You did it: you brought back MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000! Thanks to you, MST3K will be able to shoot FOURTEEN NEW EPISODES next year, including a new holiday special!
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Joel here. I know it's been a little while, but I've got good news: since the last update, so much has happened that it won't even fit in a single update.
So, yeah: for the next month, I'll be sending you an update every week, so that I can tell you about everything from our new head writer, to our robot-building process, to our new designs for the Satellite of Love… Man, there's a lot to share!
But today, I'm writing about something that's kind of time-sensitive.
Remember way back in December, during the last couple days of our Kickstarter? It was pretty crazy, but it was also really exciting and dramatic, and – now that I've had time to sleep – I think it was even kinda fun.
Well, today there are two other Kickstarters that I think all MSTies should know about, because they both need our help… and they both end this Friday night!
First of all, remember during the final week of this Kickstarter to #BringBackMST3K, when our friends at RiffTrax jumped in and offered a "bonus reward" to help us cross the finish line?
Well, now we get to return the favor!
This is something I've been hoping we'd all be able to do for a long time, especially because we know how much this means to a lot of you. But, like I said last year, we all have our own projects now, and it can be tricky to make all the schedules work. So, when Mike, Kevin and Bill told me they wanted to make it happen, I was really happy to join them.
In fact, Jonah is coming along too, which means that, for the first time, we'll have all three hosts of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in the same place, at the same time. Worlds collide!
It'll be a really fun show, and I'm excited to be back in Minneapolis with a lot of old friends, even if it's just for one night.
Anyway, here's the part I want to make sure you know:
There's not much time left, so go help 'em out, huh? Tell them Joel sent you.
Now, there's a second Kickstarter that also ends on Friday night, and this one is for a project that's really important to me, because it's all about a guy with a very special connection to MST3K: a little-known "musician" named Frank Zappa.
I don't know if I can describe how much we loved Frank on the original MST3K. I never actually counted, but according to fans, we had at least 60 Zappa riffs in the old episodes.
See, if you never got into him, Frank is really hard to describe. He was this really unique man, a "rock star" who didn't quite fit in any of the boxes, and he wrote this funny, strange, yet challenging music that a lot of people didn't always get. But actually, Zappa was a lot like MST3K: the right people got him.
And, even crazier, he was one of the right people: he got us!
One of the biggest surprises of my life was when I found out that Frank was a huge MSTie who loved cheesy old movies. (He even wrote a song about them.)
I never got to meet Frank in person, but I was fortunate enough to have a phone conversation with him before he died. I asked him what it felt like when we referenced his songs on the show, and he said it was "very unsettling. But I love it." At the end of the conversation, he also said, "Make sure you call me if you ever get bored."
Sadly, I never got to take him up on that, but now I can do the next best thing: introduce all of you to his work, in case you never heard of him.
In my mind, Frank Zappa was an extraordinarily talented musician, band leader, and patriot, who worked hard to protect free speech, and to encourage people to use common sense. He was obviously a visionary, and I'm so proud of MST3K's connection to him.
Anyway, now that you know why Frank was so special to MST3K, let's get back to business, because there's a second Kickstarter ending on Friday night:
If you don't know much about Zappa, I guess saving all of this lost material might not sound that important… but you know, this Kickstarter is actually a great way to catch up on what you've been missing, and discover just how crazy Frank's life and opinions were. They've been sending out a ton of interesting updates about the different crazy things that happened in Frank's life.
In fact, I think this project is so important – and will be so much fun for fans of MST3K – that I'll give you two really good reasons to help out right now:
Pretty good, right?
If you win, you can come out to LA, have a meal with me and the cast, and we can talk about our favorite Zappa songs. (Oh yeah, Jonah and Patton are fans too.)
Here's how it'll work:
So, there you go: two chances to help two really great Kickstarter projects, and maybe even get back some of that end-of-campaign excitement you've been missing!
I'll have regular updates for you starting next week, but right now, it's all hands on deck, Revival League! Go support these guys right now:
And seriously, trust me about Zappa: you're gonna thank me later.
Cheers and Thanks,
Joel
I know, I know. You haven't heard from me in a while either. Well, guess what: I've got a real job now. An important one! I'm going to be a star. But you saw Joel's message, so I need a favor.
And if you post these, we'll enter you in a drawing for another MST3K prize!
You know, I was going to start this update by wishing you Happy New Year… but that was weeks ago, so instead I'll wish you a Happy Valentine's Day!
Anyway, welcome to our first official update of 2016!
When I sent you the last update, we still hadn't officially started work on the new show… but just like I promised, we got started working on January 4 at 10 am. The first few weeks involved a lot of boring details that wouldn't be much fun to write or read about – budgeting, scheduling, contracts, staffing, that sort of thing – so there wasn't too much exciting news to share. But now that we're into month two of preproduction, there's a lot to tell you about!
So, let's get started!
• What's happening with production?
- We've got new offices and a Fablab workshop.
- We've got some offers from possible network partners!
• When will the new episodes be ready?
- We've run into our first delay: international rights for films.
- It'll take us an extra month or two before production can start.
• A First Look Behind-the-Scenes
- Joel's ground rules for sharing previews and sneak peeks.
- A first look at the new opening sequence!
- A first look at some new concept art!
- A first look at a new robot prototype!
- What's happening with the Kickstarter rewards?
- An update all about rewards is coming soon!
- Reward Order Forms: coming in the next 4-6 weeks.
- Reward Schedule: coming in the next 6-8 weeks.
- Let us know if you have questions before then.
For the first few weeks, it felt like everything was happening very slowly… but now, it finally feels like everything is starting to happen at once. Here's a little list of what I've been working on.
Finding MST3K's New Offices
When our Kickstarter ended in December and we knew we were going to make 14 new episodes this year, the first thing I started doing was looking for production offices. It took a little longer than I wanted, but I'm happy to tell you we found a great space at a pretty reasonable price! I've got the keys now, and we're actually planning to move in by the end of this week.
Finding MST3K's New "Fablab"
Once we found our office, the next order of business was finding the right space for our production workshops – or "Fablab" – where we'll have a team dedicated to helping me design, test, and build all of the crazy new robots and props we're planning for the show. And you know, I guess you can tell my priorities: we still haven't moved into our offices, but the Fablab has been up and running for weeks, and we've already started experimenting with a bunch of cool new ideas for stuff you might see on screen. More on that in a minute.
Finding MST3K's New Home
Of course, now that we've found the right places to put our production staff and our Fablab, we still have an even bigger decision to make: where to put the new episodes of MST3K!
Back in November, I told you that one reason our Kickstarter was so important was because, before we started talking with a bunch of network executives, we wanted to be able to show them that you're still out there. You know, I guess I figured if we could take away the risk and fear, and prove that the world wants more MST3K, those conversations might go a lot better.
Well, good news: I think it helped a lot! Ever since the Kickstarter ended, Shout Factory and I have been having really good conversations with a lot of different networks and online distributors, and – even better news! – we've got several good offers on the table!
Now, we're still in discussions, so I don't want to name any names just yet. But I've gotta say... the world of "television" has changed a lot since MST3K started, and there are all kinds of different business models and ideas about how television can work now. That means there are also all kinds of possible futures for MST3K. And even though most of the executives we've met are very smart and enthusiastic, I think some places are probably just a better fit for what we want to do, and how we want do it.
Anyway, there's a lot to think about, so we're trying not to rush into making a decision. As soon as we do, and I'm able to tell you more, I will. And of course, no matter where the new season ends up, we'll still keep our promise to all of you – so if your Kickstarter rewards include the new episodes, you'll get them no matter what.
Before I share some of the really cool stuff that's happening, there's one other update I want to give you, because it's really important to me to tell you as much as we can about what's happening behind the scenes.
Sometimes, that'll mean telling you about interesting ideas we're experimenting with, or explaining why we're making specific decisions about the show. But other times, it'll mean telling you when our plans run into hiccups, or when something happens that changes the schedule.
Good Cheese Takes Time.
Now, we want to get the new episodes out into the wild as soon as we can. But we also want to make sure the new episodes get their best shot at having the same quality (or lack of quality!) you've come to expect from MST3K. And sometimes, even when it's tough, that could mean pushing back our production schedule to make sure we're doing everything right.
We learned this lesson the hard way back at Best Brains, when we did our first season for the Comedy Channel (which became Ha! and then Comedy Central). We were pretty optimistic at the beginning, so some of our estimates about the schedule weren't long enough. Then it was a marathon just to get the first season on its feet… It was pretty brutal, and when you watch that first season, I think it shows.
So, yeah: I don't want to rush things to get you shows sooner if that means they won't have the chance to be as good. The schedule might change along the way, but if it does, I'll always try to explain why, and to tell you what's happening. When that happens, I hope you'll be patient with us, and be able enjoy being "on the inside" for the whole ride. This is what production is like.
Also, like I said: this is reality, Greg.
Schedule Delay #1: International Rights
So, yeah: it didn't take too long to run into our first dose of reality.
One thing that's tricky about making MST3K is that we don't already own the cheesy movies we riff on each show. So, the first thing we have to do is get the rights to use them... and that's not always so easy to do!
Anyway, when our Kickstarter ended, I put together a great list of 20 possible movies I wanted Jonah and the 'bots to riff in our new episodes, and that I thought we could probably get. So far, we've been able to work out the rights we need to use about half of them. But for the other half, it got a little more complicated: the owners were willing to let us use the films in the United States and Canada, but not the rest of the world's English-speaking territories. And I'd rather not make new episodes of MST3K that only our American and Canadian friends can watch!
So, here's what's happening now:
1. Shout Factory is still working hard to get the rights to those movies.
2. I added some more movies to the list, and we're negotiating for those.
This whole thing is taking more time than we hoped, but that's one of things that makes MST3K "special." There's just a process we have to go through. The longer it takes to get movie rights, the longer it takes us to start writing the script and riffing each episode.
But instead of getting uptight about it, I think it's better for everyone involved to push back our shooting schedule. I really hate stress, and don’t want anyone on staff to have to absorb that. (I don’t think undue stress ever makes anything better, except maybe football.)
Anyway, even though we'll have all of this worked out soon, it means we already have to push back our production timing a little bit. That's because our plan is to shoot all of the new episodes at once, over the course of about six weeks... so that means we’ll probably be shooting in August and September, rather than June and July, as we first projected.
(If your Kickstarter rewards include a set visit, or the chance to appear in an episode, don't worry: our team will be in touch soon to work out the details and timing with you!)
And you know, it's not all delays: we’ve already gotten our first five films delivered, and we've been working on editing them for time and content. We're also doing a little color correction, so that the silhouettes don’t get lost against the on-screen action. Each of these films are uniquely cool, strange, and cheesy, so I think you're gonna enjoy them as much as I do.
Anyway, now that I've updated you on the boring details… let's talk about the fun stuff.
Even though we don't have all of the movies, and haven't started scripting the individual episodes, there's still a ton of interesting creative work to do. Remember during the Kickstarter, when I explained that a big part of our first $2m was for "Startup Costs," to do important things like design and build all of the new sets, costumes, and other stuff that we re-use in each episode?
Well, while we work on getting all of the movies cleared and edited, we've been hard at work on those big details that will shape the whole look and feel of the new season (and the next few years of the series) and bring you back into the MST3K alternaverse.
A Few Ground Rules
Now, before I start sharing these early peeks behind-the-scenes, I need to say: no matter what I show you in these updates, I hope you won't jump to any conclusions about the show yet.
Usually, only the production team would see any of the stuff I'm going to show you, and there's a good reason. It's because some of what you see here might never turn into anything or end up on the show! We need to tinker with everything to learn what works, what doesn't, and what "feels right" for the next season of MST3K.
Right now, we're still playing and experimenting, and we have a lot of decisions to make about what new ideas, robots, inventions and characters we'll add into the show -- so some of this stuff just might not turn out.
This is a bit of a crooked path, I think. But it’s also the only way I know to make the show fresh again, yet feel familiar – hopefully. So, while I want to show you as much as I can, I also want you to keep an open mind about wherever we end up.
First Look: The New Opening Sequence!
While we finish clearing all of the movies, we've been working on finishing up the story for the new season's opening and closing sequence. I don't want to tell you much about what we have planned yet, but I'll tell you that I'm really excited about how it's looking so far, and that we've completed most of the storyboards for the opening.
If you've been wondering whether we're going to change the opening song a lot, here's a little taste from the storyboards that might give you a hint:
See how it says "Panel 73" and "Panel 74"? Well, we've got almost 200 storyboard frames just for the opening and closing sequences – and after the show comes out, we'll be able to share a lot more of them!
Now that we have those sketches, the next step is that we've started cutting them into an “animatic.” That's basically when you edit the storyboards together into a video and add a rough soundtrack, so that you can start to work out the feel, pacing and other elements of how the whole thing will look. Animatics are an incredibly useful tool, because they let us communicate what's going to happen on camera to everyone throughout the production pipeline. That way, we're all working to get to the same place at the same time.
Anyway, we've just started building an animatic for the theme song, but I think we'll probably make quite a few animatics to help us plan out the new host segments too… and once the episodes are out, it'll be fun to share some of those, so you can follow how things came together behind the scenes.
First Look: New Concept Art!
Over the last month, I've also been spending a lot of time working with some of our great concept artists, and focusing on designs for the "evolved" SOL interior and exterior. We've also been working on detailed plans for the new Mads' domain, the updated doorway sequence, and the designs for some new vehicles you might see on the show.
(Don't worry, though: we're not changing things too much. The general format of the show hasn't changed since the KTMA days, because it seems to hold up so well. I'm really happy with it, so I don't expect there'll be too many changes on that front.)
Anyway, just to give you a taste of how it’s all coming together, here is a sneak peak of just one of the sketches from one of our wonderful concept artists, Guy Davis:
And listen, before you start asking questions about this, I'll just tell you: even if you guess what this image is, and how we'll use it in the new show, I'm not going to confirm or deny anything yet. Remember: I want the new episodes to be a surprise!
First Look: New Robot Prototypes!
While our concept artists have been hard at work on designs for new sets and characters, our Fablab has also been prototyping one of our first new robots, based on a maquette I made.
Now, the maquette was just a quick example to give everyone an idea of what I had in my head, so it was only about 12" tall. It helped the team see what I wanted, but it was also too small to help us figure how it'll actually work on the show.
So, the next step was to build a larger cardboard mock-up. We've scaled it up to about 18" tall, so we can eyeball it next to Tom, Crow and Gypsy, and start thinking about movement, size, sculpture-contrast, colors and other details.
Here's a quick peek, so you can see how that's coming along:
Once we're done with the cardboard prototype, the folks at the Fablab will lovingly cut up my maquette and 3D scan it, so we can start to make a 3D print of an actual working version – one that looks like something that actually lives in the MST alternaverse and could be a “cousin” to Tom, Crow and Gypsy. Then, if the 3D prototype looks nice, and we decide to include this character, we'll start constructing the actual robots that you'll see on screen.
Since the Fablab will be the team that construct the unique “in camera” effects, props and inventions that MST3K is semi-famous for, I thought that building and developing a new puppet character would be a good “shake down” cruise for us, to get us into the groove of working together, and to help get the Fablab construction pipeline up and running.
...and more!
Believe it or not, that's just a little of what I've been working on for the last six weeks -- but I can't show you some of the other stuff yet, because it would ruin the surprise of watching the episodes. Don't worry: I'll hold onto all of it, and we'll include more in the coffee table book and the "Behind the Scenes" documentary we're planning to include with the Collector's DVD set.
And actually, mentioning the coffee table book and the DVDs reminds me...
While I've been working on pre-production, our "Kickstarter Support Team" has been working hard to figure out tons of details, and to start organizing everything we'll need to collect orders, design and manufacture your rewards, and get everything shipped out to over 50,000 of you.
There are a lot of moving parts here, but here's what our team asked me to tell you:
I know a lot of you are excited to get all of your rewards, but remember that most of the rewards don't even exist yet. We'll have more information soon… but like MST3K, it's a process. I hope most of you will be patient with us and remember to tell yourself that they're just Kickstarter rewards, and you "should really just relax." I promise, our team will take really good care of you.
So, there you go: our first big update of the year.
Also, in the last update, I said it was probably a bad idea for me to promise when I'd send the next update, because there's so much happening and I hate to keep anyone waiting. Now that you know what I've been up to for the last 45 days, I hope you'll understand why this update took so long.
I don't know when the next update will be ready, but I don't think it'll always be this long. And even if I get too busy, I'm actually working on a plan now to make sure our team sends at least one or two updates each month, even if it's just a few lines. If you're really hungry for more news, I hope that'll help tide you over between my long updates!
Cheers and Thanks,
Joel
Happy New Year's Eve!
I know things have been a little quiet on the update front, but don't worry: it's not because I forgot about the update I promised, or didn't have news to share, or ran away to Tijuana with all of the money. Actually, it's just the opposite!
Even though our Kickstarter has been over for a couple weeks, we've still been hard at work, because we don't want to lose any time. So, we've been busy making lots of preparations, and I've got some great news: as soon as the holidays end, we'll be able to officially start production on the new season and all of your Kickstarter rewards.
In fact, since there's so much I want to say – and so many new questions we need to answer – I've decided to split it up into two updates!
This year's final update is all about the "not-too-distant past."
Now that I've had a couple weeks to recover from all of the excitement and exhaustion, I think it's important to share a proper "post-game" report about the end of our campaign. And, since it's New Year's Eve and we're wrapping up 2015, I also want to take a minute to look back at where we've been, and where we are now. So, today I'll do all of that, and this'll be the last update for this year. Then...
Next year's first update will be all about the "not-too-distant future."
I'll send another update to share our plans for starting work on the new episodes and your Kickstarter rewards. In that update, I'll tell you a little more about what you can expect in 2016. I'll do my best to send it next week, but yeah: I guess you can tell that these things take a while to write, so I probably shouldn't promise specific dates anymore. Anyway, that'll be the first update for next year.
And you know, I'll try not to make these updates too long, but we've gotten so many new questions and comments since the campaign ended, so it seems like there are still a lot of you who want to know whatever we can tell you!
At the same time, I'm realizing this could be a real challenge as we keep going: some of you want to know everything, and some don't want to know anything except how to get your rewards! So, we'll do our best to find the right balance. If you don't want to read everything, just be sure to look at the highlights at the top of each update, so you don't miss anything important.
Anyway, let's start with an update about what we've been doing since the Kickstarter campaign ended, so you'll know why it took me so long to write this update!
1. Recovering & Enjoying the Holidays
So yeah, I'll just admit it: I took a little bit of time to recover and catch up on sleep… because if you couldn't tell, it was a really exhausting month. Or, if you count all of the time we spent preparing for the Kickstarter, it was actually more like an exhausting three months. So I was a little worn out, and took some time to rest.
Also, like a lot of you, I also took some time to celebrate the holidays and enjoy all of those fun little traditions that are part of the holidays: trimming the tree, wrapping gifts, eating too much food, and of course, the traditional “airing of the grievances.”
2. Preparing & Sending Holiday Rewards
Speaking of holiday gifts: there were a few Add-On Rewards that we promised to ship out before Christmas so that you'd have them for the holidays. And I'd hate to ruin Christmas, so I'm relieved to say that we kept our promise: by last Wednesday, we sent those rewards out to over 2,000 backers!
So, if you pledged for the downloadable "Classic Episode" or "Classic Collection" Add-On Rewards, you should have gotten an email with all the details you needed. (Thanks to our friends at VHX, who worked a lot of extra hours just before the holidays to help make that possible.) And, if you pledged for an autographed tin of Turkey Day Collection DVDs, we got those into the mail by December 16th.
If you were one of the people who got those Add-Ons, I hope they arrived safely and you've been enjoying them. But, if you were supposed to receive an early reward and it didn't arrive yet, I want to make sure we get it fixed, so check your Spam folder. If there's nothing there, email [email protected] so our team can help you right away.
And before the rest of you start asking about your rewards, remember: we won't even be able to get started making most of the Kickstarter rewards until next year. The only rewards we sent out last week were part of our special "Turkey Day Weekend" offer. Everything else will take a little longer, so I hope you'll be patient with us!
3. Answering Questions
Since the Kickstarter ended, we've also gotten hundreds of new emails, tweets and posts with questions, comments and suggestions. We've been doing our best to figure out the answers and write back to as many people as we can. And you know, I don't want to cram all of those answers into this update, so we're working on updating our Complete Kickstarter FAQ. So, if you've got questions, be sure to check that in January.
Also, if you didn't see all of the press coverage, the media wrote a lot of very nice things about the end of our Kickstarter campaign, and about all of you! In case you missed them, there were some great articles in CNN and The Wrap, and I also did a "post-game" interview with Rolling Stone, where I explained that our record-breaking total is already creating some interest from networks and online distributors. Don't worry: I'll tell you more about that in January.
4. Preparing for Pre-Production
All of those other things have been really important. But you know, since our Kickstarter ended, the most important work has been all about making the arrangements we need to make, so that we can start pre-production on schedule… on Monday!
During our Kickstarter, I told you a couple times that we couldn't start figuring out a lot of details about the new season until our campaign ended, and we knew the exact budget we'd get to work with. Then, after the campaign ended, it took about a week for Kickstarter to process all of your pledges and transfer the funds, and then we had to do a little end-of-year bookkeeping.
But now that we've got most of that worked out, we've been able to start making real arrangements for next year, and it looks like we're right on schedule:
I'll tell you more as we get started, but here are a few things I've been doing.
So, yeah: as you can see, I've been pretty busy for the last couple weeks!
Now, even though there's still a lot of work to do, I never really got to say much about the end of our Kickstarter. Plus, since we're about to get to work on the show, and 2015 is almost done, I feel like it's time for a proper "post-game wrap-up."
First, I want to say a little bit about our live "Final Countdown" telethon.
And actually, it's kind of funny to be writing this on New Year's Eve, because that's what our telethon felt like: a huge countdown party, where everyone gets together to help end one chapter and start the next one. Only, we got to stay inside where it was warm, instead of huddling in Times Square and wishing we were at home in bed.
Anyway, if you weren't able to tune in and join us, I've gotta tell you: the final five hours of our campaign were a lot of fun, but also pretty overwhelming. And if you did tune in, then you probably remember that we had a few technical problems.
OK, actually, there were a lot of technical problems... but you know, that's really just because we threw a live 5-hour telethon with almost no budget, using borrowed space and equipment, a crew of volunteer help, and less than a week of planning. Also, if you hadn't heard, we were just finishing up a massive month-long Kickstarter campaign!
The good news is, it sounds like most of you didn't mind the problems. A lot of you even wrote to tell us that it made the whole night more fun!
And actually, that was great to hear, because it takes some pressure off the first few new episodes. Now we know that if we screw up a little, you’ve already got an appetite for such things. ;)
Anyway, despite all of the problems and craziness, we had a lot of fun – and if you joined us for the final countdown, I hope you did too. Before I forget, I also want to thank all of the friends who showed up to see Mystery Science Theater across the finish line:
I also want to give special thanks to our friends at Meltdown Comics, who let us take over their store for the night, and XSN, who lent us their crew and equipment.
Also, thanks to our friend Jamie Kosoy, at Arbitrary, who jumped in at the last minute to make that great "fundraising ticker," so that we'd all be able to watch the numbers go up.
And of course, a very special thanks to all of the MST3K Meetup Groups and organizers who put together local viewing parties and fundraiser screenings for the final week of our campaign.
You know, they say it takes a livestreaming five-hour telethon to learn who your real friends are. I'm really pleased to realize that MST3K has so many great friends and fans. So, thanks again to everyone who made time to come celebrate with us. And thanks, too, for remaining flexible and open to whatever happened. I love you for that.
And if you missed the telethon – or tuned in but couldn't hear anything – good news! In January, we're planning to edit together some of the highlights and share them with you… with sound and everything! And if that works out, maybe we'll throw some of the best parts into the bonus materials for the new season.
So, yeah, like I said, the telethon was pretty crazy. But here's something even crazier:
We actually reached our goal of $5.5MM almost an hour before the telethon started!
When we started planning the telethon, I figured there was no way we'd reach $5.5MM without a big final push… but then things kept speeding up, and after I announced our "bonus" stretch goal – a thirteenth episode "Holiday Special" if we reached $5.9MM – things went even faster!
Anyway, by the time we started the telethon, we already knew we'd be able to make the full twelve episodes. That took a lot of the pressure off, so we were able to just relax and have fun with you, because I figured the real excitement was already over.
Turns out, the excitement was just getting started: a few hours into the telethon, our "combined total" (from Kickstarter and our Add-On Rewards) passed $5.7MM… and in the final hour of the telethon, our Kickstarter total alone reached $5,764,229, inching us past Veronica Mars to become Kickstarter's most-funded Film & Video project ever.
And that was just counting the funds raised on Kickstarter! If you added in the funds from Add-On Rewards, we actually reached our stretch goal – $5.9MM and a thirteenth episode – almost two hours before the telethon ended!
Now, I've gotta tell you: when that happened, I wasn't really sure what to do.
I mean, what do you do when you score a touchdown in the final 90 seconds of the Super Bowl? You're all the way back at the 50-yard line. Is there really time to try for another one?
But then, we started getting messages – faster than we could read them – asking if we could add one last stretch goal. So, we made the call: if we could raise a combined total of $6.3MM, we'd add another new episode, bringing the new season to fourteen new episodes. It seemed like a long shot… but when you've got the chance, you have to take it.
And then, it happened:
Or, to put it another way:
So, that's how our Kickstarter ended:
There was a ton of last-minute excitement. We scored one impossible touchdown, and then against all odds, another! The crowd went wild! And then, just like that... it was over. Our Kickstarter was finished, the holidays were here, and it was time to stop and take a breath.
Since then, I guess I've been trying to get my head around "what it all means," so that I can spell it all out for you. But since I've been thinking about it for two weeks, and I still don't know, maybe I'll just tell you what I have figured out.
Just like I promised, you got us into the Red Zone… and then, with everyone watching, we didn't just reach our goal: we shot right past it. It's like I said: you didn't just make Mystery Science History… you made actual history!
Thanks to you, Mystery Science Theater 3000 isn't just the highest funded Film & Video crowdfunding campaign in history… it's also the ninth-highest funded Kickstarter campaign in any category, ever!
And actually, when you look at the numbers, it turns out that we raised more than $1MM in our final 24 hours alone.
That means we also pulled off another really crazy feat:
We raised more in the last day of #BringBackMST3K than in our whole first week!
I'm not 100% sure if that's a first, but I've never heard of it happening before – or at least, not with a Kickstarter as big as ours – so, yeah: I think we've got a lot to be proud of.
Like I told you in our first Kickstarter video: this campaign was never just about bringing MST3K back for a few new episodes. It was also about finding a new home, and a partner who can help us bring MST3K back for more new seasons.
So, before we started meeting with those "conference tables of executives," we needed to show them that MST3K would be a safe investment – that you're still out there, and that you still want to spend more time watching a host and his robot friends riffing cheesy movies. We needed to prove that you want more MST3K.
By making Mystery Science Theater 3000 the most-funded Film & Video crowdfunding campaign ever, you've helped us send a clear message to every network and online platform we talk to: if they help us make more seasons of MST3K, you'll be there to watch it.
You know, there are still a lot of questions left to answer about the future… questions like:
And you know, we can't always know what the future will be like. (If we could, we'd have a lot less cheesy movies, and we'd probably never have gotten The Jetsons.) We're already working to figure some things out, and when I know more, I'll tell you.
But here's what I do know about the future:
In just a few days, we'll start working on a new season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 for the first time in over fifteen years… and thanks to you, we'll be able to make fourteen brand-new episodes next year.
You did it: thanks to you, Mystery Science Theater 3000 is coming back.
Before I wrap up this last update for 2015, I really want to take a minute to acknowledge a few important people who helped make this entire Kickstarter such a success.
1. My partners at Shout! Factory.
Without their faith – and a significant up-front investment to help clear up all of the rights issues – this Kickstarter would never have been possible, and we wouldn't have even had the chance to #BringBackMST3K. During the Kickstarter, they also worked around the clock to help me with some really fun ideas, like our week-long Double Feature Countdown. They've been taking great care of MST3K (and MSTies) for years, and I'm excited to be working with them as we get started on the next season.
2. Everyone who helped run our Kickstarter.
Even though I've been getting most of the credit, running a big crowdfunding campaign like ours takes a lot of work, so I've been lucky to have a few talented, tireless folks helping out for the last few months. They don't want me to share their names just yet, but maybe you'll meet some of them as we get into production. But yeah, they did a ton of work: designing graphics, answering questions, giving me ideas for updates, setting up our new website, shooting and editing our videos, organizing volunteers, coordinating rewards, posting on social media… it's been a pretty big production! If you've been having fun and enjoying this ride, they deserve a lot of credit.
3. The team at Kickstarter.
From our very first meeting, the fine folks at Kickstarter have been really supportive of our plan to #BringBackMST3K – giving us advice, helping promote our campaign, letting us take over their office for our Turkey Day '15 shoot, and even hosting a final countdown party so NYC MSTies could watch the telethon together. They've really been wonderful to us.
4. The MST3K fan organizers.
If you've spent any time in the comments section of our Kickstarter page, then you might also have seen that some incredibly dedicated MSTies did a lot of grassroots organizing to help the campaign succeed. It would be impossible to list all of the names here, but I want to give special thanks to:
5. All 48,270 of you, who pledged to #BringBackMST3K!
When we decided to bring MST3K to Kickstarter, it wasn't just because we wanted to raise money. It was because I always knew that the next chapter of Mystery Science Theater needed to start with you: the fans and friends and family who never gave up on MST3K, and who thought it was important to bring the show back for a new generation.
When MST3K was first getting started, our fans kept it alive by circulating the tapes. This year, you helped us get started again by circulating our URL. And, you know, it doesn't matter how much you contributed: if you pledged even $1, you're one of the 48,270 people on that list, so you're a part of this thing now. Thank you for helping us send a message that you're still out there, waiting for more MST3K.
So, yeah: I think that's enough for today.
I'm sure you've got a New Year's thang to get ready for, and we've still got a few more details to work out so that we can get started on the show in the not-too-distant future… next Monday, A.D!
Until then...
Cheers and Thanks,
Joel
If you haven't heard, the final hours of our Kickstarter to #BringBackMST3K ended up being even crazier than I hoped. In fact, if you haven't seen the updated graphic on our page, then let me give you two big headlines:
That's really good news for anyone whose reward package included all of the new episodes as downloads ($85+) or in the boxed set ($200+). It's also really good news for anyone who loves cheesy holiday movies... because, yes, one of those 14 episodes will also be a brand-new Holiday Special.
And like I said on Friday, that's not important because it's a competition... it's important because it helps us send a really clear message to all of those boardrooms of executives, to let them know that you're out there and waiting for more new MST3K. It's too soon to say where the show will end up living, but now that the Kickstarter is over, we can start figuring it out.
And as soon as we do, I promise: you'll be the first to hear about it.
Anyway, there's a lot more I still want to share, including answers to a lot of new questions we've gotten since Friday, and also a little bit more about what'll happen next, what you should expect, and when you should expect it. But I wanna make sure to cover all of the important stuff, and that's going to take a little longer, so I'm hoping to have a more complete update ready for tomorrow.
Until then, Crow and Servo asked me to share this video they made just after our telethon ended on Friday night:
I guess those guys really ended up taking all of the football metaphors to heart. I'm gonna need to be more careful about that...
Anyway, I'll be back with another update tomorrow or Wednesday. Today, I hope you'll take a minute to think about the amazing thing we've all accomplished together over the past month.
You really have changed the course of Mystery Science History – and actual history! And you know, I think things are just going to get better from here, so I'm glad you decided to join us and be part of everything that comes next.
Cheers and Thanks,
Joel