A note on perks: You may choose to remain anonymous, and your name will not appear on the website or in the credits. That is your right, and you would still receive the perk you chose and our deepest gratitude.

About Alchemy and Poverty

I'm David Jewell. I've been making videos for YouTube for over four years now. My most prolific and popular show, Miscellanea, is a series of instructional videos, mostly about cooking. In the intros and outros of each episode, there are hints and snippets of a strange adventure through time and space.

I started making videos for YouTube to practice the process of film making, but I quickly came to see web series as a medium no less legitimate than feature films or television. Indeed, web series allow for long form storytelling with complex character development while providing greater creative freedom than you might find on television.

I recently took a hiatus from video making to focus on writing Alchemy and Poverty. During that hiatus, a thief broke into my house. Among other things, they stole my computer and both of my video cameras, along with the memory cards. I see this as both a setback and an opportunity.

Alchemy and Poverty is a dark fantasy that takes place in modern day America. It follows the daily struggles of a close-knit group of friends. Some are scraping by in low paying jobs, some are coping with tremendous loss. When they discover the long-buried secrets of alchemy and the powerful allure of magic, they each see a solution to their problems. As the stakes rise higher, tension between these friends mounts. Some will triumph, some will fail, but none will be the same in the end.

I have long had a passion for storytelling in visual media. There is no reason to impose limitations on the quality of a web series. Given the proper talent, drive, and budget, a web series can equal or surpass the quality of many films and television shows. That is my goal with Alchemy and Poverty.

I have been gathering an amazing group of artists, actors, writers, and others. This will be a collaborative project that utilizes many of the most talented people in Dayton. A project like this cannot be accomplished alone.

We also need your help. With your contribution, we can afford to make this web series truly great. Our budget will go towards cast and crew, props, wardrobe, and equipment such as a camera, microphones, lights, and a computer with the editing software needed to achieve the special effects we need to tell this story.

If this project is fully funded, this group of passionate performers and artists will work together to create the best web series we can.

What We Need & What You Get

We're asking for six thousand dollars to make this series.

We need a computer and editing software, which on the low end will cost just under three thousand dollars.

A decent camera of the type we need will cost fifteen hundred dollars.

Microphones and a mini steadicam, or the materials to build one, will run between three and five hundred dollars.

That's five thousand dollars, and the rest will be split between props, wardrobe, craft services (food for the cast and crew), and the cast and crew themselves. I will be working on this for no money up front, and several others have offered to do the same, but this will involve long hard hours of work. It would be better to have something to offer those who are giving up their nights and weekends to work on this series.

We can do it for six thousand dollars, but if we exceed our goal, we can afford more complex props, better locations, more and better equipment, and our starving artists/actors won't starve so much.

In return for your contribution, you will not only have our never ending thanks for helping us make this series, you can also receive some exciting swag. On the right side of the page, you can peruse the perks you can receive at different donation levels. These are our thank-you gifts to you for being a part of this project.

If we don't meet our goal, we'll still make something, but it will be something different. A web series will come from this, but we can only make this exciting, character driven fantasy if we meet out goal.

The Impact

Web series are still a relatively new medium. Our goal is to produce a web series of the highest quality we can. Something entertaining, with the highest production value possible. We want to raise the bar for web series.

When I do something, I want to do it as well as I can. Miscellanea started because I wanted to make instructional videos that explained not just how to perform a task, but how to perform it as well as you can, be it making rice milk, toasting pumpkin seeds, or mixing a daiquiri. I am working with people who are just as passionate as I am. We will make this a web series worthy of your help.

Other Ways You Can Help

If you can't contribute monetarily, we understand. We ask that you help us spread the word about this campaign. Tell your friends and family. Your coworkers. You can use the share tools at the bottom of this page. We will appreciate anything you do to help.

Thank you!