On January 10, 2013 – Potrzebie Pictures LLC will launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise the necessary funds to complete the documentary “When We Went MAD!”

From the press release:

Alan Bernstein and Potrzebie Pictures LLC, a Detroit area production company, are currently filming When We Went MAD!, a documentary film that will explore the history and influence of MAD Magazine. With 20 key interviews already captured on film, the team is launching a Kickstarter campaign on January 10, 2013 to raise the funds necessary to complete this historic American project.

The story of MAD Magazine is as irreverent as those who created it – from the landmark court case that pitted Irving Berlin against MAD (the case that assured the legality of satire in general) to MAD’s maverick publisher, William M. Gaines, who once took his entire staff to Haiti to convince the sole Haitian subscriber to renew. MAD was mad, and we loved it.

Where were you when you first read MAD?

With co-producer Doug Gilford, twenty current and former artists, writers, and editors of MAD have been filmed including:
Al Jaffee – the inventor of the Fold-In and the feature “Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions”
Dick DeBartolo – The writer for the TV show Match Game whose work has been in every issue of MAD since 1966
Sergio Aragones – his miniature cartoons have filled the margins of MAD for fifty years.

Once Bernstein and Gilford have wrapped up interviewing MAD contributors, the next phase of the production is to capture and catalog those that were influenced by MAD. “Entertainers, politicians, teachers, convicts… if you claim MAD had a profound effect on your life, we want to hear your guilty confession.” Bernstein announces.

To continue production on the project, When We Went MAD! is raising capital with a crowdfunding campaign via Kickstarter on January 10, 2013. “Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects. Everything from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology.” It is a groundbreaking means of raising money for projects that in the past would have been extremely difficult. – www.kickstarter.com

When We Went MAD! is seeking to raise funds to cover the cost of travel, equipment rental, and post production. With as little as $10, anyone can contribute to the success of the film. Everyone who pledges will receive a thank you letter and will be kept in the loop regarding the film’s release. Contributors to the highest pledge category, $10,000, will be named an Executive Producer on the project.

Imagine being part of a project that preserves the voices of the great MAD Magazine. Talk it up at parties. Ask your friends where they were when they first read MAD. The conversation (and the intangible benefit of participation in this project) can go on and on. And you can proudly claim, “What, Me Worry?”