Last week we had a limited release teaser trailer for Series 3 of Twisted Showcase. Hope you got to see it in the 24 hours it was online. It offered a first glimpse of Gareth David Lloyd, Norman Lovett and Sarah Louise Madison from Series 3.
Over the next few weeks, there will be stuff flying at you for the build up to the long awaited Series 3. So, is there a better time to look back and revisit the best bits from the first two series.
Go on, go take a look at my favourites bits over in this CULTURED VULTURES ARTICLE
Tuesday, 29 July 2014
Monday, 7 July 2014
Twisted tips on crowdfunding
First and foremost a huge thanks to everyone that contributed to the Twisted Showcase Series 3 crowdfund. It wasn't a process I particularly enjoyed, but it allows us the opportunity to bring you the series 3 we've imagined. And I promise it's coming soon.
So, that's a positive from the experience, and hopefully you'll see it as an even bigger positive when you finally get to see the episodes. The production has gone really well, and we're all really excited about it. Just the last few things to sort out. The finish line is in sight, which is a glorious feeling.
Another positive I hope to get from the experience is to help other people out there with their projects, one of them currently ongoing and so close to reaching their target. Danny Stack and Tim Clague are making a film for kids, starring kids, and they're not really made anymore. The audience are crying out for films like The Goonies and Explorers, and there's no one better than these guys to deliver it with Who Killed Nelson Nutmeg? check out the site www.nelsonnutmeg.com and also go here and pitch in whatever you can to help get this made.
For anyone thinking of funding a project this way, you can learn from our mistakes, or just read the story of how we found the experience. That's why I wrote this blog, so hope you enjoy it.
One of the first pieces of advice we got on out crowdfund was to PREPARE.
Unfortunately, we'd already launched our project by then.
A lot of people mentioned the quality of out pitch video, or lack of it. Basically we just set up a camera and waffled, when editing together, we included some out takes, which we thought were funny and added personality, but probably made us seem unprofessional.
What we knew we needed to get across were our selling points.
These were mainly our cast : Norman Lovett & Gareth David Lloyd, both have a sci-fi fan base from the shows Torchwood and Red Dwarf. Targeting sites that cover those shows was a strategy.
We've found during our two series of Twisted showcase that names like this attract viewers in, therefore we have made it a vital element to Series 3. We have also announced Sarah Louise Madison, who has appeared in Doctor Who, since.
Our other selling point was our background. We have already produced two series of Twisted Showcase and have achieved far more than we ever expected with it. It'd be stupid not to use this background to help sell the idea a little bit. In fact I've become quite sick of saying we were the only British independent web show to be named in the guardian top 25, this may be the last time I ever say/type it.
Now for the hard and horrible stuff. Crowdfunding is like having a full time job. It's non stop, working to a target. And it can feel uncomfortable. Well, it did to me and Rhys anyway, and if you're of a similar disposition it might do to you as well.
I've said since it can feel like begging, especially as we've made the series no budget for two series. why not do that again? It was an impossibility. I don't know how we did do it. Probably explains the debt. Also we wanted to make Showcase bigger and better. And that would be my second tip, make sure you believe in what you're doing. you make it the best it can be. If people are going to pay up front for your thing you have to pay back that trust. It's why we worked on Series 3 from January 2013 until now. A long process for a series that will be over after 5 short episodes. But hopefully worth it for us and for everyone that watches.
As the campaign went on we went quiet. BIG MISTAKE. Never let up, it might annoy some people on social media, but you can't let people forget, keep it in their mind. Thank everyone who contributes. We found when we got a funder, two or three more would follow quickly.
I'm not a genius on these things, but we did make our total, so if you have any questions let me know. And I wish you all the luck with your crowdfunding campaign. In the end I think we found it wasn't really for us, so if plans come off for our future we'll be trying something a little different.
But before that - Twisted Showcase Series 3.
So, that's a positive from the experience, and hopefully you'll see it as an even bigger positive when you finally get to see the episodes. The production has gone really well, and we're all really excited about it. Just the last few things to sort out. The finish line is in sight, which is a glorious feeling.
Another positive I hope to get from the experience is to help other people out there with their projects, one of them currently ongoing and so close to reaching their target. Danny Stack and Tim Clague are making a film for kids, starring kids, and they're not really made anymore. The audience are crying out for films like The Goonies and Explorers, and there's no one better than these guys to deliver it with Who Killed Nelson Nutmeg? check out the site www.nelsonnutmeg.com and also go here and pitch in whatever you can to help get this made.
For anyone thinking of funding a project this way, you can learn from our mistakes, or just read the story of how we found the experience. That's why I wrote this blog, so hope you enjoy it.
One of the first pieces of advice we got on out crowdfund was to PREPARE.
Unfortunately, we'd already launched our project by then.
A lot of people mentioned the quality of out pitch video, or lack of it. Basically we just set up a camera and waffled, when editing together, we included some out takes, which we thought were funny and added personality, but probably made us seem unprofessional.
What we knew we needed to get across were our selling points.
These were mainly our cast : Norman Lovett & Gareth David Lloyd, both have a sci-fi fan base from the shows Torchwood and Red Dwarf. Targeting sites that cover those shows was a strategy.
We've found during our two series of Twisted showcase that names like this attract viewers in, therefore we have made it a vital element to Series 3. We have also announced Sarah Louise Madison, who has appeared in Doctor Who, since.
Our other selling point was our background. We have already produced two series of Twisted Showcase and have achieved far more than we ever expected with it. It'd be stupid not to use this background to help sell the idea a little bit. In fact I've become quite sick of saying we were the only British independent web show to be named in the guardian top 25, this may be the last time I ever say/type it.
Now for the hard and horrible stuff. Crowdfunding is like having a full time job. It's non stop, working to a target. And it can feel uncomfortable. Well, it did to me and Rhys anyway, and if you're of a similar disposition it might do to you as well.
I've said since it can feel like begging, especially as we've made the series no budget for two series. why not do that again? It was an impossibility. I don't know how we did do it. Probably explains the debt. Also we wanted to make Showcase bigger and better. And that would be my second tip, make sure you believe in what you're doing. you make it the best it can be. If people are going to pay up front for your thing you have to pay back that trust. It's why we worked on Series 3 from January 2013 until now. A long process for a series that will be over after 5 short episodes. But hopefully worth it for us and for everyone that watches.
As the campaign went on we went quiet. BIG MISTAKE. Never let up, it might annoy some people on social media, but you can't let people forget, keep it in their mind. Thank everyone who contributes. We found when we got a funder, two or three more would follow quickly.
I'm not a genius on these things, but we did make our total, so if you have any questions let me know. And I wish you all the luck with your crowdfunding campaign. In the end I think we found it wasn't really for us, so if plans come off for our future we'll be trying something a little different.
But before that - Twisted Showcase Series 3.
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