I really enjoyed Temporal. I hope you'll get the opportunity to do more fiction on Audible. I may be a dinosaur for this idea, but I like the idea of being able to buy the media I like.
Who are the people at the BBC who commission audio dramas? I don't understand why they would not want to commission more of your inventive dramas. Weren't the Lovecraft investigations amongst the most listened to series? Maybe they were too popular!
Yeah, a life of lumpy income sure does have its scary moments... especially when a long-run cash vein dries up. You echo where I'm also at, but currently in the web3 end of the tech industry rather than the entertainment arts. I've been here before of course, and your advice is good.
Re financing more audio drama... ISTR you posting somewhere that it costs around £70k to make one of your series, and that you got upfront money for Temporal from one of the partner orgs. I'm curious to know what the returns from Audible have been like, both to date and the long-tail prediction. Is this actually a sustainable business model? If not, could it become so with, say, a ton more marketing?
Thanks! And yes I have considered it, and am considering it. But I think, for logistical and admin reasons as much as anything, I'd need a handful of investors putting in a decent chunk, rather than hundreds of people paying £20 each.
Yeah, I did a crowdfunding of a small documentary film and the fulfilment side was a challenge. That being said one big point in favour of small donors is that no one expects to have any say over the product if they've given you £20
I've done a crowdfund for fringe theatre (admittedly 10 years ago) and it was *hard work*. Everyday is hassle your network day... for 42 days. And then the whole producing & shipping physical perks... I never again wanted to see another Jiffy bag! But we did raise £25k from 417 fans (mode average of £23) which allowed us to do the first 7 show R&D run of https://cosmictriggerplay.com/
On perks, I'd definitely buy that RPG-style box set that David Shipley riffs on above in support of more Storypunk audio, even though I have all your output as 320k mp3s.
I really enjoyed Temporal. I hope you'll get the opportunity to do more fiction on Audible. I may be a dinosaur for this idea, but I like the idea of being able to buy the media I like.
I know what you mean. There are plans to release Aldrich Kemp as a CD box set, and I’d like to do a similar thing with Lovecraft.
I am now imagining a 90s RPG / computer game box set for Lovecraft, with cloth maps and handouts and weird gold statues.
WANT!
I would love that !
Who are the people at the BBC who commission audio dramas? I don't understand why they would not want to commission more of your inventive dramas. Weren't the Lovecraft investigations amongst the most listened to series? Maybe they were too popular!
I think it’s more a state of play generally, than a specific “we don’t want this one show” situation.
Great piece as always, and very wise about both the state of the industry right now, and the only positive way to deal with it.
Yeah, a life of lumpy income sure does have its scary moments... especially when a long-run cash vein dries up. You echo where I'm also at, but currently in the web3 end of the tech industry rather than the entertainment arts. I've been here before of course, and your advice is good.
Re financing more audio drama... ISTR you posting somewhere that it costs around £70k to make one of your series, and that you got upfront money for Temporal from one of the partner orgs. I'm curious to know what the returns from Audible have been like, both to date and the long-tail prediction. Is this actually a sustainable business model? If not, could it become so with, say, a ton more marketing?
yes, nice upturn at the end. needed that.
That last line...
This was *exactly* what I needed to read today. Also, I'm sure this has been asked before but have you considered crowdfunding S4 of TLI?
Thanks! And yes I have considered it, and am considering it. But I think, for logistical and admin reasons as much as anything, I'd need a handful of investors putting in a decent chunk, rather than hundreds of people paying £20 each.
Yeah, I did a crowdfunding of a small documentary film and the fulfilment side was a challenge. That being said one big point in favour of small donors is that no one expects to have any say over the product if they've given you £20
I've done a crowdfund for fringe theatre (admittedly 10 years ago) and it was *hard work*. Everyday is hassle your network day... for 42 days. And then the whole producing & shipping physical perks... I never again wanted to see another Jiffy bag! But we did raise £25k from 417 fans (mode average of £23) which allowed us to do the first 7 show R&D run of https://cosmictriggerplay.com/
On perks, I'd definitely buy that RPG-style box set that David Shipley riffs on above in support of more Storypunk audio, even though I have all your output as 320k mp3s.