Hey, folks.
Let's quickly go over the videos I've released since my last written blog post:
Arby 'n' the Chief - Season 8, Episode 02: "Nervewreck"
Arby 'n' the Chief - Season 8, Episode 02: "Nervewreck" Director's Commentary
Arby 'n' the Chief: Bytes - Season 3, Episode 01: "Stars Force: The Darkness Awakened Review"
Arby 'n' the Chief: Bytes - Season 3, Episode 02: "Jams Bonk (Part 1)"
Arby 'n' the Chief - Season 8, Episode 03: "Party Time"
Arby 'n' the Chief - Season 8, Episode 03: "Party Time" Director's Commentary
Episode four, which currently doesn't have a title, is the next one in the queue.
I've finished a first draft of it. I could shoot and edit what I have written and you'd probably think the episode was fine, but there's a few scenes in the script that I know could be better than they currently are and I'm taking some time to think about them before I go into production. I'm trying my best not to waste time. I'll keep you posted on Twitter regarding the episode's status.
In other news, I've just created a profile on the online freelancing platform UpWork. You can take a look at it here:
Freelance Work Profile (UpWork)
Why have I done this? At the risk of sounding ungrateful, while the amount of funding I've accumulated via Patreon from my backers has been truly astounding and heart-warming, month-to-month expenses aren't cheap and relying on that funding alone as I have been just isn't sustainable for me, at least not at the moment.
I've barely been leaving my house except for breakfast each day. I walk everywhere because I don't want to spend money on transit. I limit my spending to one meal a day that's under $15-20. No video games, no movies, no nights out at bars or anything like that. Very occasionally I'll buy a bottle of wine, but that's just to render myself remotely entertaining during my streams and director's commentaries. In short, life since I started my Patreon campaign for the show has been all work and no play.
If I had reached or at least come close to my first funding milestone of $2,000 per month on Patreon by now I'd be singing a different tune, but I haven't been able to get much more than halfway there. Lately, for most of the new pledges that come in, enough people who are already backers reduce the amounts they've pledged, essentially cancelling the new earnings out. I don't blame backers for reducing their pledges, either. In fact, if they feel they've been paying too much, I completely encourage them to do so.
Until I can perhaps achieve a bit more success on Patreon, I need another revenue stream. Not just to start saving money, but just to get by. Either the form that takes is working as a freelancer through this UpWork platform I've just discovered, or I submit a couple of applications I've already filled out to my local IATSE 891 dispatch office and land a Vancouver film gig working as a video editing or art department assistant.
I'd rather not do the latter if I don't have to. I have high hopes regarding this UpWork freelancing thing, it appears to be a great service with plenty of interesting job listings. If you have a budget and a writing or video editing project you think I'd be ideal for, please consider registering on UpWork as a client and submitting a proposal to me. If not you, consider recommending me to a person who does, should you be familiar with such an individual. I'd really appreciate it.
For a more detailed listing of my skills and experience for those considering to hire me, they can check out my detailed resume on LinkedIn:
All that said, working on Arby 'n' the Chief is still very important to me, and I'll continue to do so whenever I can. I've been developing the eighth season's full story since January last year and I'm excited to get the episodes done and let you guys see them.
For those who might be unfamiliar with Patreon's payment models, there are two: per month and per video. My campaign is currently set to "per month", meaning regardless of content that I have or haven't released during a particular month, my backers are charged the amount they've pledged at the end of that month.
If my working film or freelancing jobs takes an impactful amount of my time away from developing and producing Arby 'n' the Chief or I earn a comfortable amount of money from them, I'll be changing my Patreon payment model to "per video", meaning my backers are only ever charged on the release of new episodes of the show and not at the end of every month regardless of content.
I'm only currently on the "per month" model to stay afloat, otherwise I could definitely do without the guilt of feeling like I'm not getting episodes out fast enough to keep the fans engaged. I'd feel a lot better about myself day-to-day were I on the "per video" model and charging people fairly. If you're currently a backer supporting me monthly, know that you're really saving my ass right now amd I'm truly grateful.
To summarize: Episode four's coming along, thanks again to all my saint-like backers for their generosity and patience with me, share my videos, let other people know I'm working freelance, submit a proposal to me via UpWork if you have a budget and job for me and stay tuned as usual. If I do end up changing my Patreon payment model, I'll be sure to let you guys know beforehand.
Cheers,
Jon