Despite my initial unfamiliarity with the term, the concept of crowd funding is pretty self-explanatory, and chances are that if you use the internet (how exactly are you browsing TMT, anyway!?), you’ve probably come across it in some form or another. I’ll go ahead and trust Wikipedia’s definition for this: crowd funding “describes the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations.” It can be used to gather support for virtually any cause under the sun, but has traditionally been used primarily as a means to fund creative works, such as independent films and music. The relevant news here is that, according to The Wire, Kevin Ellington Mingus is currently crowd funding for a documentary featuring his late grandfather and legendary jazz musician, Charles Mingus.
The documentary, presumptively titled Mingus on Mingus, is being marketed as a feature-length “journey of a grandson searching for the truth behind the legend of the grandfather he never knew.” Presently, the project has raised around $26,000 out of their $45,000 goal, but if it hasn’t reached that goal by Sunday, December 18 at 6 PM, then the entire thing will be CANCELED. It’s also worth pointing out that pledges are only billed once the goal is met and the campaign ends, so it’s not like there’s any risk of the younger Mingus making away with your dough if things don’t work out. Relatively few films have been done documenting Charles Mingus’s influential and accomplished life, so if you fancy yourself something of a jazz fiend, or if you’re just feeling overly generous this holiday season, head on over to the Kickstarter page and pledge a few bucks.
• Mingus on Mingus: http://orangethenblue.com
• Charles Mingus: http://mingusmingusmingus.com
