Retiring filmmaker Steven Soderbergh has pledged $10,000 (£6,670) to Spike Lee's new crowdsourcing initiative to help fund his pal's next movie.

The Malcolm X director launched the venture on Kickstarter.com on Monday (22Jul13) in an effort to raise $1.25 million (£833,330) by 21 August (13) to cover the costs of his upcoming project, which he simply stated would be about "the addiction of blood".

The online appeal immediately won the support of Soderbergh and he decided to make the large donation to aid his fellow filmmaker.

Lee offered up various rewards to potential investors in exchange for financial support, and Soderbergh's hefty gift has won him a dinner date with the director and the chance to join him courtside at a future New York Knicks basketball game.

Lee tells MTV blog NextMovie.com, "I'm taking him to dinner and we're going to the game together. I don't even know if he likes sports! So I'm gonna pick the game for him. But I'm giving a huge shout-out to my man Steven Soderbergh for the support and I'm really humbled with Steven coming on board and doing that. Thank you, Steven."

The Traffic movie mogul is one of over 700 investors in Lee's film project. More than $105,000 (£70,000) had been raised as Wenn went to press.