Historic 66 Productions exists for three purposes: to entertain the world through the creation of quality content, to educate the world with tutorials and projects released under a Creative Commons BY-SA license, and to connect the world through crowdsourced projects, company and creative transparency, and a strong internet/social media presence. Currently, we are seeking funding for the purpose of producing and distributing "minisodes" of the webseries t.b.d.
Before we get started, let me thank you for taking the time to view this project. If funded, it will be a fulfillment of a lifelong dream of mine, as well as fulfill a tenant of my production company's mission statement (which will be covered below). During the 1950s, Springfield, MO (where the series is set and shot) ranked third in the U.S. for originating network television programs behind New York and Hollywood. We we feel that, with this project's help, there's no reason this can't be the case again.
When the full project is realized, t.b.d. will be a half hour webseries, depicting the lives of a group of Millennials in Springfield, MO. The cast will be made of people of all walks of life and the series will deal with the unique culture of Springfield, the lives of the characters, and the struggles they and their friends encounter. Plots will deal with issues such as poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, menstruation, unexpected pregnancy, masturbation, obesity, abortion, race, social class, domestic violence, infidelity, and gay rights. Each season will include ten episodes (except this season which, barring the raising $100,000 will include seven). Using SGA, DGA, and WGA rate cards, we have approximated the cost of a typical broadcast television episode and have set our budget at roughly 0.01% of that amount. With a few exceptions, this works out to $10-$15,000 an episode. With this campaign, we aim to raise at least $5,000 to create 10 "minisodes" to preceede the first season, as well as a video game and comic series. If enough interest is generated through this campaign and its outcome, we will start a second campaign to raise funds for the first season.
In addition to DVDs and Blu-Rays, we will offer merchandise such as t-shirts, in-action figures, and various items related to fictional in-series brands and franchises. Some of these will showcase various aspects of Springfield culture, with some of them potentially becoming real world brands.
In accordance with the the second tenant of our company mission, the “source code” for each episode will be available for download free of charge, via the Internet Archive, and will be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license. DVD/Blu-Ray (and, hopefully, Lib-Ray) copies with bonus features will also be avalible, with a portion of each sale being donated to various charities.
In accordance with third tenant of our company mission, the series will feature a great deal of audience input with viewers being given the option to live chat and answer polls while viewing the minisodes and episodes. Additionally, we will fulfill this tenant by posting the episode outlines, screenplays, and budgets for each episode.
What We Need & What You Get
Starting at $1, we're offering a large variety of perks, ranging from the entire season on DVD to in-action figures, to a producer credit on IMDB. Each level beyond $1 includes all of the perks from the levels below it.
Note: The ship date for each level refers to the ship date for the LATEST item shipped. Perks from lower levels will ship at the same time.
Some of the perks for backing this project are t-shirts and in-action figures (which, if you've been wondering, are an action figure that doesn't move). If you pledge at a level that allows you to choose one or more of each of those, below you will find the designs for those. Please email your choices to clint@historic66productions.org.
The In-Action Figures are:
-Russ with laptop, screenplay, and Molly
-Marie with wine glass, novel, and pack of Albatross Black cigarettes
-Wesley with "A People's History of the United States", game controller, and Super Circle of Heroes SNES cartridge
-Jackson with notepad, mandolin, and DSLR camera
-Dean with bottle of Towhead, 'Risen' comic, and Plaid Dragon vinyl record.
-Parker with calculator, grocery bag, and "ALL men are created equal" yard sign
-Joanne with handheld gaming console, Circle of Heroes card pack, and zombie action figure
-Keith with free weights, Ozark Ale beer can, and football
The shirts are:
-Black shirt with a weapon wielding dwarf and the words "Dwarf needs food!" (as worn by Joanne). 8% of the donation of backers that choose this design will be donated to Child's Play.
-White shirt with rainbow flag and the words "These colors don't run" (as worn by Dean). 8% of the donation of backers that choose this design will be donated to The Trevor Project.
-Black shirt with white Tux design (as worn by Wesley). 8% of the donation of backers that choose this design will be donated to the Free Software Foundation.
-Green shirt with Homegrown Food logo (as worn by Parker). 8% of the donation of backers that choose this design will be donated to Freedom From Hunger.
-Black shirt with InKings logo (as worn by Mira).
-Grey shirt with Circle of Heroes retro poster design (as worn by Russ).
-Blue shirt featuring the words "This is my [f]avorite shirt" on the front and an NSFW tag under the front (as worn by Marie and featured on reddit). 8% of the donation of backers that choose this design will be donated to Stand Up To Cancer.
-t.b.d. logo (black with white text).
-Historic 66 Productions logo (grey with logo).
-White shirt with Earth design and the words "There's no place like home, so take care of it" (as worn by Kate). 8% of the donation of backers that choose this design will be donated to the Sierra Club Foundation.
-Black shirt with "Vote No" campaign button (as worn by Jackson). 8% of the donation of backers that choose this design will be donated to Rock the Vote.
-Teal shirt with the words "You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. -C.S. Lewis" (as worn by Kate). 8% of the donation of backers that choose this design will be donated to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.
Bonus perks: The first person to donate anything will be mentioned by name and specifically thanked in the "Thank You" video, the first person to donate $10 or more will get an EXCLUSIVE set of promotional items (magnets, buttons, etc), the first person to donate $50 or more will get a third t-shirt, the first person to donate $100 or more will get their likeness included in Circle of Heroes, and the person who pushes us to $5,000 or above will receive an EXCLUSIVE in-action figure.
The Impact
It is my personal belief that each person on Earth has at least one purpose for exsistence and I feel I was put on this planet to tell stories. I also believe that information, as well as art, wants to be free. If this project comes to life, it will fufil both of those concepts, and, as I mentioned earlier, a lifelong dream.
Although unlikely, consider this: If 400,000 people each gave just $1, the entire world would recieve twenty episodes of a webseries, a movie, two video games, and an app.
Other Ways You Can Help
Some people just can’t contribute, but that doesn’t mean they can’t help:
Let us hear your music - Especially if you're a Springfield based band, we'd love to hear your demo. As stated before, we're trying to make this series as "community" based as possible and want to feature as many local bands as we can. No matter where you're from, let us hear you; even if we don't use it, we love hearing new music!
Let us place your product - Want to help out but don't have any extra cash to do so? Do you also own a business? Manufacture a product? Created art of some kind? Let us put it in our series! If we place your product, all we ask in return for the free advertising is a plug or two in your advertisng.
Contact me for more information.
