With just days to spare, they learned that enough backers had been brought aboard to fund Rise and Shine: The Jay Demerit sStory, the documentary made by Lewis and Tutulugdzija about the current Whitecap’s journey from the lowest divisions of English semipro football to the Premiership — and a place with the U.S. national team at the 2010 World Cup.

DeMerit played in the Premier League with Watford, but archived Premier League footage costs, gulp, $20,000 per minute. And the film just can’t work without game footage. Money has to be paid to the national federations if they use footage of DeMerit playing for the U.S. national side. So, as more and more artists look to fans to finance their projects, DeMerit and the two filmmakers are taking it a step further. They doing a little more than simply reaching out to fans to help fund the project. So far, a total of 437 fans have pledged US$51,374 (as of the morning of May 25) to help get the film ready for distribution. But they will be guaranteed merchandise from the movie, soccer gear or even autographed memorabilia depending on how much they spend