Update on #TheSarkeesianEffect Month 5

The past five months have been a whirlwind of stress, worry, excitement, joy, and a brilliantly idiotic idea taking shape into something that I, Jordan, and you our patrons can – I believe – be proud of.  Below is a screen-cap of the rough draft I’m working on, the remainder of this post will be an update on what’s going on, starting with a request we have for you our backers.

1. We are asking our patrons to grant us a 1-month extension

We originally projected a 5-month production period, and hoped to be done filming by the end of February.  This was based upon a $15,000 budget, however, and we’ve been operating at $6-9000.  During this time we’ve managed to shave off all the rough edges and turn this project into a lean, mean, filming machine, but as March closes in we’re finding that there are still a few expenses we have yet to address.

So we are humbly asking you for a one month extension.

We want to emphasize that this will not affect your reward status; the patronage and rewards were laid out at the beginning based upon a 5-month plan, and we’re holding to that.  If you started supporting us at the beginning, and have supported us all the way through, you can cancel right now and you will still receive the reward listed.  What we’re asking is over-and-above what you’ve already done, and for that charity you have our thanks.

These funds will go towards interviews including Mercedes Carrera, the porn star who recently had some harsh words to say about Feminism and Miss Sarkeesian in particular, in addition to some technical experts who will be working with us behind the scenes (we already have a couple of ‘technical guys’ working with us, but there are a couple more that we need to really make this movie shine).

After this round of filming (which in addition to interviews will include a bit of organic filler of Jordan and me) we hope to be done the filming/flying/hotel nonsense, and settle in to working on post-production – though there will likely be a bit of travel as we iron out the release schedule.

NOTE: If we do not hear back from you, we will assume that you’re granting us the sixth month; if this is beyond your means, please cancel before the end of the February!

2. Regarding patrons who started later than September/October

We ask that you see us through with the five-month commitment (or even better, the six-month commitment if you can afford it); this will give us a ‘trickle off’ effect during post-production in case there are any last-minute emergencies (“I need an animator, stat!”), and also it’s only fair for the reward-thresholds that all our patrons work on a level playing field.

If for any reason you can’t continue beyond the 2, 3, or 4 month mark, we will ascertain an appropriate reward level, and ensure you get that.

3. The Online Forum

Under our original reward schedule, all patrons were to be added to an exclusive forum which never manifested; I feel we owe you an explanation (and an alternate reward).

At first it was simply a matter of us being busy; in September/October/November we hit the ground running to show you what we could do (there was a lot of skepticism back then, and I trust we’ve managed to show you that we’re not cynically profiteering off of a hashtag).  The forum slipped by the wayside.

When we’d first conceived of it, we’d hoped it would become a major hub of #GamerGate related content – but as time went on 8ch.net appeared as an alternative 4chan, Reddit eased up on the banhammer, and a number of vibrant communities appeared once the dust settled.  By this point the idea of starting ‘our own’ #GamerGate forum started to feel a little hubristic – as if we were stating that #GamerGate was whatever we defined it as, and if you weren’t a TSE backer than you weren’t a real gamer.

Not to mention it just plain wasn’t necessary anymore; we’d rather not siphon traffic off of the other places mentioned, and without the initial fervour, it’s unlikely that a community would grow out of anything we provided.

By January we admitted to ourselves that it was a no-go, and since then we’ve been brainstorming alternate rewards which we could give to the low-level backers.  Jordan came up with one that was a winner in my eyes: stickers.  Small, affordable, but unique and significant.

He’ll be expanding on this idea in the monthly update video; I welcome any thoughts you might have in the comment section below, including alternate ideas.

Concluding Thoughts

Despite a couple of setbacks and being under-budget, this project is really coming together.  The people we’ve spoken to have had so much intelligent stuff to say, that I’m running into difficulty finding the gems – they’re all gems, and I hate leaving so much on the cutting room floor (one of the reasons we’ll be offering extended-cuts of the interviews once the film is finished).  Jordan and I have kept our arguments to a minimum, and I think we’re both better-off for the stress we’ve been under.  I know as a matter of fact this filming has shaken me out of the sink-hole of a city I was living in; I’ve managed to cut my expenses by at least half, and yet I’m getting more enjoyment out of life.

The editing process is going to be a long, hard slog that’ll leave me incoherent most nights (just ask my girlfriend what sort of nonsensical babble comes out of me when I’ve been obsessing over minutiae and watching the same clip over and over again for hours), but we are still aiming for a Spring/Summer release.

Thank you to all of our supporters, and all of the good #GamerGaters out there who turned what could have been a flash-in-the-pan hashtag battle into a world-changing consumer revolt.  Kudos!