James Franco seeks crowdfunding for 'Palo Alto' films

James Franco is seeking USD 500,000 in crowdfunding to finance three feature films about teenage life in his hometown of Palo Alto, which is based on his own short stories.
The multi-talented actor has tapped Nina Ljeti, Vladimir Bourdeau, Bruce Thierry Cheung, and Gabriel Demestree to direct the project.
"Because of who I am, people often believe that it is easy to find investors and distributors for my films. Unfortunately, things aren't that easy," Franco wrote on Indiegogo.
"More times than not, I have put in my own money to produce my films and my students' films. However, this time it's different; we need more funding. I will still fund part of it, but I need of your help; filming three feature films back-to-back requires more funding than I can give."

Franco is planning to shoot the films by August and then hit the festival circuit in search of distribution deal.
The fans contributing to the project can get behind the scenes updates and a shooting script PDF for USD 10, a personalised video from the 'Spiderman' actor for USD 300 to an EP credit and private dinner for USD 10,000.