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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Welcome back to another Kickstarter Conversation! Today I am joined from my neighboring state of Texas by the creator of the Outlaws and Dance Halls Kickstarter, Mr. David Mckelvain. Thank you for joining us today David.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here.
Would you be so kind as to describe your project to us? I understand it has something to do with a tour and a blog?
Yes, Initially the project will consist of a weekly blog, with the “best of blog” to be published in a quarterly e-book. In fact I just published the first blog post to get the ball rolling. Any of your readers that are familiar with Folk, Roots, or Country music already know that most of the great songs tell a story. My goal in creating an interactive living history of this music in Texas, is to also tell the stories. Perhaps it would be better to think of it as the backstory. This music, not only is known for the stories it tells, but is rich with stories at every turn, from where, how, and why it was created, to the performers, the venues, and the fans.
These stories, anecdotes, and shared experiences are the gems of living history that I will strive to bring to life for my audience. I hope to bring all of this to life in a way that makes the readers feel as if they are right there as a participant. While each of us are individuals, we all share the same emotions. This is what makes music the universal language. If we share in an experience on an emotional level, then we are forever bonded with the people, places, and things within the experience. This what I mean when I speak of the interactive living history. Outlaws and Dance Halls is designed and created entirely around that “living” aspect.
The journey and sharing will involve not only the written word, but engaging photo-essays. Actually, no restrictions are being set, as far as media to be used. This brings us to the promotional tour. For the past three days I have begun talking with singer/songwriters, music artists, and musicians. These contacts have been initiated as phase one of the promotional tour. In the coming weeks and months I will continue to contact, interview and audition many of these people from the Texas music industry. From this pool of talent, the first in our series of promotional events will be assembled. Initially, these events will be more informal, small venue events in key historic locations around the state. Texas is absolutely rich with historic music venues, some in continuous operation for well over a hundred years. Our campaign focus will be to put the glowing spotlight squarely on the history and rich heritage of the venue/locality, while at the same time highlighting and featuring the contemporary artists that keep the old traditions and influences alive. My excitement and anticipation peaks a hundred times a day, as this dream becomes a reality with every new person I meet and talk to.
