In this update: 1.A new path for Matt Vancil 2.JourneyQuest RPG Update 3.A JourneyQuest discussion 4.The Future of ZOE
A new path for Matt Vancil
In his own words, here’s Matt:
For me, it started in two places: a coffee shop at the end of the Burke Gilman Trail, and on a train ride back from ComicCon in 2009. A production company funded entirely by fans, where the creators retained control over their work and worlds. I thought it was crazy, and I told Ben as much. It could never happen, not in this industry. And then it did, in our little corner of the Pacific Northwest, with JourneyQuest: ZOE, the fan funded network, where no one but the fans could cancel us.
Thank you for five amazing years with Zombie Orpheus Entertainment. The time has come for me to move on and pursue new projects. I remain a steadfast fan, and I’ll be involved as much as I’m able, but my path’s down a different trail. Thank you fans, thank you friends, thank you cast and crew family. It’s been a blast. I love you all.
Everyone at ZOE wishes Matt the very best in his job as a writer for an upcoming video game! We’ll be sure to let you know when the title is announced.
We and Matt have also compiled a short FAQ about his departure, which immediately follows this sentence.
What does this mean for JourneyQuest?
– The script for JourneyQuest: Season 3 has been completed and Matt is still attached to direct. We’re currently assessing options for bringing the new season to life. (see below)
What does this mean for Gamers 4?
– Gamers 4 is not currently in development, but should it become an active project or receive a green light, Matt will certainly be involved.
What does this mean for the larger Hopjockey story?
– Matt’s plan has always been to tell the Hopjockey meta story across a number of platforms and in different forms of media. His departure from ZOE won’t complicate the rollout or development of future installments in the story.
Where can people view the projects that Matt is working on currently?
– The best way to track Matt’s projects would be to follow him on Twitter (@mattvancil) or on Facebook. He has a website (www.invancible.com) that by his own admission he never updates, so that’s a roll of the dice. Best to go with Twitter, wethinks.
JourneyQuest RPG Update
As many of you know, Kevin Mickelson (who wrote the Mask of Death module for us) has been co-writing the JQ RPG and adventure path with Matt. Kevin will now be taking on full writing duties for the campaign. He plans to keep Matt in the loop on progress, as well as making sure that the story and information remain canon. With many months of story already sketched out, this should be a seamless transition.
As the adventure path increases in complexity, we’re giving Kevin additional time to complete each chapter. We think that you will be pleased with the continued depth and breadth that this time will allow Kevin to achieve. He’s hard at work on the next update right now!
We’re also planning on converting each chapter into a fully formatted, downloadable PDF, which will make it much easier for you to print or access digitally during a campaign. For those of who who don’t access the website very often, receiving these PDFs in your email should help keep you up to date on the story!
A JourneyQuest Discussion
Here’s where we need your input, as core fans and Phase II backers.
In its current form, to film the script for JourneyQuest Season Three would require a budget of $340,000. This would mean a Kickstarter campaign goal of around $500,000.
Please visit the blog version of this newsletter and let us know what you think about the following options: • Continue as written, mount a campaign for $500,000, and shoot the complete season if the campaign succeeds. • Attempt to reduce the scope of the script until it can be shot for a lower total goal. • Maintain full production quality and shoot part of the script, supplementing the rest with a companion graphic novel. • Postpone production of JQ3 indefinitely while we work on smaller projects with fast turnarounds that can help build the fan base to a size large enough to fund JQ3 fully.
We all want to do justice to the epic story that Matt has created and will direct for JQ3. We also firmly stand behind our No Studio, No Network, No Cancellation policy. And right now part of living up to that standard means having a candid discussion with you, involving you in making the best possible decision for the show, and making sure that we continue to produce incredible content. Let us know what you think in the comments!
The Future of ZOE
Many of you are probably wondering what Matt’s departure means for the company. In terms of current projects and releases, very little will change. We’re finishing up the Gamers 3 campaign fulfillment, working on Humans & Households, Natural One, Dark Dungeons, JourneyQuest Season Three, and the secret project we shot last December. And of course, we will invite Matt to attend conventions, screenings, and development meetings as his schedule permits.
The big question for the company right now is whether we should continue with large tentpole productions, like JourneyQuest and The Gamers, that can take a year or two to complete, or if we should change focus for a while to smaller, more contained shows with much faster turnarounds. Part of the challenge with these large productions has been keeping up with their scope and general epic-ness. Completing Gamers 3, for example, has been exhausting. Worthwhile, but exhausting.
We’re seriously considering mounting a series of smaller crowdfunding campaigns, like in the $30k-$60k range, that could fully fund ongoing production and new releases every month or two, rather than every year or two. At that size, we could afford to hire a full post-production team as well, which would take enormous pressure off of Ben, who has been our primary post worker since Andy went into major crunch at Amazon. Removing the post-production bottleneck would speed up the entire release process by a considerable margin!
What do you think? We have more stories to tell than there is time in the span of our lives—would you be interested in more smaller shows, more frequently, or are the massive tentpole projects what keep you coming back? Or would you like to see a hybrid, where we create regular self-contained campaigns and releases while we patiently develop the big stuff?
Share your thoughts below!
Conclusion
As always, thank you for your support and encouragement! We’re looking forward to a major website and technology revamp later this year, including shifting away from the problematic PayPal recurring payments system, streamlining our code, and upgrading our site to modern specs. We’re also moving into a new office space next week with the crazy geniuses at LeftJet Studios. With a full shop, two soundstages, super-fast internet, and an awesome community of filmmakers, we can’t wait to get started!
I know, I know, it’s been awhile. Several whiles, if we’re being honest. Ever since my son got mobile and chatty, it’s been hard to keep this website up to date. I even forgot to post news about my own Kickstarter, if you can believe that. Also, I hate wordpress. So much, in fact, that I made my wife type this post for me. What? She offered.
And on that front, she’s taking over managing this website for me, and will help me keep things updated as best she can. She promises me she’ll avoid posting kid pictures via her instagram account. We’ll see how long that lasts. Content is content. Anyway, she’s ideally suited for this job because a) she’s used to reminding me to do things I forget, and b) she knows how to knock information out of me — with a stick in her hands, I am an information pinata — so the site shouldn’t lack for new material, even if it’s just a transcription of me moaning over my stick bruises.
Some quick updates:
1. Perhaps the biggest news — I have left Zombie Orpheus Entertainment. This was a difficult decision, but ultimately the right one. I left amicably and am excited about future projects, both mine and ZOE’s.
2. JourneyQuest: Season Three — The script is done! And it’s awesome. The best one yet. The end of the season is basically the turning point for the series.
3. Another reason I haven’t been posting, aside from the ever-moving toddler and my general laziness, is that I got a full time job at a video game studio. I’m writing dialogue and missions and playing the game all day. Though it’s mainly the writing part. The game hasn’t been announced yet, but when it has been, I’ll let you know more. I or my wife will. I can tell you that we just finished closed beta, and will be launching our test market release in May.
4. Oh, that Kickstarter? Right. The novel! The first draft is back from my editor with notes. In a nutshell, she said “It’s great. Now fix these parts that aren’t great.” That’s what I’m doing.
5. My wife. She’s incredible. But you don’t get to know her name (I mean, unless you already DO. I can’t much do anything about that.) And you can’t call her Mrs. Vancil. She’s not my mother.
6. Last, but certainly not least — I am also teaching a screenwriting class at the Seattle Film Institute.
And that’s the first update in nearly two years. More to come as it happens. I promise the next one won’t be in 24 months. My aim’s to have a new update in at least HALF that time.
Finally watched both of them. Knights of Badassdom was surprisingly bad, the trailer really had all the good scenes. But Gamers 3 was much better than expected and a vast improvement over the second part.
If you like ZOE, JourneyQuest, and Gamers, we want to hear from you in the comments about two important issues.
ONE: We're preparing a massive Phase II campaign, with a completely revised tech platform, to get us sustainable. This is the top priority for ZOE, as it will allow us to continue producing. This will be a do-or-die kind of deal—if we aren't able to hit our subscription target we won't be able to continue producing anything and will probably have to shut the company down. If you have feedback or questions about this crucial upcoming campaign, please let us know in the comments! We'll use your feedback to help us craft the best possible campaign, video, and reward revisions.
TWO: We've budgeted JourneyQuest Season Three. As written, it's going to require a $500,000 Kickstarter campaign. We're worried that this may be too big an ask, especially directly following the Phase II campaign we're getting ready to launch. Our preference would be to get Phase II to our subscription target, focus on creating awesome weekly content from a combination of Phase II revenue and a series of smaller, faster turnaround Kickstarters, then launch JQ3 when we're confident we can do it right (and without sending Ben back to the hospital).
BUT… we're willing to be convinced to launch the JQ3 Kickstarter sooner, if you can convince us that there's enough support out there to grow Phase II and a fund $500k campaign for the JQ3 production budget. Our primary goal is long term sustainability, which means that we don't want to ask too much of you—the power of the ZOE is in the collective ability of you, the fans, to fund us directly and we're very wary of "solutions" that would put pressure on individual pocketbooks.
We know that times are tough. We know that jobs are scarce, rents are going up, student loans are growing, and many people are fighting hard to keep their finances together. Our long term goal is for Phase II alone to fund our studio and productions, as that would eliminate the need for separate (and checkbook-busting) Kickstarter campaigns. And we know that Phase II + a large Kickstarter would be a double whammy.
SO… how important to you is ZOE and our shared mission? When we launch the new Phase II campaign, can you commit to helping us reach a funding level that will let us hire the help we need to keep the doors open and focus our efforts on more content, rather than management and programming? And if you want JQ3 moving forward now, rather than later, can you help us find 4,999 other people willing to pledge an average of $100 apiece to make it happen?
YOU are our funders, not the networks, not the studios, not advertisers. And that means, when we have big decisions to make, that your voices are the most important ones in the room. We're here and we're listening. Let's have a conversation!
(P.S. We know you'll have tons of questions and we're excited to answer them in the comments, rather than making this wall-of-text post even longer.)
Cable networks? Game of Thrones budgets? Net neutrality? Mostly, these sound like concerns for big players in the media landscape, not a tiny fan supported company like ZOE. But the linked Salon article identifies several issues that are extremely relevant to all media creators.
First, net neutrality, about which much has been written. Yes, it will threaten everything, no, we’re too small to do anything about it other than join larger lobbying groups and educate the public where we can.
Second, the question of how television budgets have been subsidized at a level that can support massive shows like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. See, ZOE’s work receives zero subsidies, only fan support. And quality TV is not cheap to produce. And if it is cheap, that means that somewhere in the pipeline, somebody wasn’t being compensated for their time and labor. This is (mostly) fine if you’re a hobbyist working on a weekend project. But if you’re a professional producer? It’s not okay!
The final question raised by this article is key: would you rather, given the choice, reduce quality or the scope of the story? We have had countless internal discussions about this issue. Quality shows professionalism. It looks good. It sounds good. It’s creatively fulfilling! And without budgets that would make you, the fan funders, shudder in fear, it’s almost impossible to maintain unless you’re telling stories about a couple of characters in a room, talking and maybe drinking tea. Why? Because somewhere in the pipeline, somebody worked for less than a reasonable wage to close the gap between the budget and the dream.
In some ways, it sounds like a Catch-22. Without cable-level technical quality, what if people don’t take us seriously? What if the fans stop watching? What if our shows never win any awards? But on the other hand, how feasibly could we raise a half-million dollars minimum for each new season of a show like JourneyQuest, Gamers, or anything else that we have in development? So we’re faced with the same choices on every new project: raise more money, cut the story, or cut the quality.
Who here remembers The Gamers? Technically, the quality was beyond amateur. It’s a visual nightmare for film professionals. But do you want to know a secret? It’s one of the two top-selling films in the DG/ZOE catalog? People love it. And do they love it for the story, for the humor, and for the heart. Here’s another secret: JourneyQuest Season Two, the most visually accomplished show we’ve produced to date (we had to sacrifice quality to the Story Gods on Gamers 3—and we’re okay with that!) is our biggest financial flop. Don’t get us wrong, we’re completely proud of that season. But as a benchmark for what we can achieve visually, it would cost us easily over half a million to do again. Why? Because everybody involved in that show made major personal sacrifices to bridge that budget/dream gap. We did it because we believed in the show. And we still do. But that kind of sacrifice burns people out, no matter how passionate they are about a project. To shoot a show like JourneyQuest on an ongoing, sustainable basis requires boatloads of cash. (Or reducing quality to levels that would cause deep embarrassment to our entire team.)
So what does all of this mean for ZOE, both for the creators and for the fans who fund us?
Keeping a show like JQ going at the level we’ve been producing it means getting tons of new fans on board with funding a third season. At least 5000 people willing to put in $100 apiece, or 10,000 at $50, or 20,000 at $25. That’s a lot of new viewers hitting the “back this project” button. And that’s a lot of money to put into the kind of show that you could view on Netflix as part of an $8 a month subscription. But we’re not receiving cable subsidies. We don’t have enough viewers to attract large corporate sponsors or significant advertising revenue. And if you read the article, you know that those shows and their quality are at risk too!
That’s where we come back to the core ZOE motto: No Studio, No Network, No Cancellation. Being fan supported—and being a fan supporting our shows—means embracing the fact that we’re different. On the producing end, we retain creative control because we’re not relying on fickle networks and studios. On the fan end, you retain the freedom to fund content directly, in direct collaboration with the producers. We empower each other in a way that is totally unlike the Hollywood model. But that comes with costs and choices: without (at risk) cable subsidies and other traditional funding sources, we have to maintain the best balance we can between visual quality and storytelling choices. And you have to decide whether the experience and shows we offer are worth the premium cost of supporting our work.
So what does this mean for all of us moving forward?
First, for JourneyQuest to continue, viewership and fan funding have to quadruple. We’ll be setting up a special web page where you can share the show with friends, nurture their latent fandom, and encourage them to sign up for the “Fund JQ3” mailing list. When that list has 5000 people who have committed to $100 in funding apiece, we’ll launch a Season Three Kickstarter campaign.
Second, while you’re rallying the troops to increase the JQ fan base, we’re going to keep working hard at a more sustainable funding model than Kickstarter. We’ll be launching a new show, Strowlers, that can be affordably produced on a monthly basis in between massive tentpoles like JQ and Gamers. And most importantly, we’ll be working on a massive transition from Kickstarter funding to a revamped Phase II campaign.
Phase II will be moving to Patreon. This will allow us to spend 100% less of our time hand-coding fixes to our current (broken) subscription system. You’ll be able to choose a funding level that fits your budget. And we’ll be able to fund a new episode of content every month: no more year-long gaps between releases.
For long term sustainability and ongoing production, monthly subscriptions will allow us to predict revenue, hire full time help, and dramatically close the gap between funding and releasing new projects. You’ll be able to join and leave when it works for you. If you don’t want to subscribe, you’ll be able to pay what you want for episodes when we release them, from $0 to… well, whatever you choose to put in. With predictable revenue, we’ll be able to be MUCH more efficient with your dollars.
And if we all commit to this together, we’ll be producing awesome, independent, Creative Commons licensed, fan funded content while the studios and networks are looking back at the golden age of television and wondering what went wrong.
Dorkness Rising was my favourite. The first one was funny, but the silly ending let it down. Also, I felt that the first one was the kind of film that only a gamer would find funny, because non-gamers are less likely to get the in-jokes.
I love how Zombie Orpheus / Dead Gentleman love to tie things into other things. I was rather amused that they tied Natural One to their little news series Rude Mechanical.
Thanks to a generous sponsorship from Amanda and Brian Cook, we are thrilled to announce that ZOECON 2014 will be streaming events from the main stage all weekend.
You can view the entire convention online at http://fansupported.net/ While it's streaming for free, there's a convenient tip jar available if you want to help support the show.
STREAMING SCHEDULE All times are Pacific Standard
SET UP and TROUBLESHOOTING Kentucky Blue Clay Radio Play Fri, 6:00 PM 30 m PG-13 “Lunch” Screening Fri, 6:30 PM 30 m R Celebrity Artemis Fri, 7:00 PM 30 m PG The Gamers Live Fri, 8:00 PM 120 m PG-13 DG MST3K Fri, 10:00 PM 120 m R JourneyQuest season 1 Sat, 10:00 AM 60 m PG Gamers: Humans & Households + Gamers: Natural 1 Sat, 11:00 AM 60 m PG JourneyQuest Season 3 script reading Sat, 12:00 PM 60 m PG-13 Writing Workshop with Matt Vancil Sat, 1:00 PM 60 m PG The DG Report: Dead by Don Sat, 2:00 PM 60 m PG ZOE State of the Union Sat, 3:00 PM 60 m PG Reveal: Strowlers Sat, 4:00 PM 60 m PG Geek Trivia Sat, 5:00 PM 90 m PG Dark Dungeons Sat, 7:00 PM 60 m PG-13 Reveal: Attacking the Darkness Sat, 8:00 PM 60 m PG-13 The Gamers Sat, 9:00 PM 60 m R The Gamers: Dorkness Rising Sat, 10:00 PM 90 m PG-13 The Gamers: Hands of Fate Sat, 11:30 PM 150 m R JourneyQuest Season 2 Sun, 9:30 AM 90 m PG-13 Women in Film Sun, 11:00 AM 60 m PG-13 GamerChick Sun, 12:00 PM 60 m PG-13 Standard Action Sun, 1:00 PM 60 m PG-13 Chop Socky Boom Sun, 2:00 PM 60 m PG-13 Goodbye Party/Hangout & Feedback Session Sun, 3:00 PM 60 m PG
I might as well change the title of this thread to Zombie Orpheus Entertainment / Dead Gentlemen Productions Projects since I'm probably going to be posting the other projects as well.
If you love JourneyQuest, this is your chance to prepare for our Season Three campaign. We need at least 4200 people to add their names to the list before we launch the Kickstarter.
JourneyQuest Season Three is the biggest show we've ever attempted and it will only be possible with your help: pledging for the campaign, spreading the word, and introducing more people to the incredible, fan-funded show that you made possible!
Want more adventures of Perf, Nara, Glorion, and Carrow? Here's what to do:
1. Sign up at http://www.renewjourneyquest.com (it's like a pre-Kickstarter) 2. Share this web page on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Google +, etc. 3. Screen Seasons One and Two for your friends and explain how ZOE works: we are creator distributed and fan funded, which means that only you can cancel or renew a show that you love. 4. Make your own awesome JourneyQuest fan art, fan fiction, or whatever else inspires you. The show is released under a Creative Commons license that allows your creativity to go wild. 5. Talk with other fans and come up with your own awesome ideas for promoting the show and the upcoming campaign. Collaborate. Have fun. Do brilliant things that we never could have imagined.
Thanks to your support and encouragement, we've made some incredible shows since launching in 2010: JourneyQuest, The Gamers: Hands of Fate, Dark Dungeons, Natural One, and Humans & Households. Together, let's keep turning the Hollywood model upside down, with shows that could only be made thanks to direct fan support.
What You Get When You Sign Up
We’ll add you to the JourneyQuest Season Three email newsletter. We’ll count you as a likely future supporter of the JQ3 Kickstarter campaign. And when enough people have signed up, we’ll launch the campaign and let you know that it’s time to Renew JQ.
As a special thank you, when you join the list we’ll email you an exclusive wallpaper of a Rob Carlos sketch featuring Death, Silver Tom, and Glorion. We’ll also send you a link to the first ten pages of the Season Three script as a small preview of what Matt Vancil has in store for you!
Please make sure you whitelist @zombieorpheus.com in your email client. If you decide that you no longer wish to be on this list, you can easily unsubscribe from any future mailings. We will remove your name from the list and reduce the subscriber counter by one.
Our Fans Say it Best
"Two words; character development. These ZOE buggers suck you in with humour and characters you invest in, care about, then make you wait to see what's going to happen to them. BRING ON SEASON THREE!" –Rob MacLennan
"One of the most original series with a cast and story that the auidience connects to immediately. We need season 3 in order to connect more to the characters that were left with all the cliffhangers!" –Aaron Auerbach
"I love the show because it allows me to explore the theme that runs most deeply through our work: namely, Christian Doyle naked." –Matt Vancil, Writer/Director
"Characters the audience can truly invest in: I have laughed, cheered, and cried alongside these characters every step of the way. I cannot wait for the journey to continue!" –Anastasia Bender
"The perfect blend of serious fantasy and laugh inducing geek comedy. It is a world building series you can't help but get invested in." –Avi Goltz
"The perfect blend of fantasy and comedy that is not only entertaining but captivating, too. There's something for everyone: romance, intrigue, adventure, tongue-in-cheek humor, and SO many loveable characters. With wonderful storylines, multifaceted characters, and superb acting, what's not to love?" –Andi Smith
"Dynamic, well-written female characters who are so much more than cardboard romantic interest props." –Anna-Brit Schlaepfer
"This show is far too brave for quotes." –Joshua Raymond
More Reasons to Sign Up
Your Story is Written!
Season 3 script is DONE and just waiting to be produced and delivered to you. After that, we have 4 more seasons completely planned.
The Actors & Characters You Know & Love
Our actors have all been busy, upping their game and growing in their craft, and they’re just itching to get back to their JQ alter egos. There’s so much for them to do and say and learn and utterly fail at learning and still somehow grow.
Solid Funding = Increased Production Value
You saw a major step forward last season — let’s keep the momentum! We have amazing artisans and experts who can give you a beautiful fantasy world with great costumes, makeup, special effects, cinematography, and music.
Quality Storytelling
You tell us you love the smart, funny, epic adventure tale with complex, layered characters for all the genders and species. JourneyQuest is unique in today’s entertainment landscape, and we are determined to make the kind of show you — and we! — want to watch.
Bring Back JourneyQuest!
The story is ready (and it’s so good!). The actors and crew are ready. But we can’t do it without you, and we can’t do it on a shoe-string anymore.
Like Gamers 3, JourneyQuest has become an amazing showcase for talent in front of and behind the camera. We have returning (big name) guest stars, we have professional actors and crew who need to be fairly compensated for their expertise and their dedication to you and to us. And, directly because of YOUR support and encouragement, we have a story that we believe with all our collective being deserves to be infused with all the magic and heart you expect from this production company.
Help us make the show you want. We can’t wait to give it to you. THANK YOU!
Hey, fans and backers! Thanks so much for visiting our Patreon page. We've had a great first five years—making shows like JourneyQuest, The Gamers: Hands of Fate, Dark Dungeons, Natural One, Humans & Households, Rude Mechanical, and our upcoming feature film Attacking the Darkness—and now we have big plans for the future, in partnership with Dead Gentlemen Productions!
We want to fund ongoing, independent series, with new episodes every month. We want to greenlight new seasons of shows like JourneyQuest (see our JQ-FAQ) and The Gamers and we want to introduce awesome new shows like Strowlers, Demon Hunters: The Iota Initiative, and many more. And we want to do it without compromising quality, vision, or storytelling.
As a fan supported company, we've given YOU the power to renew or cancel the shows that you love: not advertisers, not sponsors, neither studios nor networks. And we believe in you so much that we release many of our shows under a Creative Commons license that lets you share, remix, and create new inspirations based on what YOU funded.
Now, with your support and encouragement, we're continuing a journey toward true, independent, sustainable production.
Please consider joining us as a monthly subscriber. We're offering some awesome rewards to thank you for your support! All Patrons will also receive bonus periodic and exclusive downloads, including digital content from our old Phase II campaign, soundtracks, wallpapers, and more!
Comments
We and Matt have also compiled a short FAQ about his departure, which immediately follows this sentence.
JourneyQuest RPG Update
As many of you know, Kevin Mickelson (who wrote the Mask of Death module for us) has been co-writing the JQ RPG and adventure path with Matt. Kevin will now be taking on full writing duties for the campaign. He plans to keep Matt in the loop on progress, as well as making sure that the story and information remain canon. With many months of story already sketched out, this should be a seamless transition.
As the adventure path increases in complexity, we’re giving Kevin additional time to complete each chapter. We think that you will be pleased with the continued depth and breadth that this time will allow Kevin to achieve. He’s hard at work on the next update right now!
We’re also planning on converting each chapter into a fully formatted, downloadable PDF, which will make it much easier for you to print or access digitally during a campaign. For those of who who don’t access the website very often, receiving these PDFs in your email should help keep you up to date on the story!
A JourneyQuest Discussion
Here’s where we need your input, as core fans and Phase II backers.
In its current form, to film the script for JourneyQuest Season Three would require a budget of $340,000. This would mean a Kickstarter campaign goal of around $500,000.
Please visit the blog version of this newsletter and let us know what you think about the following options:
• Continue as written, mount a campaign for $500,000, and shoot the complete season if the campaign succeeds.
• Attempt to reduce the scope of the script until it can be shot for a lower total goal.
• Maintain full production quality and shoot part of the script, supplementing the rest with a companion graphic novel.
• Postpone production of JQ3 indefinitely while we work on smaller projects with fast turnarounds that can help build the fan base to a size large enough to fund JQ3 fully.
We all want to do justice to the epic story that Matt has created and will direct for JQ3. We also firmly stand behind our No Studio, No Network, No Cancellation policy. And right now part of living up to that standard means having a candid discussion with you, involving you in making the best possible decision for the show, and making sure that we continue to produce incredible content. Let us know what you think in the comments!
The Future of ZOE
Many of you are probably wondering what Matt’s departure means for the company. In terms of current projects and releases, very little will change. We’re finishing up the Gamers 3 campaign fulfillment, working on Humans & Households, Natural One, Dark Dungeons, JourneyQuest Season Three, and the secret project we shot last December. And of course, we will invite Matt to attend conventions, screenings, and development meetings as his schedule permits.
The big question for the company right now is whether we should continue with large tentpole productions, like JourneyQuest and The Gamers, that can take a year or two to complete, or if we should change focus for a while to smaller, more contained shows with much faster turnarounds. Part of the challenge with these large productions has been keeping up with their scope and general epic-ness. Completing Gamers 3, for example, has been exhausting. Worthwhile, but exhausting.
We’re seriously considering mounting a series of smaller crowdfunding campaigns, like in the $30k-$60k range, that could fully fund ongoing production and new releases every month or two, rather than every year or two. At that size, we could afford to hire a full post-production team as well, which would take enormous pressure off of Ben, who has been our primary post worker since Andy went into major crunch at Amazon. Removing the post-production bottleneck would speed up the entire release process by a considerable margin!
What do you think? We have more stories to tell than there is time in the span of our lives—would you be interested in more smaller shows, more frequently, or are the massive tentpole projects what keep you coming back? Or would you like to see a hybrid, where we create regular self-contained campaigns and releases while we patiently develop the big stuff?
Share your thoughts below!
Conclusion
As always, thank you for your support and encouragement! We’re looking forward to a major website and technology revamp later this year, including shifting away from the problematic PayPal recurring payments system, streamlining our code, and upgrading our site to modern specs. We’re also moving into a new office space next week with the crazy geniuses at LeftJet Studios. With a full shop, two soundstages, super-fast internet, and an awesome community of filmmakers, we can’t wait to get started!
http://invancible.com/?p=475
I got my HoF DVD in the mail today!
A little update posted in reference to this article.
http://zombieorpheus.tumblr.com/post/83825203540/the-future-of-zoe-journeyquest-gamers-and-you
The first episode of The Gamers: Humans & Households has been released!
The Gamers: Humans & Households – Episode 1
The second episode of The Gamers: Humans & Households has been released!
The Gamers: Humans & Households – Episode 2
The third and final episode of The Gamers: Humans & Households has been released!
The Gamers: Humans & Households – Episode 3
They posted The Gamers: Natural One episodes.
The Gamers: Natural One Episode 1
The Gamers: Natural One Episode 2
The Gamers: Natural One Episode 3
Just finished Natural One...
I love how Zombie Orpheus / Dead Gentleman love to tie things into other things.
I was rather amused that they tied Natural One to their little news series Rude Mechanical.
And older DGP project, but this is the first new Demon Hunters footage in a decade!
Demon Hunters: Eat In or Stakeout?
I might as post the Demon Hunters Orientation video as well.
Demon Hunters: Brotherhood Orientation Video
For those that have never seen the first 2 movies.
The Gamers
The Gamers: Dorkness Rising
That being said, here's the Demon Hunters movies.
Demon Hunters (1999)
Demon Hunters: Dead Camper Lake (2001)
JourneyQuest - Episode 1: Onward
JourneyQuest - Episode 2: Sod the Quest
JourneyQuest - Episode 3: A Rather Unfortunate Turn of Events
JourneyQuest - Episode 4: Deadly, Ancient Magicks
JourneyQuest - Episode 5: Not a Zombie
JourneyQuest - Episode 6: Bardic Immunity
JourneyQuest - Episode 7: Duplicitous Bastards
JourneyQuest S2 - Episode 1: An Epic?
JourneyQuest S2 - Episode 2: City of the Dead
JourneyQuest S2 - Episode 3: Mewling Monkey Talk
JourneyQuest S2 - Episode 4: Spry Little Bugger
JourneyQuest S2 - Episode 5: Bravery Favors the Brave
JourneyQuest S2 - Episode 6: Better Than Sex
JourneyQuest S2 - Episode 7: Much to Discuss
JourneyQuest S2 - Episode 8: Fall Into Darkness
JourneyQuest S2 - Episode 9: Retromancer
JourneyQuest S2 - Episode 10: Through Every Trial
Dark Dungeons Episode 1
Dark Dungeons Episode 2
Dark Dungeons Episode 3
Dark Dungeons Episode 4
Here's the Gamers Live show from Gen Con last year!
Gamers Live: 2014
"House Rulez" TV Teaser & Kickstarter Campaign
House Rulez - Episode 1
House Rulez - Episode 2
House Rulez - Episode 3
House Rulez - Episode 4
House Rulez - Episode 5
House Rulez - Episode 6
House Rulez - Episode 7
House Rulez - Episode 8
House Rulez - Episode 9
House Rulez - Episode 10
House Rulez - Episode 11
House Rulez - Episode 12
House Rulez - Episode 13
House Rulez - Episode 14
House Rulez - Episode 15
House Rulez - Episode 16
House Rulez - Episode 17
House Rulez - Episode 18
House Rulez - Episode 19
House Rulez - Episode 20 (The Finale)
Dead Gentlemen Presents...Episode 01: Western
Dead Gentlemen Presents...Episode 02: Vampires!
Dead Gentlemen Presents...Episode 03: 3.14159265
Dead Gentlemen Presents...Episode 03.5: Trimmings
Dead Gentlemen Presents...Episode 04: Orgasms
Dead Gentlemen Presents...Episode 05: Boot Camp
Dead Gentlemen Presents...Episode 06: Kick Off