Quick Update (Patreon)

RL4 is treading water at 95%, I still don't have the final voices yet for two of the characters.  While I wait, I've come pretty far with My Mother in Law is a Scorpion (probably like 40%).  So they may even be finished reasonably close together.... but hopefully not.  I'm really eager to finish RL4.

Also, I'm going to be on a panel at an event hosted by my old uni.   I've never been on a panel before, I look forward to exhibiting my formidable public speaking skills.  And by that I mean probably seizing up with nerves and mumbling quietly while avoiding eye contact.  

I'm supposed to be talking about making a living from online animation.  The event is co-hosted by youtube, so I'm probably going to be expected to encourage people to do what I do.  Although I would always encourage someone to animate a cartoon if they have a desire to do so, I do not feel positive about running a business on youtube, unless you have a way to make minutes of decent content every couple of days.  If it wasn't for you guys on patreon, I would not be able to make the kind of cartoons I make, and it's an open question whether I'd be making anything at all as I can't imagine myself embracing the quantity over quality model.  Even with patreon, I need to take jobs when they come up (the decent ones, anyway).  

So if they ask me about any of that, I'm not going to lie.  I also won't lie about how youtube undermined the ability of anyone who makes short, dense material, either animated or live action, to make a living on their platform by promoting longer videos.  You can still find an audience on Youtube, but you better have ways to earn a living that don't rely on ad revenue.

Finally, I'm working with a local production company on a pitch for a grant from our local funding body, to make a live action series based on my cartoons.  I shouldn't say more than that, but if we're successful (a very big if) we'll be moving pretty quickly on it so I should be able to share info early next year.  It's been really cool working with film professionals on the concept, story world and episode outlines.  If it gets made, it will be a unique series, that's for sure.