JUNK HEAD, the stop-motion animation dystopian sci-fi road movie that became a cult hit inside and outside of Japan, is getting a prequel movie in a proposed trilogy and it is called JUNK WORLD.
On August 24th, director Takahide Hori launched a crowdfunding campaign for the film.
The campaign aims to help with primarily with production costs and also the storage and display of models and sets for their appearances at events/museums. The film and the seven-member core team and others involved in the project will benefit from all donations, so this is a great way to support indie filmmakers.
A teaser trailer has been produced to give people a sense of what JUNK WORLD will be like.
As with other crowdfunding campaigns, there are multiple tiers and rewards on offer. There won’t be a final deadline to apply for some tiers but some rewards are limited and some of them are Japan-only, so check out the details before pledging. It could be that it’s possible for digital rewards are available internationally.
Anyway, This crowdfunding campaign comes with many tiers/rewards:
500 yen gets you a download of the 30 minute JUNK HEAD short that kicked the whole saga off;
1000 yen gets you a 476-page storyboard collection. This is a scan of the hand-drawn originals that has been converted into a PDF file – the original and the final revised storyboards are separate rewards;
4,000 yen gets you an autographed pamphlet;
10,000 yen gets your name in the credits of JUNK WORLD in the supporters section;
50,000 yen gets you a spot on one of the studio tours. This includes enjoying a BBQ and getting a souvenir. This is time limited and there are a limited number of places and you have to be in Japan – here’s a video that gives a taste;
50,000 yen also can get you one of a limited set of fully poseable “citizen mob” dolls from JUNK WORLD production;
60,000 yen gets you a “soldier mob” doll from the film production;
1,800,000 yen gets you a real piece of JUNK HEAD, the Kinuko Wall sections that proved popular with viewers…
Click to view slideshow.All of the money raised goes directly to the creators and the production and rewards will be sent out before and after the planned 2025 theatrical release. If you visit the page, you can see them in action – including superb stop-motion animator Atsuko Miyake, whom I interviewed!
Click to view slideshow.Since I loved JUNK HEAD, I’m looking hard at what would be a good tier to pledge for in order to help this film come to life.