Hey folks, Harry here... I woke up to fantastic news today, we made our KICKSTARTER goal. Sure, it's just the first goal, but ya know what - it's been hard fought and I'm now anxious to see how the shows start coming together. None of what is to come would be possible without you. All of you. As of this writing, there's 679 backers, but we never would have made it without you folks in Talkback that were playing hijinks with our Kickstarter. Ever since we were hanging out in the thirties... it's been you folks hurling anger, reasoned questions and cooking up a variety of outlandish conspiracy theories... which simply were never true.
This KICKSTARTER came together in a mad rush. You see, I had already alerted the Austin Community College owned facility that houses our studio, that we would be moving out by the end of August. Why was I paying the rent for the Studio space for so long without definite investors? Firstly, because when we wrapped in 2012, there was a chance we'd get picked up by Nerdist for another season, and rather than use set budget to breakdown and rebuild the existing set, I wanted to use that budget to build some new set pieces... if the show were to continue. SO I fit the bill. By the time Nerdist finally explained the situation, we were into 2013. There was a rush by the team to secure financing for a SXSW shoot - we were all quite excited - but then our "Angel" pulled out before SXSW 2013 even got under way. A tight knit group of us got together and shot all the interviews, scrapping together equipment and the plan was to launch a Kickstarter shortly after that.
The next several months flew by. The person that was point on the KICKSTARTER, just never got anywhere with it - meanwhile the crew were spread to the four winds. Bret Hart was off DP-ing a film for Bert I Gordon (yeah, that one), Suzette had a number of projects she was involved in and well... There just seemed to be a feeling that was coming over me, that I was the only one holding on to the dream. I talked with Yoko - and we decided it was folly to continue to pay for the set, we rented a storage facility for much of my property that was on set - and I contacted the team to let them know that I had notified ACC of our intent to leave... And they just wouldn't hear of it.
Now don't get me wrong, I definitely wanted to continue, but again - contrary to popular belief, I'm not Richie Rich. My big savings account had evaporated, just keeping AICN afloat after the problems with last year, all of which were taken care of before the infamous Hollywood Reporter article had actually gone to print. That interview was December 2012 btw. But Brett, Jaime & Suzette would not let me give up without one last attempt to save the show.
Worries about this show stealing me away from AICN, are frankly ludicrous. When it was under the NERDIST label and we were faced with weekly deadlines, yeah - between that and Rehab and having a personal life and professional life... I was spreed awfully thin. But one of my conditions for this second season was to hopefully raise enough for a 13 episode BBC style season, which would allow for a month per episode - with a Christmas Special planned. KICKSTARTER didn't quite get to the numbers needed for that, but Brett has told me we could squeeze possibly a 7th voyage out of this. That said...
Tuesday, I was approached by someone I've known for quite some time, don't worry they're not famous, just shy, and there's a chance that something really spectacular could be announced shortly. And if it does happen, I again have the furor of Talkback to thank, your frustration drove an outpouring of love and support that frankly I've never experienced before. SO - THANK ALL OF YOU!
I say this with all seriousness, this wasn't going to happen without the Kickstarter. Not with that set. Not without your help. The PBS thing, was never in the talks before the start of this KICKSTARTER. Truly, this has kickstarted the show into a different format and a new life. It's going to take 2 weeks for the Kickstarter folks to settle all the accounts and then we can begin the process of making new shows! We're already communicating with potential guests and hatching plans for episodes and it is enough to make my head spin.
I can't believe we did it. I really can't. In fact, has it ended yet?
Oh my... THANK YOU!
