The 60-day "crowd-sourcing" pledge campaign to fund the production of a film about motorcycle off-road and innovation pioneer John Penton on Kickstarter.com, ended successfully on Monday night with $160,315.50 raised, eclipsing the goal of $150,000. The 562 "backers" of the film pledged between $1.00 and $10,000.00 to help the filmmakers, Pipeline Digital Media reach the goal so they can begin production beginning in March.
These backers of "The John Penton Story" were made up of Penton and motorcycle enthusiasts, clubs, dealers and particularly industry companies KTM USA, Alpinestars, Acerbis, Motion Pro, Matrix Racing Concepts, and the Legends & Heroes Tour. Also supporting the project was a host of motorcycle legends including; Mark Blackwell, Bob Hannah, Brad Lackey, Torsten Hallman, Malcolm Smith, Ricky Johnson, Jim Holley, Ronnie Lechien, Lars Larsson, Gunnar Lindstrom, and Scott Burnworth.
"We are so thankful to all the companies and individuals who believe in this project and made it happen," said Todd Huffman, the films' Producer and Director at Pipeline Digital Media. "Getting to start on this important story about the Pentons is truly special."
The film which will be narrated by Grammy Winner, Lyle Lovett will begin production in the spring of 2013 with interviews being conducted in OH, CA, TX, ID, MO, OR, WA and other places in the United States. The crew will also travel to Europe to shoot in Austria (KTM), Italy (Alpinestars, Acerbis) and other countries to bring the complete Penton story to life. Producers will use interviews, archival materials, re-creations and Mr. Lovett's warm voice-over style to tell John Penton's patriotic tale of inspiration, tragedy, triumph and innovation.
"At the end of the day we hope to have an interesting, heartwarming motorcycle movie that the entire world will enjoy for generations," added Huffman.
Shooting should wrap up by the end of summer with post-production beginning in the fall and completion by Q1 of 2014. The public can expect to see the final film by Spring 2014. There will be opportunities for companies to become marketing partners and sponsors of this film to take advantage of regional screening and retail traffic building initiatives.
