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Post by ds_36 on Nov 15, 2023 11:35:23 GMT -5
How could they not even post the next live stream there? I still haven't been informed of it outside of this forum. It will be interesting if it even does the tiny bump the first one did. Overly generous and wrong theory: It's because they're working so hard on the contracts with the actors that they're waiting on the signatures to announce which actors will be participating. No matter what's going on it's hard to believe that no one could take the 30 seconds to simply copy the tweet into an update. Unless they've already forgot about the fundraiser.
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Post by ds_36 on Nov 14, 2023 15:55:25 GMT -5
I think I saw that same person post on Reddit just now in more detail, unless the much more widespread issue: I'd been wondering about if withdrawn pledges get removed from the total right away for a while since it's a manual process to withdraw. This makes it sound like there's a good chance there's at least some withdrawn money still being counted.
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Post by ds_36 on Nov 13, 2023 20:22:22 GMT -5
This Thursday! Don your best trilby and join us for another watch-along with the MST3K writers. This week we'll be tackling DEMON SQUAD! The sweaty fun starts at 8pm ET / 5pm ET in the Gizmoplex and on the #MST3K Twitch and YouTube channels. No one proofread the tweet either. Both times are Eastern. Though the graphic has it right. Such high professionalism. Honestly, I know it sounds kind of crazy but the fact that the actors aren't involved suggests that there was some sort of planning involved in this campaign regardless of how minimal it might have been. Though at this point there's absolutely no reason Joel couldn't participate.
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Post by ds_36 on Nov 12, 2023 19:00:34 GMT -5
Grant also donated to season 13, and I interviewed Tim and Rebecca during the season 13 campaign, and they had also donated as well. This is weird, right? I've heard of instances of cast members taking pay cuts to allow for a project to turn out better or get better pay for their peers, etc. But actively paying for the project one is meant to be working for - how often does this sort of thing happen?
I definitely think so. If they're really doing it for merch that suggests a penny wise pound foolish approach from leadership (whether that be Joel or otherwise). The whole project feels like somehow it's stuck doing things the way they were done when the show was on TV while at the same time going way out on some extravagances.
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Post by ds_36 on Nov 12, 2023 17:18:40 GMT -5
Grant also donated to season 13, and I interviewed Tim and Rebecca during the season 13 campaign, and they had also donated as well. They're paying to work? Really? I hope Joel is anonymously donating as well.
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Post by ds_36 on Nov 12, 2023 15:57:22 GMT -5
The way I see it a three episode season would be a bigger loss than failing the fundraiser altogether. With complete failure you can focus on retooling and coming up with a product that will be liked. With a three episode season you're forced to do something your heart's not into creating a lower quality product but at the same time turning around and trying a new campaign.
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Post by ds_36 on Nov 11, 2023 16:21:57 GMT -5
I don't know why they don't just suspend the campaign with a promise to relaunch on turkey day with all the cast members deals figured out. Two reason I can think of that they wouldn't want to cancel and relaunch. First it would ruin Joel's vision. Second, and more importantly, unless they're sure that the reason this campaign is not doing well is because of missing actors a second campaign would likely not do much better. Possibly even scare off some actors from participating if they think it's so unlikely to happen. Recovering from two failures in a row will be that much harder. If this campaign fails and they do actually want to create more episodes they need to sit down and figure out where they went wrong. Once they figure out how to resolve those issues it would be a good time to start a new campaign.
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Post by ds_36 on Nov 10, 2023 0:51:59 GMT -5
Joel couldn't even be bothered to post about the campaign on his personal twitter, so I'm not surprised he didn't show up. It really feels like they're just going through the motions this time. Not sure why. It really feels like Matt is driving the ship on this one. I’m wondering if the idea is to position him more as the business lead and let Joel be the fun creative guy externally. For all we know that is how it’s been the whole time and now they’re being more public about it. Joel was needed for the credibility and interest before but with the process being so well established at this point they feel more comfortable having Joel with a little distance. Maybe that's the secret genius plan! Make Matt the scapegoat for when this campaign fails. Then Joel can swoop in and save the day! Really I think a lot of the Joel is missing stuff was because he's in a weird place between being on screen talent (actor) and off screen talent (crew). Now that the strike's over if his participation remains like this it's clearly a bad sign.
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Post by ds_36 on Nov 9, 2023 20:38:03 GMT -5
Looks like its just Matt & 3 other writers. No Joel. No stars. Yikes. Joel couldn't even make it? Can't say I'm surprised about the other actors. We have no idea what sort of contact they've had before or during the strike and what sort of contracts need to be drawn up. I think we all know this is not a full time job for anyone except Joel. If there were at least a few days I'd find their lack of appearance more meaningful. See if they manage to do any events with any actors next week.
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Post by ds_36 on Nov 8, 2023 11:15:24 GMT -5
Don't recall when that was ever part of the pitch or the plan. Or that fundraisers or subscriptions even work that way. You don't recall them ever suggesting that they want to expand their audience and get new fans? You recall them stating that they only want the same old fans to watch forever? No fundraisers try to attract new donors? They just expect the same group to pay forever? This is called a bill. Why would you need a fundraiser if you already know who will pay and they know how much? That's stagnation. Nothing would ever grow like this. ETA: You know what? Maybe you are right and you're hitting on the exact problem. Joel simply sees the old fans as an endless well of money who will stick by his side no matter what. He doesn't have to appease them since they love him so much and he doesn't have to attract new fans since that's a job for the old ones. And that's why this fundraiser is having so many problems.
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Post by ds_36 on Nov 8, 2023 8:07:15 GMT -5
Joel has always said MST3K will be funded by its fans, you've heard the pitch over and over about how with the fundraisers, the fans decide if new MST3K will be made. No idea where the notion that random people who have never heard of the show would be buying a season pass came from. Nor this idea that the fundraisers are aimed at "people who don't care about the show", unless you're talking about the people in this forum, of course.[/quote] So absolutely no random people will stumble upon a public fundraiser and decide to support it for whatever personal reason? It's just going to be the exact same group that is incapable of making the Gizmoplex sustainable? I find this a really interesting business model.
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Post by ds_36 on Nov 7, 2023 5:46:47 GMT -5
Why is the fundraiser just for "people who don't care about the show", fans don't see the fundraiser somehow? They all get the e-mails. No, the fundraiser is not just for "people who don't care about the show." The fundraiser is open to the public and will get at least some support from outsiders or draw attention to the show in somehow. This is helped if it's on a popular platform. Funding through the Gizmoplex will only come from fans of the show. Nobody is randomly winding up at the Gizmoplex and nobody will be donating to something they've never heard of or seen. But somehow the Gizmoplex is unsustainable and the help of outsiders is required to keep the show going.
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Post by ds_36 on Nov 6, 2023 16:14:06 GMT -5
I've been thinking more about this whole Gizmoplex isn't self sustaining idea. Honestly if they want $8 million you'd only have to get 800,000 people to pay $100. I know that's not exactly a low number but popular shows get significantly more viewers and $100 is not a bad price if you're getting at least 5 episodes. It's hard for me to believe that they couldn't raise enough money for a new season in a more organic way. If Gizmoplex viewership numbers are that low it feels like it's time to retire the show. Not try to get more money from much more casual viewers who have likely never even seen the latest season because of how niche its streaming service is and likely will never find this fundraiser because it's also on a niche platform. Maybe it's just me. 800,000 people to paying $100 would be 80 million :b Current Season Pass price is $85. same as last time. And you're paying it whether its through Crowdfunder or though a "self-sustaining" Gizmoplex. Only thing that makes the Gizmoplex "self-sustaining" is if there was enough money to fund the next season in advance and there just wasn't, that have to find a way to get that much ahead financially. Curious what this more 'organic' way would be. Have sales/presales or whatever you want to call it through the fan supported Gizmoplex instead of having to try to get funds from people who don't really care about the show. It's the same fans supporting it, right? What makes them more willing to pay a fundraiser (where more money will go to miscellaneous non show related costs) than pay to the Gizmoplex directly? Not outright telling viewers "We need millions to pay for this show. It's totally up to you to get that money to us. And this time, more than ever before, we expect you to spread the word (for free) because we're using this new platform that doesn't get much traffic and few, if any, random people will come across it and maybe decide to donate since we're doing so well (because it's cheaper)."
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Post by ds_36 on Nov 6, 2023 14:21:59 GMT -5
I've been thinking more about this whole Gizmoplex isn't self sustaining idea. Honestly if they want $8 million you'd only have to get 80,000 people to pay $100. I know that's not exactly a low number but popular shows get significantly more viewers and $100 is not a bad price if you're getting at least 5 episodes. It's hard for me to believe that they couldn't raise enough money for a new season in a more organic way. If Gizmoplex viewership numbers are that low it feels like it's time to retire the show. Not try to get more money from much more casual viewers who have likely never even seen the latest season because of how niche its streaming service is and likely will never find this fundraiser because it's also on a niche platform.
Maybe it's just me.
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Post by ds_36 on Nov 6, 2023 8:12:10 GMT -5
Are they even trying? Do they WANT the campaign to fail? That's not a rhetorical; are there reasons that having a campaign fail now would be desirable in the long term? Because not doing something as simple as linking to your new campaign at the site you built last campaign seems like something that's a choice, not an oversight. I'm know I'm in tinfoil hat territory, and I have to be wrong. I have to be. All these baffling choices they've made are just mistakes by a NuMST crew that has experience in crowdfunding, right? My theory, based on nothing logical. Could there possibly be some sort of backing agreement that would be effective if the fundraiser fails? It sounds crazy but a campaign that seems to be doing everything to put itself in a worse position sounds crazy too. Or Joel really overestimated how many die hard fans there are and how much of the fan crowd would stick by him no matter what.
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