Rooster Teeth, the creative team behind Red vs Blue, has just set crowd-funding history.

Here’s the scenario:

“In the late 1970’s, the Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence project received a one time signal from outer space. It looked exactly as theorists thought a communication from an alien civilization would — unfortunately it has never been decoded. Or so we were told. Unbeknownst to the general public the signal was translated and told us two things: 1. We are not alone. 2. The galaxy is a dangerous place. Our story is live action sci-fi comedy that takes place decades later in the aftermath of this event.”

Not bowled over? Well, these numbers certainly are impressive:

The ask: $650K. The project: a theatrical feature production.

The results:

• $1,000,000 in two days.
• Over 25,000 contributors.
• $123,000 from 20 backers, rewarded with producer credits.
• To date, over $1.7 million with more than 10 days to go!

See their campaign on Indiegogo.

My take: a popular franchise appeals to their fans to finance a very different product, with wildly successful results. Of course, it helps to have over 7.5 million subscribers on your Youtube channel.