doodley
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September Newsletter + Plush Design Preview and Next Video Screenshots
🕑 Added 2023-08-31 00:04:11 +0000 UTCHi!
It's been a little over a month since going full-time, and things are looking great. Real quick, I wanted to mention that we hit 100 patrons, which is a super cool milestone! I didn't think I'd get there for years.
I wanted to give an update on everything I'm working on and planning, what I've decided on to make full-time work, and what the future holds. Firstly...
Next Video Work in Progress
The next video is almost done! I have just entered animation. The editing is nearly complete, outside of the outro and some clips I need to grab.
The video is about the trend of early-to-mid 2000s films featuring hyper-realistic versions of cartoon characters as a result of CGI being the next big thing. The title is a very simple "Remember When 3D Animation Looked Like This?" but with the hyper-realism being "then", and the stylized being "now."
But specifically, it focuses on films that had a fully-animated reboot down the line, because it's fascinating to compare the two side-by-side. It also talks a little bit about specific rendering and stylization techniques that were part of that trend.
I'm happy with how it turned out and the specific angle it presents, (I feel like nobody in any Youtube animator or commentary space talks about specific visuals like this) but it took longer to get there than I would have liked -- I made it for the specific purpose of putting out something "safe" while I get full-time Doodley figured out, but my motivation was oddly super low going into it.
Part of the reason may have been that, now being completely alone working on Doodley full-time, the idea of being able to do anything but having to focus on a few things that made it sustainable was...a little scary? So it kind of froze me for a bit!
This low motivation is part of the reason I got Jellybox on board, which you'll read about later -- having them as producer helps immensely with keeping me focused and on track. I got the editing done within a week-ish after they started keeping track. The production schedule on this one slipped a lot due to my motivation, but knowing I was coming back to them with progress is super motivating.
I am hoping to finish the video this weekend, likely Sunday at the latest. It will be up on Patreon early, with a full release next Friday.
Future Patreon Stuff
Before moving on, I wanted to talk about a few things with the Patreon now that I've been comfortably keeping it consistent for a month.
The two things that have worked really well:
1.) Wednesdays are "Patreon Day": Having a day of the week specifically for putting something up on Patreon has worked very well. It doesn't take too much of my time and is a fun outlet of something different every week. This will continue!
However, originally I had planned for it to be a video upload specifically -- this is cutting a bit too much into my schedule. I'm sometimes sacrificing a full day's work, or working late into the night, to get something done.
I am finding it much more comfortable to just say that every Wednesday is something substantial, and not specifically a video. That way, it's coming from the heart, and not from obligation. For example, today I just wanted to write after editing all week. This is that.
This doesn't mean that video uploads will stop, far from it -- I really enjoy the commentaries and behind the scenes. It's just challenging to think of something to record, edit and upload every week by obligation.
But if you joined specifically for uploads, you can always ask for a refund at davidoneacre@gmail.com if you feel that you did not get your money's worth. Hope all that works.
2.) Friday Supporter Exclusive After Streams: I've been doing a little extra stream after my usual one on Fridays. These have been super fun and will continue. They're usually a lot more relaxed because I can talk to supporters directly. If you haven't stopped by, consider it and say hi! I hope to play more relaxing games, or maybe work and draw on these streams.
Between these two things, plus the usual credits in videos and the Discord channels, I feel very comfortable with the amount of stuff you get from Patreon. I hope you think so too!
Future Tiers
Because the current structure works great for me, I am hesitant to add any tiers with additional obligations that are too time consuming. But I've had requests and I'd still like to do it.
Currently, I'm leaning into adding higher tiers for two things: fancier credits, and a sticker club.
Fancier credits would be the same as usual, with your name at the end of videos, but shown in a fancier way. What that means I'm still deciding. I'm debating drawing higher supporter tiers a "Doodleysona" (like a Pizzasona from Pizza Tower) and having that show up at the end of videos.
Sticker club is what it says on the tin, mostly cause I think it'd be fun, and because Mel can handle most of the work. Stickers are some of the best selling merch I have, and I'd love to make more of them. Just need to do some planning before it happens. No guarantees, but I'd like to do it!
Jellybox
This was the biggest news that recently came out -- I'm partnering with brand new independent animation studio, Jellybox!
Jellybox was founded by Gene Goldstein, a good friend and former coworker I worked with at my last job. (You may know him from Planet Panic.) They are mainly working on NOXP, a shorts series, and are primarily focused on short-form content, but are getting involved with lots of things.
Both of us are frustrated with the current state of the animation industry, and we both believe independent animation is the future. If studios aren't willing to take risks on new IPs, then smaller studios will rise up with new content in their place.
As a result, Gene started Jellybox, and the stars aligned as I was going full-time myself -- I'm hoping we both grow together, changing the animation industry for the better! If anyone can do it, it's him -- he's super passionate about directing and management, with a ton of professional connections.
What does this mean for Doodley and you guys?
Nothing, right now! It's purely on my own backend. I realized after going full-time that, if I wanted to treat this like the job it is, I needed someone to keep track of everything. Jellybox is currently that, serving as a producer.
But eventually, the idea is to have one studio to call for anything I need, while I can focus on the things that matter to me the most. Managing a ton of interpersonal connections and business deals is it's own skill, and not something I'm interested in putting a lot of my time into -- I value working with people professionally and not being too personal, so having one professional group to go to for all of that is a dream.
As I've said, I'll always be the one doing the main tutorial animation, visuals, editing, etc., while they handle menial tasks that don't require input from me, like cutting voice over, clip hunting, small editing tricks, and so on.
Keeping the channel's identity close to home is very important to me -- I always want what I do to come from my own heart. But I'm hoping they can speed things up by taking on some of the grunt work that isn't close to my heart.
I hope you look forward to what's to come!
Plush Design
Finally, this is something I've actually been working on for a while and wanted to be a bit more of a surprise (I was hoping to have it ready by the channel anniversary), but it's going to take longer than expected, so I'm gonna rip off the band-aid and talk a little bit about the process so far.
I've been in talks with a bunch of people about a plush Doodley, but it's a tricky process. I've mentioned many times that I'm adamant about it not being a limited-time thing, like Makeship. I collect plushies and having a plush of my own characters is a dream. I want to keep stock available indefinitely, because telling people it's no longer available when they ask would break my heart.
Obviously, that's a lot more difficult than you'd think. There's effectively two plans:
1.) Direct from manufacturer, sold and shipped by us
This was my original plan in May-June. It's expensive upfront (think $3000ish), but at the time I was working full-time and already self-funding merch from my own pocket, so I was pretty close to ponying up the cash to do it.
Besides that plan quickly changing once I was laid off, the other issue was storage space. My apartment is not very big, and we're already outgrowing it! At minimum, we'd have to make 500 plushies. I have no idea where I'd store those.
But it's not out of the question -- this way is still possible, which I'll get to later. But after exploring this option, I wanted to explore a second avenue...
2.) Designed, sold and shipped by third party
This is the Makeship-like option. I offer to work with a company, they design, sell and ship the plush. As mentioned earlier, I didn't want to work with Makeship as I didn't want it to be limited-time.
There were a few other companies I was in talks with, but weren't satisfied with their approach. One of them I was farther along with, but I keep getting ghosted, and I'm tired of waiting around for them. Besides, it's always going to be an awkward fit when Mel and I run our own merch store.
So...a third option has opened up. I'll expand on it more if/when it happens, but I think it makes the most sense. I've also realized I have almost the exact amount of money in savings squirreled away that I forgot about (ESPP, baby!), which I can use to fund the plush, so it still ends up from my own pocket.
It'll still be a while to get this done, since the manufacturing/design/etc takes a long time. Hopefully I'll have more updates soon!
How's Full-Time Going?
One last thing: let's talk a little bit about Doodley full-time. I'm gonna be as transparent as I can.
In short: right now, I believe I am "in the black." All things added together, between Patreon, Youtube/Tiktok ad revenue, merch sales, and stream Superchats, I make enough to cover my bills that I am not burning through savings to survive. Much of this is thanks to you guys!
To be clear, I'm neither making nor losing money at the moment. And this is exactly where I want to be, because it means anything else I do that brings in more funds can go elsewhere. We are, after all, just getting started. The video I'm doing right now I'm hoping attracts in a sponsor that isn't scummy, and then the ball can really start rolling.
I still stand by my motivation to put everything I make back into growing the channel, and being able to already sustain myself with what I've already set up is excellent.
I feel very comfortable with where I'm at financially and how to make thing sustainable, so overall I am feeling very good. As always, this is cause of you guys! I am super excited about where things are and what the future holds. Thank you as always!
--David
