“The theater can seat only 30 people; we just pay P200 to split the venue cost, are you game?” was the text message that one “Veronica Mars” fan received a few days before its movie version was to be released.

One of its Kickstarter backers from the Philippines, Denise Que-Escueta, organized a viewing party for her friends and fellow “Veronica Mars” fans.

Last Sunday, the group gathered excitedly to watch the movie. Another backer, Earnest Zabala, proudly sported her Kickstarter backer T-shirt, while Denise passed around bags of marshmallows, the official snack of “Veronica Mars” viewing parties.

Denise and her sister split the $175 Kickstarter reward tier and they got a shirt, stickers, a poster, DVDs of the entire show, a digital download of the movie, a PDF of the shooting script as well as a DVD copy of the movie once it comes out.

Because it was watched by avid fans of the show, scenes from the movie were punctuated by squeals (especially the ones featuring Jason Dohring), and gasps (director Rob Thomas still knows how to drum up suspense), laughter and applause.

Was backing the film worth it for Denise? “I’m just happy to get a glimpse again of Neptune and its residents.”