NEW YORK – Following crowd-funding campaigns from “Veronica Mars” and Zach Braff, James Franco is trying to raise $500,000 to bankroll a trilogy of movies.

Franco on Monday night started a campaign on Indiegogo, a crowd-funding alternative to Kickstarter that allows people to keep the money they raise even if the project doesn’t come to fruition. Franco isn’t trying to direct the films; he’s raising money so that a collection of young filmmakers can adapt his 2011 short story collection, “Palo Alto.”

“Because of who I am, people often believe that it is easy to find investors and distributors for my films,” wrote Franco. “Unfortunately, things aren’t that easy. More times than not, I have put in my own money to produce my films and my student’s 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 pledges to donate any profits from the films to Art of Elysium, a nonprofit that encourages entertainers to visit children with serious medical conditions. Levels of contribution range from $10 for copies of the screenplays to $10,000, which gets dinner with Franco and an executive producer credit.

The three films — titled “Memoria,” “Yosemite” and “Killing Animals” — will pull from stories Franco wrote about his California hometown.

Franco, who currently stars in the apocalyptic comedy “This Is the End,” has directed a number of feature films.

The campaign has raised $22,000 so far and will close July 17.

Bieber mobile hits paparazzo on Sunset Blvd.

LOS ANGELES – Video shows Justin Bieber running into a photographer with his white Ferrari in Hollywood, but police say there was no crime and the injuries aren’t life-threatening.

Lt. Craig Valenzuela said Bieber’s car collided with the person at 11:45 p.m. Monday on Sunset Boulevard.

Valenzuela said police are trying to determine whether the pedestrian was in the road.

A video posted by TMZ.com shows Bieber getting into a Ferrari surrounded by paparazzi. As the car drives off, one falls to the ground and grips his knee.

 

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