"Have you guys considered putting it up on Kickstarter? I'm sure something like this would be a hit on there".
I heard that phrase nonstop during our brief investor hunt for "Four Tanks and a Healer". I resisted it like crazy because I thought Kickstarter would be the kiss of death. I thought we had too much going for us (great idea, great pilot, the involvement of Mark Ordesky, etc) to risk it all by putting it up on some fan funding site.
But as I kept hearing the phrase over and over, I made the mistake I think all of us artists make at one time or another: I began to envision incredible, fantastic, mind blowing things. I began to feel that not only would we hit our goal of $45k, but hell, we might even surpass it! After all, everybody kept saying "Kickstarter would be perfect for something like this." Maybe I was wrong and they were all right after all!
And, as every artist also learns sooner or later... the truth is not always so grand.
"Four Tanks and a Healer" is a project that I KNOW (not "think"... "KNOW") would be an absolute hit if we could get it funded. I feel indebted to the investors of the initial pilot, who helped us get it to where it is today. I of course want to make a full series and watch those who believed in my team and I reap the benefits they deserve to reap... but it's more than just that. I actually believe in the idea. In the characters. I relate so damned much to the question of "how much is too much?" when it comes to fantasy, video games, comics, movies, etc... (I did make
The Long, Slow Death of a Twenty-Something, after all) and I think "Four Tanks" is a hilarious (and slightly tragic) way of exploring that.
I will not give up on "Four Tanks and a Healer". Never. Won't happen.
And when some other cartoon or film comes along that takes place inside an MMO, and all of those wise-asses (all artists deal with them) who love to tell you your idea has "been done" try to do just that, I won't care. I'll still make "Four Tanks" anyway.
Even with the all-too-brief investor hunt and a failed Kickstarter project, Four Tanks is gold. I don't claim to know much, but I can claim to know that.
And, some idealist in me still survives. There's still a shred of a spark of a chance of a miracle. There are 7 days left on the
FOUR TANKS KICKSTARTER PAGE as I write this. And about $43,000 to raise.
It could happen.
But it would take a miracle. Or, a bunch of friends and strangers who all believe in the power of Nerdery to help us spread the word.
And... if not, then I will continue walking the road that all of us ambitious, detached-from-reality musicians, artists, and filmmakers always walk:
I'll keep fighting for something that everybody else gave up on. Because it's worth it.
Because after meeting with G4, Sy Fy, Comedy Central, Spike TV, and after trying to do a web-series with TheOneRing.net, after hunting for investors, and after putting it on Kickstarter only to watch it die... I still refuse to toss it in the garbage and move on.
Because. It's. WORTH IT.
And one day I'll prove it.
