The film "Herb & Dorothy: A Gift from Two," due for release on Saturday, March 30th, has achieved a record number of collectors and the amount of money raised through crowdfunding in Japan. The project has raised 14 million yen, far exceeding the target of 10 million yen, and continues to break records.

This film is a sequel to the 2008 film "Herb & Dorothy: A Gift from Two," which garnered worldwide attention. It is a documentary that follows Herb, a former postal worker, and his wife, Dorothy, a librarian, who are art collectors living in New York.

Crowdfunding is a new fundraising method that solicits small investments from an unspecified number of people online. Also known as social funding, it is being used to support a wide range of projects, from creative projects such as movies and animation to development and research.

Director and producer Sasaki Mei commented, "Until the very last moment, it was a complete unknown whether we would be able to reach our enormous target of 10 million yen. I was told many times that it would be difficult because Japan doesn't have a culture of donating, but that's absolutely not the case. In Japan, there are many people who are willing to lend a helping hand to those in need, and who are willing to donate money to support artists and projects that they sympathize with. The success of this crowdfunding campaign is a reflection of that. However, the difficulty of crowdfunding is not so much raising the money, but the follow-up afterwards. I believe that true success depends on how satisfied we can make our backers."
[Film Information]
Herb & Dorothy: A Gift from Two People
Production: USA, 2013
Director/Producer: Sasaki Mei
Starring: Herbert and Dorothy Vogel, Richard Tuttle, Christo, Robert Barry, Pat Steer, Mark Kostabi and others
Running Time: 87 minutes
Distributor: Fine Line Media Japan Co., Ltd.
Opens nationwide from March 30, 2013 at Shinjuku Piccadilly, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum and other theaters