Wallhub

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I am joined by Justin Porcano the creative mind behind the Walhub.  Thank you for joining us today Justin!

Thanks for having me.

The Walhub is one of those head-slappingly-obvious after-the-fact type inventions that I expect to see in Popular Mechanics and not on Kickstarter.  Would you mind telling us about the product?  

Well, Walhub is simply a switch plate with built-in function. Its a dedicated location to store the objects that often come and go with us, like: keys, mail, umbrellas, scarves..  I like the idea of taking an existing product and just adding more function to it. I also wanted to make it as flexible as possible by allowing the user to be able to configure walhub to the left or right, depending on the space around their light switch.

What got you to create the Walhub?  

Walub was created out of a need to store my keys in a convenient, consistent location. I can never find my keys when leaving my house, mainly because I never had a consistent location to keep them in...

Ascension Art Series

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I am pleased to be joined by Erik Schultz the talented artist behind the Ascension Art Series.  Thank you for joining us today Erik!

Thank you for having me!

After a rough patch in your life you’ve finally returned to art.  Can you tell us a bit about your journey and why you’ve come to Kickstarter?  

After all of my art submissions were rejected, I fell into a life of drinking, drugs, self-hate and depression. I avoided painting for 14 years to escape that pain, but eventually realized this “safe” life I was living was not enjoyable at all because I wasn’t pursuing what was truly important; my art. Of all the things I love doing, it’s the one thing that I just can’t let go of. And even though there’s an incredible amount of challenge and anxiety involved in the creative process, it ultimately brings me the greatest amount of joy and happiness to make something from nothing. And because of my rough journey, I’m now indebted to be in the service of others, so that I can hopefully add some optimism and beauty to the lives of others.

After finding Kickstarter and checking out a number of the campaigns going on to support creative projects, I realized it was very synchronistic that I stumbled upon it when I did. I feel I’ve arrived at a major cross-roads in life; either continue to live a miserable life “dreaming” of painting each and every day, or actually embrace my art full-time which is what I’ve chosen.

Every artist I’ve known has a favorite medium to work with, yours appears to be oil paintings.  What drew you to oil?  

I never really liked acrylics because they dry too quickly, so when I tried oils for the first time, I immediately fell in love. Plus the versatility and texture of oils can’t be matched, and the depth of color is amazing. And if done right, an oil painting can have a timeless quality.

The Iron King

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I’m happy to be joined by Julie Kagawa the New York Times best-selling novelist who is here to talk to us about her comic Kickstarter: THE IRON KING.  Thank you for joining us today Julie!


Thanks so much for having me!





So your novel series is THE IRON FEY, can you tell us a bit about the series and how THE IRON KING will fit in?  Will it be a stand-alone comic or will it be an introduction to your books?  

The Iron King is the first book in the Iron Fey series, and follows the adventures of a girl named Meghan Chase who, on her sixteenth birthday, discovers her little brother has been kidnapped by the fey and replaced with an evil changeling. (Sort of a faery doppelganger for the real child.) Meghan goes into the Nevernever to rescue him and, as they always do in these kind of stories, hijinks ensue. The comic will be a four part mini-series of the first book, The Iron King, and we hope to turn the rest of the series into graphic novels, as well.

Continue Magazine

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I am joined by Paul Presley who is here to talk about Continue Magazine and their Kickstarter.  Thank you for joining us today Paul!

Hi James. It’s a pleasure to talk with you.

Your campaign page describes Continue Magazine as “A features-led magazine celebrating ALL forms of gaming and gaming culture.”  Could you go into a bit more detail about the Magazine?  

Sure. Continue is a features-led look at any and everything to do with gaming. What makes it different from the traditional crop of gaming magazines is that we’re not a reviews-focused title (we’re not interested in telling you what and what not to buy - the internet does a far better and quicker job of that). We’re a features-led publication that looks to tell all manner of stories about any type of gaming - videogames, board games, social games - anything that can be categorised as gaming.

In practical terms, that equates to a quarterly magazine, published digitally (PDF and eBook formats currently although we’re hoping to produce a dedicated tablet version if we hit our stretch goals), containing a look back on the last three months of gaming-related news, a smattering of opinions from experts in the respective gaming industries, and a bulk of excellently written features by leading journalists that give you a perspective on our favourite pastime that you simply don’t get anywhere else.

Blue Milk Special

Welcome back to another webcomic Conversation.   Joining me today is the wonderful married team behind Blue Milk Special Rod Hannah and Leanne Hannah!  Thank you for joining us today you two.

Leanne & Rod: Very honored to be invited!

Your header describes Blue Milk Special as a “Chronological Parody of the Star Wars Original Trilogy” though do you think that’s still a fair description?  With the side stories and the upcoming “Splinter of the Minds Eye” parody I think you’ve moved far beyond just the original trilogy.  

R: You might have a point there.  Perhaps our description needs a little tweaking given the evolution of the Blue Milk Special manifesto from a parody of the Original Trilogy to a parody of the vintage Star Wars universe.
L: So far we haven’t included any elements post 1997, although there was one brief Jar Jar cameo.  But he was dead, so maybe it doesn’t really count?


With new fans entering the Star Wars fandom how often do you have to ask, “Why Blue Milk?”  I mean the second I heard the name of your comic I got it, but I’m not sure how new fans react to that kind of inside joke.  

R: We try not to become too obscure with our jokes, although when we do we try to balance it with visual humor or an enlightening blog entry.  Blue milk is obscure in many ways, but also familiar to the core readership, so it seems to be the perfect non trademarked name to associate with our brand of geeky parody.

L: I guess we aren’t too worried about the more mainstream Star Wars and sci-fi audience.  Long running gags like Vader’s coffee mug and Leia’s cigarette are a little more obvious, along with the plays on famous lines from the films, but we frequently delve into the obscure because that’s often where the most fun is for us as fans of Star Wars ourselves.

R: We’re definitely conscious of trying to remain accessible, but Biggs Darklighter would not be nearly as popular if our readers didn’t know who he was.

Aaron Deming

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I am joined by the very talented Aaron Deming who is here to talk about his Kickstarter to produce his first EP and summer tour.  Thank you for joining us today Aaron! 

Thanks for having me, James!  I’m very happy and excited to finally be at this long awaited stage in my life.  


Why don’t we start off with a bit of background on you as a singer there Aaron.  What got you into music in the first place?  When did you pick up the guitar?

Ever since I was a kid, I have always loved music.  My Dad played the trumpet in high school and college, as well as conducted some of their orchestras, so that helped a little bit too.  Mostly, though, my parents just encouraged me to do whatever I had the most fun doing.  That passion turned out to be music.  I picked up the acoustic guitar around 5th grade and haven’t been able to put in down since.

There Came an Echo

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I am joined by designer/programmer and head of Iridium Studios Jason Wishnov who is here to talk to us about his latest Kickstarter project, “There Came an Echo.”  Thank you for joining us today Jason!
You’re welcome! I have a couple dozen clones running around doing the press circuit, so it isn’t much of an issue.

There Came an Echo is an interesting name for a game, can you give us a rundown of the project along with an idea where the name came from?

Well, I can’t give away too much with regard to the name, as it goes deep into spoiler territory. The game itself, though, is a “voice-controlled real-time strategy game”. It can be compared directly to X-COM and a few other games, but the experience is significantly more narrative-driven than most.

Your game is heavily voice centric both with our commanding but with the characters responding.  So it makes sense you’d look for the best voice actors you could find, but Wil Wheaton?  What do you have on him to make him show up?  

Wil’s a huge gamer, nerd icon, and talented actor. He was at the top of our list, and we managed to get the pitch in front of him...and that’s all it took. He was enamored by the concept, and we quickly worked out a deal.

Also, we gave him lots and lots of our famous Iridium Chicken Sandwiches.

CSU Trombone Ensemble: A Beautiful Noise

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I am very happy to be joined by Professor Bradley Palmer from Columbus State University who has joined us today to talk about his Kickstarter project the CSU Trombone Ensemble CD project: A Beautiful Noise. Thank you for joining us Brad!

Thank you for the invitation!


I’m just going to get this out there right away, I am a trombone player so of course your project caught my eye.  As such I want to congratulate you on hitting your goal. I like to think that a successful project like this is a win for all the trombone players out there!

We were thrilled to see the response from our backers.  We reached our primary goal in the first 24 hours of the campaign and are now chipping away at the stretch goal which will fund a new composition for trombone octet.

Speaking of all the trombone players out there, I’ve never actually heard a “trombone ensemble” before.  How did this all get started?  

It was Beethoven that really put the trombone on the map in “serious” music.  Not only did Beethoven include trombones (alto, tenor and bass trombone) in a few of his symphonies, he also composed a three-movement trombone quartet piece called “Drei Equale”.  The piece was played by a quartet of trombones at Beethoven’s funeral.  In fact, Beethoven’s funeral procession was lead (in order) by: a cross-bearer, followed by the four trombones, and then clergy, a choir, mourners, etc.  Fast-forward to today, trombone ensembles are part of most schools of music in the US and Europe.  It is an amazing sound!

HEX The Lost Tribe

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I am pleased to welcome Keu Cha who is here to talk about his latest creation Hex the Lost Tribe.  Thank you for joining us today Keu!

It is a pleasure to be here and thanks for your time.



While your art speaks for itself, would you please share with us what Hex the Lost Tribe is all about?  Besides scantily clad warrior babes of course.

The book isn’t all about scantily clad warrior babes....I’m aiming for cool factor. It’s about capturing the cool factor present in epic tales such as Conan, Lord of the Rings and King Kong. It’s everything I can imagine that is not modern or futuristic. I want to convey the rawness and savagery of those worlds the best I can. It’s a combination of all my influences and my take on this type of genre that makes Hex what it is. I want the characters to come to life - their stories of tragedy and their stories of triumphs. I can’t wait to get the series along to introduce you to them.

LederKraft Studios

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I am pleased to be shouting across the pond once again this time to talk to Alex Agricola who is brining us LederKraft Studios first Kickstarter.  Thank you for joining us today Alex!
Hi James, my pleasure.

For those who haven’t heard of LederKraft studios could you tell us what it is you guys do?

Hmm where to start... In a nutshell LederKraft Studios is a specialist in the design and production of all things armour and prop related across a broad spectrum of themes, from historical through to fantasy, sci-fi, through to Steampunk and Cosplay. Currently we undertake projects for a whole host of customers from Larpers and Ren enthusiasts, to Film, TV and the gaming industry. We are very much about realising peoples dreams, so ...if it can be imagined, my job is to find a way of making it real.

What brings you to Kickstarter?  You already have a successful business in place what are you specifically doing with this Kickstarter?

Honesty I guess this has been a bit of a dream I’ve been nurturing for over a decade and Kickstarter is just a great chance to bring it to life. The dream of being able to put the power of choice into the customers hands, to be part of a “people’s” project and eventually business. I’m an enthusiast just like all our customers and have been for over 20 years. Hopefully thats given me a little insight into what they’ll want and I hope to bring that insight to Kickstarter.

I think its probably years of frustration over reliability, quality and choice in the props and armor industry that really first fuelled this whole thing.  Currently we are a small fish in a huge pond, but I guess I thought  that if we didn't at least make the offer to the people to come in and be a part of our design process, we’d never know if people really wanted the power of choice in the first place.

Thing is this Kickstarter isn’t just about raising the money to create a new 100% customer designed and chosen range. Its certainly not a begging bowl as we are an operating business which will continue to grow with or without Kickstarter. Its far more about creating a new way of doing things. I'm not bothered about personal profits, or self glorification, but I desperately want to do things differently, bring communities of fans together to build a massive pool of imagination to create unique, desirable products. The first goal is the taster, but the dream is to go further after all it genuinely costs me about 2k to develop a single set of armour, after material costs various wages (my time I tend to give for free when designing).

End goals would be for LederKraft to be 100% customer driven in terms of direction & ultimately I'd love to expand things towards a center of learning.

Gourmet KarMels

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I have brought a sweet treat for all of you.  KarMel confections is here to talk to us about their Gourmet Karmels!  Melanie, Karson, thank you for joining us.  

Thank you for having us, James! It is great that we have people like you to help bring attention Kickstarter and its projects.

You’re too kind, first off congratulations on hitting your goal!  With almost twenty days to go on your campaign you’ve got nowhere to go but up!  Can you tell us a bit about your wonderful confections?  

Sure!  I’ve been an avid baker for most of my 20’s and in the past 5 years have gotten into candy making.  One day Karson had asked me whether I knew how to make caramels and I asked him if he’d like me to show him how.  And that’s how KarMel’s Confections was born!  We were so elated when we hit our KickStarter goal and we just excited to share these sweet bites with the world.

ALAS VEGAS

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I am pleased to be joined by a fellow James, this time James Wallis has come to talk to us about his Kickstarter “ALAS VEGAS.”  Thank you for joining us today James.

It’s a solid pleasure to be here, James. Thanks for asking me.

So besides being set in Vegas, can you tell us a bit about ALAS VEGAS?

ALAS VEGAS is a tabletop RPG that follows a new format called a ‘blast’: it’s a self-contained pack of rules and adventure designed to run to conclusion over four game-sessions. It’s a weird-horror game combined with classic game tropes and situations. I describe it as ‘Ocean’s Eleven directed by David Lynch’.

The game begins with the characters dragging themselves out of a shallow grave on the edge of the desert. They have no memory of how they got there or who they are. It’s midnight. They’re naked, cold and covered in dirt. On the horizon is a scar of neon: a great casino-city, with answers, and trouble. And then the players have four sessions to find out what’s going on, remember what happened to get them there, and learn how to survive.

Alas Vegas uses a new system of mechanics called Fugue. Fugue is fast and simple: characters start with nothing on their character sheet, but they can get abilities by having flashbacks of using them in their earlier life. But over the course of the game the flashbacks start linking together to form a narrative that will eventually explain how they got there—and how they get out. Because this place is much more than it seems.

There’s no dice, instead there’s a cut-down version of Blackjack played with Tarot cards, which works really well, using the imagery on each Tarot card to build a narrative that ties in with the setting.

Conceptually it’s halfway between The Hangover and The Prisoner. I’m really excited by it, I think it’s something new in the RPG field, and it’s some of the best design-work I’ve done in over a decade.

CRYAMORE!

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation! I am pleased to be joined by the creative team behind the very successful Kickstarter: CRYAMORE!  Thank you for joining us today.

NostalgiCO: Thanks! We’re glad to be here.

You describe CRYAMORE! as, “Whaddaya get when you blend obsolete Steampunk with Zelda, Secret of Mana, & Megaman?”  Now that’s quite the blending of elements you have there could you describe it a bit more?  

NostalgiCO: Well, we all love the main explorative, adventure-driven gameplay of Zelda. That’s the core, but we’re also taking the contextual-based mechanic of Zelda (acquiring an item, using an item to gain access to an area or finding an item and progress the game) and swapping it with Megaman (learning an ability, adding the ‘rock-paper-scissors’ combat mechanic to it, and using it instead of items for contextual progression and), and sprinkled the combat of Secret of Mana on top of it (strategic, well-timed attacks, and special moves).

SqueeDogs

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I am joined by the Mother-Son team Cerise Jacobs and Elliot Pirate Epstein.  Thank you both for joining us today.  

Hi James.  We’re glad to be talking to you from snowy Brookline, MA!

So your project “SqueeDogs” is a facebook adventure game featuring a dog PI?  Can you give us the details of the project?

Yes.  You play as a puppy private investigator who romps through fantastical 3D worlds sniffing out clues, solving mysteries and rescuing lost puppies.  You’re pretty terrific, so you always get your pup!  And after you do, you reunite them with their families.  You get rewarded for completing each mission, and you also collect all kinds of doggy goodies during the mission.  The game really focuses on customization, so you get all sorts of little items to customize your doggy character, such as hats, booties, shirts, pants, etc. as well as items to customize your little doggy home.  If you beat the mission that took place in a logging area of a forest, you might receive a cool logging machine to replace the beat up old junker car in your driveway.

Shipping the Future

When I called Dan Yarrington from Game Salute I didn’t expect to talk to him for more than two minutes, let alone more than twenty!  Originally I just wanted to find out more about the Storm Hollow rebranding issue that I wrote about earlier, but during our discussion deeper issues about the Kickstarter formula and the future of boardgame Kickstarters rose to the forefront.  

Is Four Months and counting acceptable? 

Big Money!  Big Prizes!  I LOVE IT!
When talking about the delays that the rebranding was going to cause the Storm Hollow group we ended up talking about Kickstarter delays in general.  Dan brought up an interesting statistic from CNN Money that showed 84% of high profile successful Kickstarters were delayed, often times greatly delayed.  The reason for it was so simple and obvious I couldn’t believe I hadn’t ever thought about it, let alone discussed it!

The number one culprit in his opinion was the often celebrated stretch goals. Stretch goals have become normal after projects began blowing past their original planned goals.  These “extra” goals often give people a chance to add more to a game, spend more money for more art, or add extra bits for those who want them.  They’re the bread and butter of many a successful Kickstarter, but as Dan pointed out they necessarily cause delays.   

“When people launch a Kickstarter with a set goal they’ve already budgeted for that goal amount.  The problem occurs that when you add more rewards and goals to that level they aren’t always as planned out.  This will of course mess up delivery times.”  

When people plan for their Kickstarters they plan out a run of games, say 50 games at a cost of $10 each.  So the cost of the printing is $500 and then they find out the cost of having those shipped to his receiving area and maybe that comes out to another $500.  Add in the cost of say 20 T-shirts at another $10 each gives our hypothetical project a total “physical” cost of $1200.   

What happens is that in the rush and excitement of blowing past that $1200 “hidden costs” pop up that weren’t planned for.  Say our hypothetical project makes $2400 and doubles the number of games they originally planned for.  They also tossed in a “Mini-expansion” for everyone who bought the base game.  So now instead of 50 games at $10 they now have 100 games at $13 each.  ($10 original price plus $3 for the “mini-expansion”) That base price alone now eats up the original $1200 budget along with an extra $100.  Next comes the shipping, which is almost always higher than expected.  So instead of $500 to ship 50, he now might be looking at $1300 to ship 100 plus the 100 expansions.  Congratulations, just getting the game made has now cost the creator $200!  ($1300 shipping + $1300 manufacturing = $2600 which is $200 more than the double goal!)  

Unfortunately this is not an uncommon thing.  Shipping delays, customs, manufacturing issues, we’ve heard them all time and again, especially in the board game section of Kickstarter.  While Kickstarter shows a 43.57% success rate for Kickstarters in general, and 33.83% for gaming Kickstarters, Dan wonders how many of those are financially successful.  He believes the number that break even are probably only a fraction of those who are successful.  

Night Stars: Staring at the World Through my Rearview

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I am joined by the creator of Night Stars: Staring at the World Through my Rearview, Tim Lattie!  Thank you for joining us today Tim.  

Thank you for having me James.

You have a pretty sharp looking comic project to show us today there Tim.  Would you care to tell us a bit about the plot and concept?

It’s the end of time! Our government is out of hand and brings the world to nuclear holocaust. Everyone and everything is lost in one day… except for 3 adolescents. While searching for a strange light they see in the woods one evening the kids find themselves taken aboard a spaceship. Once aboard the ship they receive mysterious "living" space suits that morph onto their bodies and make them look like the classic Aliens of pop culture, with green skin and oversized head and eyes. Without warning the ship takes off with the kids still aboard, taking them back in time 66 years in the past to Roswell, New Mexico!
What follows is a play on the classic Roswell mythos, as the kids are mistaken for extra-terrestrials and hunted by a secret branch of the military. All the while each learning that within in them lays special abilities which only by unleashing will they be able to save themselves and all of history. So in a lot of ways it’s a coming of age story disguised as a sci-fi adventure, where our character s are growing up while going back in time.
Now after this where the story goes is almost limitless, as the kids jump through time and space interacting with some of history’s most notable characters and events making new allies and going on strange adventures. The choices they make literally affect the shape of the world as we know it today. But everything starts in Roswell, what happens there sets the tone for everything to follow. Their newfound power draws malicious plots from 3rd parties, who attempt to steal their technology and reform history to their benefit.  But ultimately, their biggest foe will be themselves, as they travel on a collision course towards the dawn of existence. They were there to witness the end of time will they last long enough to make it to see the beginning?

Beyond Beyaan

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I am joined by Brent Patterson who is here to take us down memory lane with his new project, “Beyond Beyaan.”  Thank you for joining us today Brent.

Hello, and thanks for conducting this interview!  I’m glad to answer your questions!

As a long time Master of Orion 1 & 2 fan (They’re in my top ten of all time list) your campaign nails me in the opening.   I totally keep an eye on every 4X game coming out hoping for Master of Orion 2 with new visuals, but nope, never shows up.  Tell us how your game can help change that?  

I’ve seen different companies/indies announce their new 4X game saying that it’s “similar to Master of Orion except for...” and those differences ended up turning their game into something that’s not similar to Master of Orion, or at least what we’re hoping for.  I think the problem is that different people like different features, so some games put emphasis on certain features and omits others.  With Beyond Beyaan, I want to create a game where it’s easy for people to create their own version of 4X game.  You don’t turn on/off features from inside the game, but rather, you create data files and artwork assets and the game will handle the rest.  If that’s not enough, you can modify the game’s source code directly and add support for features that you want.

Raised by Raptors

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I am pleased to be joined by the creative duo behind Raised by Raptors, Oliver Sykes & Ben Ashton-Bell.  Thank you both for joining us.  

A pleasure to be here.
From the title to the artwork your project just screams with character.  Could you tell us a bit about it?  
BEN: Thanks! I really wanted to push where my illustrative style was heading and ‘Raised by Raptors’ was the perfect opportunity. We both knew that the artwork had to do something special, I’ve spent a lot of time developing the look I wanted so hopefully it works. I’ve never really been any good at pen and ink type drawing, pencil and digital is my media of choice.

"Raised by Raptors" is an epic, fantasy-adventure, graphic novel written by Oliver Sykes and Illustrated by Ben Ashton-Bell. The story is set in fictional Mexico, where humans and dinosaurs co-exist during the Golden Age of the Mayan Civilization. The series focuses on the journey of a young Mesoamerican who is forced to flee her city after accusations of treason. Narrowly escaping a religious sacrifice and therefore becoming a fugitive, she finds herself inadvertently saving a pack of Velociraptors, who in return take her under their wing and raise her as their own.

The Blankape

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  I am pleased to welcome Aprile Larracas to our cozy little blog to talk about her project Blankape.  Thank you for joining us today Aprile!

Thank you for having me. I appreciate your interest in our project.

So you’ve made a cape blanket is that it?   Could you describe your product in detail?

The Blankape is the fun blanket that you can velcro on so it stays with the kids all the time.
I’m sure you’ve seen kids drag their blankets everywhere! With the Blankape they can wear it everywhere. They can keep warm and cozy with it, and also have fun with it as a cape. All kids love capes! I think as soon as they wear it, it just automatically gives them imaginative superpowers. They can do that with the Blankape. Even superheroes need to stay warm :-)
They can also wear it outdoors - to the park, camping, when they’re watching a game, an amusement park or even a night stroll around the neighborhood.

Gumshoes 4 Hire

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I’m joined by Sean “Cheeks” Galloway from Table Taffy Studio who is here to talk to us about their Kickstarter: “Gumshoes 4 Hire.”  Thank you for joining us today Sean!

Glad to be here, James!  Thank you for taking the time to holler at us! :)

I’m going to have to ask the obvious: “Why Cheeks?”

HAHAHA  Well.... There’s 2 ways to find out the answer:

1) Check out the Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms DVD special features.  There’s a section at San Diego ComicCon 2005 and on the panel Guillermo Del Toro asked the same thing.  I was like a deer looking into headlights.  I froze and I couldn’t run.  Talk about being put on the spot!  This explanation doesn’t do the segment justice.  You’ll have to watch it to see what I mean. HAHA ;P

2) Here’s the direct answer.  My pals and I used to have this saying.... and let’s just say I used it WAAAAAAAAAY too much.  But first, lemme ask you.  When you see an awesome car, or art that really inspires you, how do you express how awesome it is?  Well, for us we used to say “MAN!  That’s tight like a pair of buttcheeks!”...  On top of that, we had a group of friends and there just so happened to be another Sean (Ruffner) hanging out together.  It all got confusing, so TableTaffy co-founder Ryan’s Benjamin’s brother, Joel, said “Yo, from now on we’re going to call you Cheeks”.  I never felt like I was part of a click until then.

Haenyeo // Women of the Sea

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  I am pleased to be joined by the creative team behind Haenyeo // Women of the Sea.  Thank you for joining us today Alex Igidbashian, Kevin Sawicki and Daye Jeong.

Hello James, thank you so much for giving us this amazing opportunity to spread the word about our film. We are thrilled to have this kind of exposure and hope that others find the Haenyeo as interesting and inspiring as we do.

The name Haenyeo lets me place this project as somewhere in asia, but other than that I’m at a loss.  Would you care to describe your project for us?  

Haenyeo is a Korean word that translates to “women of the sea.” It is used to describe the women freedivers of Jeju-do (Jeju Island), South Korea. Utilizing techniques passed down through the generations these women are able to hold their breath for two to three minutes, and dive to depths of fifty to sixty feet. [Freediving means there is no use of an oxygen tank or scuba equipment]

They dive in search of sea food: conch, abalone, octopi, sea urchins, etc. and sell their catch both on the street and to local restaurants. In the past, this was a leading source of income, but  due to a budding tourism industry and more modern techniques, the number of divers is declining rapidly. The majority of active divers are now over the age of 60 and we fear that within the next 10 or 20 years the entire culture will be gone.

It is our goal to travel to Jeju Island this March, and immerse ourselves in the Haenyeo lifestyle. In a “Day In The Life” style film, we will share with the world the daily activities, lifestyle and culture of the Haenyeo Women while simultaneously exploring their rich history and discussing their future.

Our Future in Space

Greetings friends and welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I am very pleased to be joined by three key members of the National Space Society’s team who are here to discuss their Kickstarter project Our future in Space.  

Lets go down the list, first off we have Paul Damphousse, Executive Director of the National Space Society.  

PD: Welcome to the National Space Society and our first Kickstarter campaign!

Next up is Ken Murphy, president of the Moon Society and vice president of his local chapter of the NSS.  

KM: Howdy everyone!

Finally we have Jay Wittner Founding Member Space Finance Group and Executive Director Space LIteracy Foundation  

JW: Good afternoon!

Honestly I love the idea behind your project, would you care to explain it to our readers? Is it basically a guided tour of the near future?

JW: The project is to create a video explaining to the public why space exploration and development are so important.  Before leaping into the future we’ll explain the benefits we currently enjoy from our investments in space: things like spin offs and our satellite network (TV service, communications, navigation, weather).  Then we’ll talk about many of the exciting developments already underway.  Then we’ll showcase the benefits space development can bring to humanity in the future...if we’ll roll up our sleeves and get to work.

PD:  We intend to reach folks where they are, by producing a high-quality, edgy film about the benefits of space to all.  We’ll also give a bit of a tease for our next project, a full-length IMAX feature film.

ROAM

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I am joined by Ryan Sharr and Zach Barson the two man team bringing us the Kickstarter project ROAM.  Thank you for joining us.  

Hey! It’s great to be here.

At first glance, and I know you must get it a lot, it just looks like Minecraft crossed with DayZ in a third person view but I know there’s more to it than that.  Would you care to describe your project for everyone?  

Haha, we are fans of Minecraft and DayZ! I’m sure there are elements from those games as well as many others in ROAM. The easiest way to describe ROAM is as a top down co-op action shooter- combining elements of survival, base building, and crafting. The game is heavily based around survival so death plays a huge role in the game.

With around twenty days to go you’ve already raised way more than your goal, congratulations!  Obviously that means Kickstarter was a good choice, what made you bring the project to Kickstarter?

Thanks a lot! It’s really the backers who are making ROAM happen. We owe media credit to www.Rockpapershotgun.com though. They posted the first article on their front page and it spread like wild fire.

Kickstarter is a great platform to launch your ideas and it only made sense to take a stab at it. We had become so absorbed in ROAM that we knew it was a pretty cool idea and a game we would want to play, but weren’t sure if other people would think the same. Usually when you spend so much time doing something your views on the subject tend to be skewed. If it failed on Kickstarter then we had our answer.

Death Inc

Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation!  Today I am very pleased to be talking with the fine folks at Ambient Studios who are launching their first Kickstarter project today with Death Inc.  Thank you for joining us today!

TH: Hi, Tim Holleyman Art Director here.
JH: And I’m Jonny Hopper. My job title is just “Director”.
MG: And I’m Mike Green, I’m leading the design for Death Inc. Thanks for talking to us today.


With a name like “Death Inc” there are all sorts of dark directions this project could be taking, yet looking at the art work it doesn’t seem very dark, creepy, or scary.  Can you explain your project for us?  

TH: I think we all felt that, the game could have ended up very dark, that’s not what we’re about so we tried to turn it on its head. The world is full of colour, in some ways it gains more life when you infect the people and the whole thing is very light hearted. Not serious at all.
JH: Everyone’s so sad until you infect them.