Shemar Moore moves fundraising from Kickstarter to Indiegogo

“Criminal Minds” TV star Shemar Moore has canceled a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter and moved it to Indiegogo.

Moore started the fundraiser for his new film project, “The Bounce Back,” on May 23, but canceled it about two weeks before its funding period was over -- after fans pledged almost $250,000 to the project.

Why?

“We moved it because there was a cap,” Moore said.

PHOTOS: Summer Sneaks 2013

Kickstarter requires a project to set a funding goal and a time limit at the outset of the funding campaign. In order for the creator to get the money pledged by contributors, the goal must be met within the defined period.

But on Indiegogo, creators can use whatever money is pledged to their project, even if they don’t meet the stated goal.

“No matter what happens on Indiegogo, the money still goes to the movie,” Moore said.

It’s a model the company calls “flexible funding,” said Karen Bair, the head of music and film development at Indiegogo. Bair believes Moore changed to her crowd-funding site because “he knew he wasn’t going to reach his target on the previous platform.”

The platform may be new media, but the impulse is not: Moore wants to be a leading man.

The hunky “Criminal Minds” FBI agent intends to produce and star in “The Bounce Back,” he said.

PHOTOS: Celebrities by The Times

“I’m not Brad Pitt or George Clooney,” Moore said. “I’m not at that level. But I want a shot at that kind of career.”

Moore’s proposed movie is a romantic drama about a psychologist who writes a self-help book for women trying to find love again. The main character, which Moore plans to play himself, inevitably finds love, too.

“We all want to fall in love,” Moore said. “We’ve all had our hearts broken. Everyone can relate.”

Originally, Moore was apprehensive about using a crowdsourcing platform to ask his fans for support. The idea was “foreign” to him, but he wanted to show Hollywood that there was demand for his kind of movie. Moore already has a script, a director and a leading lady. The other elements will be arranged once funding has been raised.

So far, fans have pledged almost $118,000 on Indiegogo. Like the campaign on Kickstarter, Moore offers fans incentives for pledging. For $15, fans can get email updates containing behind-the-scenes news along with a hat and an autographed head shot. The rewards continue up until $50,000, which can get fans an all-access pass to the film set and the ability to attend meetings, screenings, premieres and more.

ON LOCATION: Where the cameras roll

Moore isn’t the first to follow the crowd-funding trend. The cast and creators of the show “Veronica Mars” used Kickstarter to raise enough money to turn their series into a movie.

Actor Zach Braff also used Kickstarter for a sequel to his indie film, “Garden State.” He exceeded his funding goal, and raised more than $3 million.

James Franco is currently using Indiegogo to ask fans to donate $500,000 for a trilogy of films based on short stories in his collection “Palo Alto.”

Not all campaigns are successful.

TV actress Melissa Joan Hart launched a campaign for a film on Kickstarter that flopped.

Kickstarter projects have a success rate of about 44 percent, according to the website. Kickstarter declined to comment on Moore’s campaign.

Moore, who has said he will match whatever amount he raises on Indiegogo, said he can count on his fan base, which consists mostly of women he calls his “Baby Girls,” to help him meet his goal. He plans to seek additional funding sources from traditional means, after his Indiegogo money and his own are put into the pot.

“As long as they [studios] make their money back and a little profit, they will go with it,” he said. “I’m putting in my own money to make sure this gets made.”

ALSO:

James Franco turns to IndieGogo to fund film trilogy

Melissa Joan Hart says Kickstarter failure ‘started out wrong’

Filmmakers turn to Kickstarter to fund ‘Kickstarted’ documentary

Twitter:@DiangeleaMillar

angie.millar@latimes.com