The NY Times reports three British teens have come up with a new way to finance their movie:

The credits at the end of a movie generally roll for a few minutes. If “Dardentor” gets made, they could take as long as a half-hour.

That is because tens of thousands of people will have been responsible for bankrolling the movie, the project of three British teenagers who are championing a novel approach to film financing. On the Web site buyacredit.com, people can purchase the right to have their name added to the list of credits, for a minimum of one pound.

Adrian Bliss, Benjamin Robbins and Toby Stubbs say they have already raised upward of £100,000, or about $149,000, from more than 10,000 donors, on their way to a goal of £1 million. That is what they say they need to make the film, an adaptation of a little-known novel by Jules Verne, “Clovis Dardentor.”

“We knew we had to do something really special to get the money, otherwise it wouldn’t come about,” said Mr. Bliss, who is 18, like Mr. Robbins. Mr. Stubbs is 17.

First off, kudos to these young fellows for knowing about “Clovis Dardentor.” I’ve never heard of it. Second, clever idea for financing.

And their cleverness doesn’t end there. Check out the Wikipedia page for “Clovis Dardentor:

Although remaining unpublished in English for over a century, the novel’s awareness is beginning to resurface with the announcement of its movie adaptation “Dardentor”. A British film currently in development through buyacredit.com.

Three British film producers are currently in the development stages of “Dardentor” a £1M adaptation of “Clovis Dardentor”. The film’s production is being funded by the general public through buyacredit.com. Award Winning writer, Lizzie Hopley has written the screenplay for the movie.

Background on Lizzie Hopley here and here.

And here is the Buyacredit.com website, complete with a teaser video with the three lads inviting us to become part of “cinema history.”