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!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
TONIGHT: Passing The Torch to Critical Role! PLUS, updates on all remaining rewards!
about 5 years ago
– Thu, Apr 18, 2019 at 11:07:20 PM
Dear MST3K Revival League,
Hey, it's Joel, with a little bit of news to share about a Kickstarter that's not ours!
If you haven't already heard, the folks at Critical Role – a popular online role-playing web series – are finishing up their world-record Kickstarter campaign tonight… and it's going like gangbusters. A couple days ago, they actually passed their final stretch goal – an incredible 10 MILLION DOLLARS – which is enough to produce a whole season of their animated series, The Legend of Vox Machina.
I've got to tell you, I'm just so happy and proud for them. Their team started – just like ours – with a really humble and timely idea: a webseries that follows a really talented group of voice actors playing a role playing game. And, just like us, they have an amazing, unique fan base of backers and fans who call themselves "Critters."
Also, they have great taste! Their whole team are huge MSTies from way back, and several of them were backers on this Kickstarter… so when I saw that they were going to take over our record, I reached out and we've had a lot of wonderful discussions.
In fact, we've enjoyed talking so much that I'm writing this update to tell you that…
Tonight at 11:30pm, I'll be joining Critical Role's final Kickstarter livestream to pass along the "Championship Belt," as they become the new world-record holder for the biggest-ever Film & TV crowdfunding project!
So yeah, if you want to keep saying you were a backer on the record-holding Kickstarter, there's still time to toss them a few dollars before their campaign ends tonight.
(If you do, tell 'em Joel sent you!)
Anyway, I'm really pleased to be helping them end their Kickstarter, because it feels like a good way to celebrate the end of our record-breaking reign as the most-funded Film & TV project. You know, no record is meant to be held forever, and we've had an incredible three years to enjoy the title. Plus, for me, getting to #BringBackMST3K has been a true creative Camelot… or at least, Spamalot.
Either way, I thank you.
Of course, the end of our record doesn't mean the end of MST3K! We've got a lot more news abrewin', starting with our next big announcement on June 1 about the future of the live tour.
By now, you should also have gotten almost all of your Season 12 Pledge Drive rewards, like the t-shirts, tote bags and posters, so I hope you’ve been enjoying those. If you’re still waiting on the last rewards, you won’t have to wait much longer: we're right on schedule to send out the Collector's Box Set and Digital Download rewards at the end of May!
And, believe it or not, I'm just putting the finishing touches on the long-awaited Coffee Table Book today, so that we can send that off to print next week, and then get it to everyone who has been waiting so patiently. I know, it took a lot longer than we ever planned, but the good news is that it's now more than twice the length we originally promised – over 100 pages! – and I'm really pleased with how it's turned out. Even though I know it’s frustrating to wait, and has been pushed back several times, I hope you’ll bear with us for just a little bit longer.
Just like MST3K, which took a long time to bring back, I'm hoping you'll agree it was worth the wait.
So yeah, not much longer to wait for the final rewards from Season 11 and 12, or for more news about what's next for Mystery Science Theater 3000. Stay tuned, and be sure to join us for Critical Role's final livestream tonight, and find out what all the fuss is about.
Cheers & Thanks,
Joel
PLEDGE DRIVE RESULTS! Updates on All Remaining Rewards! PLUS: Season 11 Overstock Sale!
over 5 years ago
– Sun, Sep 30, 2018 at 01:44:37 AM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Two Kickstarters need our help! PLUS: Pledge $5 by Saturday @ 5PM for a chance to win amazing MST3K prizes!
over 5 years ago
– Thu, Sep 27, 2018 at 01:50:13 AM
Greetings, MST3K Revival League!
Yeah, it's Joel again, back with another quick update.
Yesterday, I shared the big news that the next season of Mystery Science Theater will premiere on Netflix on Turkey Day, which also happens to be our 30th Birthday… and reading all of your comments and posts, it seems like most of you are just as excited as I am!
But in all the excitement, I forgot to let you know that we'll also be continuing our time-honored Mystery Science tradition with our annual "Turkey Day Marathon," where we serve up six wonderful classic episodes of MST3K.
And, since we know some of you won't want to choose, we're actually going to make this year's Turkey Day Marathon available starting the weekend before Thanksgiving, so that you can see both.
See? Turkey Days are here again!
Anyway, we're still figuring out the details, but we'll let you know where you can watch soon.
Now, I'm still working with Ivan to finish up another update for the end of this week, which should cover a lot of "housekeeping" details I want to share with you, like:
The results of the "Season 12 Pledge Drive"
When to expect your new pledge rewards
How to get our final "leftover" Kickstarter rewards from Season 11
What to do if you're still missing some of your old pledge rewards
What's happening with the long-awaited MST3K Coffee Table Book
But today, I want to let you know about two other Kickstarter projects that could use our help… and they both end this weekend!
PROJECT #1: MST3K TRADING CARDS!
First of all, did you know there are Mystery Science Theater 3000 trading cards?
Last November, our friends at RRParksCards wanted to make official MST3K TRADING CARDS. So, they actually launched their own Kickstarter to get them made, and I've gotta tell you: the first series of cards came out in April, and they were really nice.
That's why I'm pleased to share that RRParks has decided to make a second series of MST3K cards… and just like last time, they're offering special "pre-order pricing" through their new Kickstarter, which ends this Sunday!
There's also another Kickstarter ending this weekend that I want to tell you about, because it could use our help and support, and also because I think a lot of you might really enjoy it.
It's for that beloved superhero rock band, The Aquabats!
If you’ve never heard of them, I could only describe them as hilarious shirttail cousins to Mystery Science Theater 3000. Their television show, The Aquabats! Super Show! was full of obscure references, puppets and cheesy monsters. (Also, the creator of the Aquabats brought the amazing Yo Gabba Gabba! into the world.)
And you know, to be honest, a big part of the reason I'd like to help them is because this project is also really important to Ivan, the brilliant guy who ran our Kickstarter, and is now one of our producers on MST3K. See, even though he's moved on from crowdfunding, Ivan agreed to run one last Kickstarter to help out The Aquabats, because – just like he did with MST3K – he saw how important the show was to the fans, and wanted to help them get it back.
So yeah, if you haven't seen it yet, The Aquabats' Kickstarter is one of the most well-designed and entertaining Kickstarter campaigns I've ever seen, and even has its own plot and villains. Actually, if you watch their videos, you'll even see a few cameos from some members of the MST3K family, who jumped in to help out!
Anyway, it's a really great project – especially for MSTies who have kids – so I hope you'll consider giving them a hand. That's why I want to make a special offer:
Any MST3K backer who pledges $5 or more to The Aquabats Kickstarter before Sunday at 5pm PST will be entered to win some big MST3K prizes, including gift packs, tour tickets, and an invitation to see the next new episode at a PRIVATE SCREENING with me and Jonah!
Pretty good, right? Here's how it works:
Use the same Kickstarter account you used to back MST3K.
So, there you go: two more chances to help two more really great Kickstarter projects, and to support another group of fans who are fighting to get their television show back.
I'll be back with another update this week to answer a lot of your open questions, but right now, these projects could use a hand from the MST3K Revival League… so go check them out!
Listen up, meat puppets! Now that I've got a steady job again, I want to decide what shows live and what shows die. So, if you post these messages and you make a pledge to help The Aquabats, I'll sneak your name into Joel's drawing again.
Just post this message and/or picture to social media NOW:
Join me! Together we can #BringBackTheAquabats the way #WeBroughtBackMST3K! Pledge $5 or more before Sept 29 & you could win some HUGE @MST3K prizes! http://theaquabats.com/mst3k
BIG NEWS: MST3K SEASON 12 will premiere on TURKEY DAY (November 22)!
over 5 years ago
– Tue, Sep 25, 2018 at 11:14:03 PM
Dear MST3K Revival League,
Hey, it's Joel again. How are you? Things have been pretty amazing around the Alternaversal offices for the last couple of months, and super busy. It’s also been a very creative time, which is what I love most about my job.
Last time I updated you, we were in post-production for Season 12, and this week we just delivered all the new episodes to Netflix. But over the last two months, we also put out the first issue of our new Mystery Science Theater 3000 comic book, visited DragonCon for a bunch of panels and events, and, of course, have been getting ready to hit the road for our big MST3K LIVE: 30th Anniversary Tour, which kicks off on October 9th. Yowza!
So yeah, I guess what I'm trying to say is: it feels like MST3K is in a really good place these days, and that's thanks to all of you.
Anyway, I've been working on an update to send out later this week with a few more deets, but this morning, I've got a big announcement to share, and I didn't want to wait... because this is awesome!
See, as most of you probably know, the first episode of Mystery Science Theater aired on Minneapolis' KTMA on Thanksgiving Day – or Turkey Day, as we have come to call it – way back in 1988.
That means that this year, on Thanksgiving, our little show turns thirty!
And ever since #WeBroughtBackMST3K together, it's been really important to me to do something special to celebrate such a big milestone.
That's why I wanted to personally let you know that...
The new season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 will premiere on Netflix on Thursday, November 22, 2018!
It's a Turkey Day Miracle, y'all!
This Thanksgiving, Netflix will serve up six brand-new episodes of Mystery Science Theater. That means you can binge-eat turkey and binge-view movie cheese at the same time... and that we'll have a new season of MST3K, just in time for our 30th Anniversary!
You can read a little more about it over at The AV Club, but I'm really pleased with how the new season turned out, and think they might be some of our best episodes yet, so I can't wait for you to see them.
So yeah, that's the big news for today… but I'll have more updates for you later this week, because there are a few things I want to share before our tour starts.
So, stay tuned!
Cheers & Thanks,
Joel
Pledge Drive Update: Why MST3K is Still Fundraising. PLUS: Price Drops, New Reward Bundles + Region-Free Box Sets!
over 5 years ago
– Mon, Jul 30, 2018 at 11:08:37 PM
Dear MST3K Revival League,
Yeah, it's Joel again. I hope you had a nice weekend.
First, I wanted to give you a quick update on how things have been going, since there's still so much going on around here.
QUICK UPDATES
I'm happy to report that SEASON 12 is still on schedule, and we're working through post-production. Also, I know I keep saying this, but man: the episodes are just coming out so great. I'm really pleased, and want to give a big thanks to all of the post-production folks at Abominable Pictures who are doing such a wonderful job.
I'm also happy to tell you that the MST3K COMIC enjoyed a great reception at San Diego Comic Con last week, as well as right here online! Your feedback has been really helpful, so thanks to everyone who took the time to read the free preview, and to share their thoughts on our newest media experiment.
And, of course, preparations for the MST3K LIVE: 30TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR are still coming along. Our writing team here at Alternaversal has been working through the movies, and for those of you planning to join us, I want you to know that we're taking special care to make sure that Deathstalker (now actually Deathstalker 2) will be "family friendly" in the same way the TV show is.
In fact, you can learn more about that right here.
Now, with all of that out of the way, I wanted to take a little more time to answer some of the questions about the SEASON 12 PLEDGE DRIVE that we've been running, and to share a few big changes we've decided to make, based on your feedback.
WHY HAVE A PLEDGE DRIVE? (PART 2)
When we first announced the pledge drive, I explained how the most important reason we wanted to do this was because so many of you asked for it, and because we loved having you so involved and connected to the whole process of making the show.
Over the last few weeks, though, we've heard from some of you who wanted to know:
"Why do we need to raise more funds, if Mystery Science Theater 3000 already has a home on Netflix?"
We've also heard from a few people who would like to know:
"How is Mystery Science Theater going to use the funds from this pledge drive? Do we really need them?"
And you know, those are good questions, so I want to take some time to answer them more clearly. To tell you the truth, I actually thought about answering them a few weeks ago, when we first launched the pledge drive – but I wondered if it was too "inside baseball."
But, since some of you are curious, I think it's worth sharing some more details, so that you'll understand why this pledge drive is necessary, and why your pledges still matter.
Here's one thing that a lot of people don't know:
Platforms and networks these days typically don’t pay 100% of the production budget for a show.
That's because they expect that the show will also get some of the funding it needs in additional ways, such as being licensed to other partners including networks in other countries.
So, for example, when you watch an episode of Doctor Who, part of the budget comes from the BBC in the UK… but some also comes from BBC America, and some more comes from each of the networks in other countries that want to run the show. It’s also translated into a bunch of other languages, including French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Russian, and, toughest of all, Canadian.
I could go on and on, but basically Doctor Who is viewed in over 200 countries around the world… and each of those is another place they can get more money to cover the costs of production.
Now, for most shows, international distribution is pretty simple, and is an important part of covering the show's production budget.
But here's the thing: We’ve discovered that that’s a much harder job with Mystery Science Theater 3000. In fact, it's near impossible, because to release our show worldwide, we’d have to get the legal rights to use the movies we're riffing in each country where our show is available, and we’d have to pay more for each country where we’d like to offer the show… if the rights to the movie were even available!
And, even if all of the movies were available in all regions and we could afford to license them, there's another challenge: on an aesthetic level, how do you maintain the comedy of MST3K when you have to first re-dub a film, and then translate 600 riffs from English into another language to see if they still are funny?
Also, how much more would it cost for each language you’d need to dub and translate into?
How do you manage that process and decide if the show is good enough in translation? And what if it's not, and you've already spent a lot of money just to find that out?
Just trying to think about it will make you cuckoo!
Simply put:
To cover the remaining costs of producing Season 12, we figured out that we'd need about $600,000 more than we had. That's a lot less than we needed to raise to #BringBackMST3K, but it's still a lot more than we have sitting around!
Now, the good news is that, so far, the Pledge Drive has brought in almost $300,000, after the costs of making and sending out your rewards – so for those of you who have pledged, I can't thank you enough. I'm really excited about the rewards we've got planned this time around, and I'm glad we'll be able to give you some great gifts to thank you for your support.
But, yeah: this is reality, Greg. And the fact is...
We still need to raise another $300,000, just to avoid losingmoney on season 12.
So, now that we've had some time to read your comments and questions, and to think about your feedback, we've decided to make a few adjustments to the Season 12 Pledge Drive.
CHANGES TO THE PLEDGE DRIVE
1. ALL PLEDGE REWARDS INCLUDE "REVIVAL LEAGUE MEMBERSHIP." First: we're changing things around so that all rewards now include the basic MST3K Revival League Digital Membership kit, which used to be a $15 pledge by itself. If that's the only thing you want, you can still get it by itself… but we thought it should also be included with every pledge. So yeah, now it is.
For anyone who ALREADY pledged $15 for the DIGITAL MEMBERSHIP KIT, please don't worry: we want to make sure we take care of you! If you want to upgrade your pledge to get something else, you can! Just go make a new pledge, and make sure to use the same email address. Then, once you've made another pledge that includes the MEMBERSHIP KIT – or if you already did – just send an email to [email protected] and let us know. Once the pledge drive ends, on August 17th, we'll start processing refunds for all duplicate pledges!
2. THE "COLLECTOR'S BOX SET" IS NOW REGION-FREE!
We've worked through some details with the manufacturers, and I'm happy to report that the Season 12: Collector's Box Set will now be region-free. For our friends outside of North America, that means that the DVD and Blu-ray discs will be playable in all players, with no region encoding issues to worry about. And, of course, it will still include an exclusive disc of bonus materials and behind-the-scenes content that won't be available anywhere else.
3. WE'VE ADDED "PLEDGE BUNDLES" TO GET MULTIPLE REWARDS!
It also turns out that a lot of you miss the "pledge packages" from the original Kickstarter, which let us give you a little bit more for your pledge. We thought it was better to let you get just the items you wanted this time, but – as a lot of you have pointed out – that also makes the individual items more expensive, because each reward costs less to make if more people get it.
So, starting now, we're adding THREE NEW PLEDGE BUNDLES:
$15 off two orders of $100+ at the MST3K.com store ($30)
So, you get $355 of rewards for $225, and you save $130!
And again, for anyone who ALREADY pledged for rewards included in these bundles, please don't worry: we want to make sure we take care of you! If you want to upgrade your pledge to get a full bundle, we don't want you to pay twice. Just go make a new pledge, and make sure to use the same email address as before. Then, once you've pledged for a bundle that includes ANY REWARD you already claimed, just send an email to [email protected] and let us know. Once the pledge drive ends, on August 17th, we'll start processing refunds for all duplicate pledges!
So, yeah: we've tried to make all of the pledge rewards a little bit better, so that you know you're getting more for your pledge when you support Season 12… but keep letting us know if you have suggestions or requests!
And, now that you have a better idea of why we need to raise more funds for Season 12, I hope you'll consider making a pledge and staying involved with the Revival League for another year.
