The legendary Paul Schrader, who wrote the screenplays for Taxi Driver and Raging Bull before going on to direct films like American Gigolo and Cat People, is at the helm of The Canyons, and new film written by novelist Bret Easton Ellis. There's very little information about the feature on the film's IMDb page; the plot summary is limited to the following: "Youth, glamor, sex and Los Angeles, circa 2012," which makes it sound like a modern version of Ellis's Less Than Zero. The website also includes the current production status: "In the midst of a Kickstarter campaign." Yup.

If you're tired of funding your friends' student films and zines, why not throw a few bucks at some Hollywood hotshots looking to crowdsource their funds rather than playing the usual Hollywood game of finding actual producers with lots of money. Maybe they figure you won't demand to cut scenes or make sure your niece be cast in the lead role? Or maybe they know it'll get some good press? (Mission accomplished, dudes!)

There are the typical Kickstarter prizes for a variety of pledges, from the low-level (a poster for anyone who pledges a dollar! DVDs of the film for those willing to turn over 25 bucks!) to the high-roller level. Do you have 10,000 dollars to spare? Well, Paul Schrader will give you a money clipped autographed by Robert De Niro! (It must be nice to have a several-decade-long career in Hollywood in order to collect memorbilia from your famous friends that you can essentially eBay off when you're strapped for cash.) My favorite prize, however, is at the 5,000 dollar level: if you make your pledge, Bret Easton Ellis will personally read your novel and then review if for an as-yet determined "international blog or website." No guarantees, I guess, that the review will be glowing, but hey, have you read Ellis's work in the last few years?

Check out the project's video below, just in case I wasn't able to convince you to fork over your money.