Social media ineptness helped fund 'Still Waters'

NEW YORK - Sometimes not knowing what you're doing with social media pays off. It did - literally - for the filmmakers behind "Behind Still Waters," an indie movie that was funded through one of the more successful Kickstarter campaigns.

First-time director Chris Lowell says he and co-writer Mohit Narang were so "inept" when it came to social media they needed help just setting up Facebook accounts and figuring out how to tweet.

"I actually think in hindsight that gave us a huge advantage," says Lowell, who is best known for playing Stosh "Piz" Piznarski in the "Veronica Mars" TV series and film.

"I didn't realize that it was unusual to respond to every single tweet I got or Facebook post," he says. "I think that personal connection, I think it became very evident to people that Mo and I, we weren't phoning it in, that we were really giving ourselves over to the campaign."

The filmmakers raised $207,061 in crowdfunding, more than three times the $63,021 they set out to obtain, making it the 13th most successful Kickstarter campaign ever.

The film, about a young man struggling for closure after the sudden death of his parents, opened in limited release in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on Friday and on VOD Nov. 18.

Lowell says it certainly helped being in the "Veronica Mars" film, which was made after an extremely successful Kickstarter campaign last year. "There's a huge support network for 'Veronica Mars' that definitely contributed to the campaign."