Utah Filmmaker Richard Dutcher ends 'hunger strike'

Richard Dutcher's "hunger strike" is over.

The Provo filmmaker on Sunday called off his planned three-week fast, more than a week early. He began on April 28 to focus his energies on raising money to finish his latest movie.

Dutcher, in a post Sunday afternoon on Facebook, explained that he gave up the fast "due to almost losing consciousness on a couple of occasions, vomiting 7 times a day, and starting to see blood in the vomit."

What Dutcher called a "hunger strike" drew attention to a fund-raising campaign on the website Kickstarter, aimed at raising $30,000 in finishing funds for "The Boys at the Bar." The movie, a bar comedy Dutcher wrote and directed, was shot last year at Trolley Square – but still requires a music score and other post-production touches.

As of Sunday, the Kickstarter campaign has raised $16,277 – with nearly $3,000 of that pledged since an article about Dutcher's fast appeared Thursday on The Salt Lake Tribune's website. The campaign ends May 19.

Dutcher said he started vomiting last Monday, Day 8. On Wednesday, Day 10, Dutcher told The Tribune that "sometimes you feel surprisingly well and energetic. And other times you feel like lying down and dying."