What's next? Release & September Round-up

Dear Patrons,

I want to get back into doing monthly round-ups, so I won't be speaking too much about what I've been up to in October just yet. But basically, the reason it has taken me a while to get around to this update, is that I took on a very time-intensive job right as the month began (and I've had some major internet issues that are hopefully now resolved). I've shared the results of that job in the post the other day. Meanwhile though, please consider this post a mix between the long overdue September round-up, and the release post-mortem.

'TALES OF ZALE - FLICKERING LIGHTS' RELEASE:

It’s been a pretty amazing release experience, and if I ever undertake as big and time-consuming a project, I definitely want to build on this. Because nothing gives closure like overbooking your schedule for an entire month in celebration of finally putting your animation out there. The first month or so went above expectations number-wise. Those of you who have been following along on Discord know that the daily views kept increasing over the first month to a surprising degree. At this point, it has slowed down, but I'm pretty happy with 200k+ views on the video during the first month. I believe it is already by far my most-viewed video on the channel. One small observation that I made was that the vast majority of views came from Youtube video suggestions - and that there has been a big correlation between the like-ratio and the degree to which YouTube suggests the video to others. For the first month, about 10% of all viewers also liked the video. It's first once that ratio started trailing behind that the number of new views decreased. Well, it might not come as a surprise, but it's been interesting to track the numbers live and see how there really is something to that "like, comment and subscribe"-spiel. And it shows that it's because everybody has been so supportive and engaged that the video has been able to break through my normal YouTube algorithm roof. Thank you!

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to push the film as much on other social media as I would have liked due to my technical issues. But I think it's fine - I'm already happy with where the viewership is at currently, and the release was always thought to be more of a marathon than a sprint.

EXHIBITION:

Of course, the release wasn't just limited to being online. To mark the occasion, I also received funding to hold an exhibition in Frederiksberg and in Viborg. The Frederiksberg one was especially a joy, as I got to meet a lot of new people of all ages and nerd animation to my heart's content. We weren't able to get any press coverage despite both the city mayor, Michael Vindfeldt, and one of the famous OG animation nerds, Jakob Stegelmann, speaking at the opening. It's difficult to raise awareness, but we did our best, and I'm still happy with the 150 quality attendants we had over those two weeks.

On the other hand, we had a LOT of visitors in Viborg, but there the exhibition was more of a background element to the rest of the happenings, so I didn't get to engage too much with people outside of my spot at the Artist Alley. The festival arranger wasn't super happy with the walls the location provided, so we are looking into doing a follow-up exhibition at some of the local libraries. Still, I had my fun for now.

ART BOOK:

And of course, the art book and other merchandise were also a BIG undertaking during the release period. I was working with an awesome designer named Per Freundlich, and was writing and setting it up during the busy TV-series trailer and film-finalization period. A special thank-you also to Robbie and Josh, who helped proof-read the book, and make it all the more polished! The art book and other merch is currently being sold at this store link. If you want it signed, you can as a Patron put in the promo code FL1CKER22 and let me know in the notes if you'd also like a doodle of anything in particular.

I hope that this book and merch is something that I can sell for a good while forward, but currently, I think I will keep the store open only around special seasons or releases. Right now, my plan is to keep it open until the end of the year or January. Though it depends a bit on how my release schedule for the additional content turns out. The thing is, keeping the store open is a monthly expense, so spreading purchases out too much just starts becoming an unnecessary hurdle.

NEW COMPETITION SELECTIONS:

So, most of the festivals I've applied for are still a long ways off with their selection process. But Flickering Lights was selected for a couple of monthly competitions. First, there's the Swedish Film Awards. I'll first know if it has won the monthly competition around the 22nd, so I haven't really announced it. Secondly, it has been selected for Lift-off Online. If it wins this monthly competition it'll be screened in both London and Hollywood. I will probably be posting shortly about it on SoMe out of obligation, but I otherwise don't plan on promoting it. The reason is that the selection happens via audience votes, but can only be accessed via Vimeo's video-on-demand. The whole package of indie films will cost $12, and I'd just feel really weird about asking my audience to pay to vote for my film when they can watch it for free on YouTube. Let's just see which way the wind blows.

WHAT COMES NEXT:

So first off, for those of you who didn't see this part of the stream, here's an update on the general plan and state of affairs with Tales of Zale. At this moment in time, I am not planning on making any more web-episodes of Tales of Zale. Flickering Lights was meant to be a somewhat ambiguous ending to that chapter. I spent 3 years making this film, and offered up an absurd amount of my spare time to make it. It was a worthwhile experience, but doing the same thing again without moving forward doesn't make sense to me. I have skills I want to improve, other stories I want to tell, and more than anything, the version of Tales of Zale that I've fallen in love with and want to pursue is the TV-series version that we've been developing over the past years at Nørlum. We've made the trailer, written the sample scripts, done the visual development and a whole lot more. What happens now is out of my hands, but to set your expectations realistically, it will likely take at least a year or two at its earliest to reach the next stage (at least with the studio's current strategy).

In the meanwhile, I've got to do what I can to move forward on my end. Honestly, there's this project I've been itching to make for many many years, but I haven't tested it anywhere yet and don't know if it holds any merit to others than myself. I don't want to commit to any long-term projects at the moment, since I've promised myself to take a break and revel in the uncertainty for a while. But know that if you see me posting a whole bunch of action anime studies, it's probably because I'm training to be able to pull that particular project off.

UPCOMING RELEASES:

So, right now there's only one date that is more-or-less set in stone: a Spanish dub of Flickering Lights will be coming out November 3rd. I wasn't planning on having multiple dubs on the channel, but the folks over at Metal Rose Studios just did such a wonderful job on casting the voice actors that there was no way I could refuse. It might not be of interest to most of you, since it is just the same film in a different language, but I will likely make a little scheduled release stream again, and you're very welcome to join in the chat!

Other than that, Matthew is hard at work on the OST, and we are trying to produce a music video with Marquette's song. This part is a bit out of my hands too. Once they are done, I'll be able to edit it together and we can schedule a release, but so far no dates have been set. We're trying to make the OST an "ultimate version" of the music track and incorporate the music from the previous episodes too. But there's some adjustments and polishing that Matthew wants to do, so it may take a little longer.

I myself am planning on doing little tutorials and break-downs around the making of Flickering Lights. I want to start with storyboarding and break it into multiple episodes covering the different aspects and considerations. My thought is to release short versions onto YouTube and then longer versions here on Patreon. If you have any requests for subjects you'd like to see covered, let me know!

CHANGES TO THE PATREON:

So obviously, I have a bunch of re-vamping to do to this Patreon page. Instead of getting your name in the episode credits, I'm thinking of thanking current patrons in the "tutorials" I release. The page is also more of a support to me as an artist than to Tales of Zale as a project, although that is still a BIG part of what I do. My plan is still to do monthly updates covering whatever I'm up to and let you know how it's going with the TV series and the festival distribution whenever there's news. If you have any wishes for stuff you'd like to see, whether it be on the tutorial-side, the updates or anything else, I also greatly appreciate the input :)

WHAT THE MONEY GOES TOWARD NOW:

As always, your contributions greatly help me in covering my monthly material expenses (software subscriptions, internet package, cloud drive etc.). In addition to that, at the moment it will also be going towards submitting 'Tales of Zale - Flickering Lights' to more festivals. The majority of festivals have submission fees, and in distributing the film independently, I am limited in how many and which I am able to apply for. As such, the Patreon contributions really help expand the scope of where I can get Tales of Zale out to!

Of course, there are larger expenses that the Patreon funds may also partially go into - such as me actually going to some of these festivals to see and support the film.

WILL WE EVER SEE ZALE AGAIN?

Well, I'm not going to stop drawing and animating him, that's for sure! He just won't be starring in any more web episodes at the moment. But he might show up elsewhere! And of course, we've all got our fingers crossed that he shows up on your TV-screen at some point in the future.