TOP TIER: HAVE WE GOT A SECOND SERIES? (Patreon)

I've been mulling this over for months now, and... we're considering doing a second series of Digitiser The Show. 

Keep it to yourself. I just wanted to get some thoughts down for now.

Most of you know that both Sanja and I found the experience of doing the first series fairly awful. It was very, very stressful, for all manner of reasons. 

So why would we consider doing it again?

Where I'm at in terms of my day job is this: I'm effectively out of work at the minute. The TV industry still hasn't opened up fully, because of Covid. Work is virtually impossible to come by, and we've only just scraped through the last 18 months. 

I'm working on spec stuff, and developing one project, but they don't bring in an income. It's just taking a punt, frankly. No guarantees.

While I'm working on spec stuff, and waiting to see what happens, what money I do have is slowly getting whittled away, and on top of that... things are overdue that need to be paid. My only income at the minute is this Patreon, and as much as I appreciate your support, it doesn't cover everything. But I do hope you feel you get value for money...! 

Consequently, I'm starting to get worried, and have said to my agent I'd work on anything at this stage. Which is a bit depressing, but needs must. 

Digitiser is not a huge channel, but we do have a very loyal, very supportive, audience. Obviously, I've stepped back from retrogaming in recent years, but I do still write my column in Retro Gamer, and have never said never. 

Digitiser was, of course, first and foremost a retro gaming brand. And, let's face it, so was I. When Digi and I come together with retrogaming... that's when it seems to explode.

The most money we ever raised through crowdfunding, was Digi The Show. Yes, it cost a fortune, but we've learned to do things since then on a much, much tighter budget. We're sitting on something that could maybe, possibly, take a huge amount of stress off my shoulders and, if it's done right, be an enjoyable, creatively-fulfilling, experience that a ton of people would enjoy. 

So, being completely honest and open with you: IF we do it... we'd be doing Digitiser The Show, in part, for the money. It's like Happy Mondays reforming, or something. I need an income. I need to be able to feed my family, and pay the mortgage. A percentage of what we raised would be, essentially, paying for my time and creativity. 

But that doesn't mean we couldn't also do it for the love, if we can ensure we don't repeat the mistakes that caused stress the first time around. I'd still want it to be sincere and creatively fulfilling. Something I'm proud of. Something that's fun, that all involved enjoy. 

I don't want to put Sanja through what she went through the first time. I don't want to put myself through it. I want it to be as joyful as Digitiser Deluxe and Supernatural World, and all those other eps we've done since have been.

All of that would mean a leaner, stripped-back series. Still with that same Digi energy, of course, but first and foremost, the thing to prepare you for is that it wouldn't be the same line-up of hosts. We didn't need five hosts first time round, there wasn't enough for everyone to do, and it brought other challenges to boot. 

So we'd be looking at me, and - most likely, let's face it - Gannon. We would still want loads of guests though; people you know from the retrogaming scene. Some mates of ours. Some new faces. We'll see. This is very, very early days. We're only just starting to talk about this ourselves.

Also, this would be a limited engagement. I'd put any new series on its own channel; Digitiser Gaming, or something. Last time, I wanted to move on from gaming stuff afterwards, but most of our subscribers were there for more of the same. Which caused all sorts of nightmares, as many of you are aware. I want to keep it separate from what we do on the main channel.

Lastly for now, we'd be very cautious about what rewards we offer. Sanja has only just started re-sending the DVDs from Series 1, after all her health issues this year, and there's no way on earth I will be convinced to do DVDs again. But t-shirts, posters/prints, badges, all good. As well as the chance to come and watch the filming, get your name in it, maybe be a contestant - stuff like that. All tbd, though.

So, anyway. I wanted to let you all know. We'll be costing it all before making any big, public, announcement. Contacting people we'd like to be involved. And it's looking like I need to get my arse into gear with Digi Live 2.0. to boot. 

So, again, keep this under your hat, but... yeah. This might actually happen. 

Desperate times...!

Paul