filmmakers, even receive a private editing tutorial from director James. My favorite reward, however, is that which is sent to every participant regardless of how much she donates. Throughout his career Ebert wrote 7,202 reviews. The first 7,202 people who contribute will be sent a review corresponding to their member number (if you’re the 57^th person to give, you’ll receive the 57^th review Ebert wrote). Pretty cool.

Click here for the link to the Indiegogo campaign.  You have until December 20^th to help James, on behalf of Ebert, be able to say with confidence: See you at this movie.