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New Zealand director Taika Waititi smiles before a dinner to celebrate the New Zealand film industry in Beverly Hills. New Zealand director and nominee for best short film for his work "Two Cars, One Night", Taika Waititi, smiles before a dinner to celebrate the New Zealand film industry in Beverly Hills February 25, 2005. The Oscars will be held February 27 in Hollywood. REUTERS/John Schults

New Zealand’s lovable vampires are coming to America, with your help. Actors/filmmakers Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement have launched an online fundraiser in a bid to bring their critically acclaimed comedy film “What We Do in the Shadows” to the U.S.

The film, dubbed “the best comedy of the year” by a review in the Guardian, has had a successful run in New Zealand and at the Sundance Film Festival where it premiered in January 2014. It will also open in New York and Los Angeles. However, as

They plan to bring it to 70 cities in the U.S. That would cost money, though, so they are asking the public’s help in helping them distribute the film to cinemas in America. They have opened up a Kickstarter campaign in a bid to raise at least $400,000.

“We know what you guys are thinking, we’re just a couple of drug addicts looking for cash,” Clement said in the video they prepared on Kickstarter. “No, we don’t want drugs. We want ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ to play in the USA. We’re just an independent film from New Zealand, so we can’t really afford it so we might just give up.”

He further explained that they are just not asking for money, they are offering rewards as well for those who will pledge at least $10 for their film. Rewards include t-shirts, posters, final script of the film, videos, cooking aprons, DVDs and tickets to the special screening of the film in New York or Los Angeles, depending on how much is pledged. For the screening tickets, donors would have to pay for their own travel and accommodation in the given city.

“We can’t do it without you,” Waititi said. “We really need your help. And we don’t really want to do it without you. So if you want to help, that would be awesome.”

“What We Do in the Shadows” is a mockumentary about a group of centuries-old vampires who trying to get by in the modern world as they share a flat in Wellington. It is produced, written and directed by Waititi and Clement, and it also stars them. Jonathan Brugh, Ben Fransham, Jackie Van Beek, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Stu Rutherford, Rhys Darby and Ethel Robinson also star.

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