8$: “Who is Arthur Chu?” Documentary Film

8$ is a series which occasionally highlights interesting crowdfunding projects. Every day, the 8Asians team is inundated by many worthy pitches. We are unable to highlight every one that comes our way, or even the ones we might individually support. The projects selected for 8$ are not endorsements by 8Asians. (To be considered for 8$, we highly suggest you not harass the writers or the editors of 8Asians.)

WHO:

Arthur Chu was once a quiet office worker who got a shot on JEOPARDY! – and blew it up. Twelve shows later, Chu had racked up nearly $300,000 in winnings and created an international hatestorm. Chu threw the usual JEOPARDY! geeky politeness out the window. Instead he preened, he postured, and he found daily doubles…all of them. His strategies—bouncing around the board, pragmatic wagers, and keeping a hyper-aggressive pace to the game—have led some to declare his $300,000 winning streak akin to a MONEYBALL moment on JEOPARDY!. He crushed his opponents and he tangled with host Alex Trebek. While his detractors called him a “thug,” or simply the “the Jeopardy! villain,” Chu ate it up. Living his version of the American Dream, Jeopardy! gave him his 15 minutes of fame. He has something to tell you, and you should listen.

“Who is Arthur Chu?“ is a project of filmmakers Yu Gu and Scott Drucker.

WHAT: Kickstarter project: Who is Arthur Chu?

This fall, Chu will participate in the JEOPARDY! Tournament of Champions and we will be there to capture it, with exclusive access to this unlikely hero and the Jeopardy! studio. But we need your help. We have one month to get to Ohio to film with Arthur before the Tournament of Champions. Then to LA. Then to Taiwan. Who is Arthur Chu? Join us to find the clue.

WHEN: Deadline to contribute is Wednesday, September 17, 2014 (7:27am PDT).

WHY:

To make a film of this scope involves a lot and a lot of legal work. Apart from Legal, we will need to purchase production insurance, errors and omissions insurance, and pay for licensing fees, travel expenses, and post production costs. Luckily we both have the cameras and audio needed to tell the story and can both direct and shoot this film. However, if we go above and beyond our goal of 50,000 we will be able to pay for gear rental when we shoot at the Jeopardy! studio, have a sound person with us for critical shooting days, and pay to bring an editor on board!