At the age of 22, Robert Weide wrote a letter to Kurt Vonnegut in which he proposed a documentary about the 60-year-old legendary novelist.
Vonnegut agreed. That was 33 years ago.
A new Kickstarter project aims to turn the hours of footage into a documentary called "Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time."
This is no ordinary documentary; it's one about a friendship that grew out of an attempt at a documentary.
As Weide began filming Vonnegut, including trips to the author's boyhood homes and his 60th high school reunion, the two became friends. This relationship, Weide worried, would affect the documentary.
The film ended up gathering dust for some years as Weide went on to a successful career, eventually winning three Emmy awards and a Golden Globe award as a director.
Now, the "dozens of hours" of footage will be worked into a documentary by Weide, with the Kickstarter funds going to pay for the work necessary to complete it. Donations range from $5 to be added to the an email list sending out updates on the documentary to $10,000 to attend the premiere screening and receive a co-executive producer credit.
The Kickstarter closes on March 10 with the goal of $250,000. At the time of writing, it had raised just over $1,000.