Magic starts with people!

Why are we doing this?

"We love this world and the people in it!"

We love College of Wizardry. There is probably no other experience that has introduced so many people world-wide to larping (from contemporary magic fiction and Harry Potter buffs, to passionate larpers). It has employed and trained amateur organisers, volunteers, professionals and hobby crafters and artists. And while the venture grew too big for the earlier organisers, the larp itself is strong, quirky and amazing. It is probably the most vibrant contemporary magic larp and story universe out there.

"It has changed my life in ways I never expected, giving me an international family of fantastic people, and has even become part of what I do for a living."

– Liselle Awwal

For all non-magic graduates out there

College of Wizardry is a magical story universe, where the participants populate the world in real, live events. At its core, a beloved live action role-playing series (so called "larps", think cosplay with make-believe) about a magic school that has run 20 main events so far at Czocha castle in Poland.

We make costumes, wands and mystical artefacts, write stories and create characters–and generally behave as if we can do magic. Of course it's all really an excuse to be humans together (or non-humans)!
 

wizardry.college

 

If we don't, there may be no coming back

"It is vital to continue now"

Without this fundraiser, College of Wizardry may be unable to rebuild, or may need years to open the doors again. But if we can run the cancelled events in Spring, we ensure there is a future and can make tickets available for more players to experience the magic. So by helping these stranded people, we help reopen College of Wizardry for everyone!

Aside from being unfair to the players, an extended break also threatens the availability of the fantastic castle location in the future. And a pause will seriously impact the event production side (as the props and production pipeline would have to be partly rebuilt from scratch). As it stands now, College of Wizardry has both gear and crew ready to go. We are going to rehire all these talented people and make the events happen.
 

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2.
The Fundraiser

Coming together to make this work

Our goal is to reopen College of Wizardry by first making the events in April possible, open the November event ticket sales, and from there bring more magical experiences and commission more amazing talents, showing this magical reality to the world!

Is there a deadline?

Yes and no. The sooner, the better for all players, the crew and castle preparations. We’ll keep fighting all the way, seek investors and sponsors.

The first donations

Every little bit helps, and tells the World that College of Wizardry is determined to live on. So any support is dearly appreciated, pledge as little or as much you like. Or just spread the word? Check out the special perks displayed on the right side on this campaign page with unique art and items donated by College of Wizardry supporters. Including limited items to keep as a personal memory, or to publicly show your support.

Any contribution will be invested in full, earmarked to rebuild College of Wizardry and run events. All contributions help to preserve College of Wizardry over time, but we would love to reopen the doors now. That is our first goal, not just to help those players, but because that is the first stepping stone to preserve College of Wizardry!

We'd love if you'd add our Facebook frame, easy as abracadabra!

1. Click this link! ⇢​

About our perks

All items are created and donated at no cost by professional artists, writers and crafters from the community. Aside from hard costs (printing and manufacturing, postal service, and Indiegogo and other fees), the entire contribution goes to preserve College of Wizardry. The prize for some items is much lower than comparative retail cost. For some it is higher, as this is a charitable fundraiser. We are also going to offer ticket vouchers, these are at latest price level, with a little added to pay for Indiegogo and banking fees and for this fundraiser. By getting that perk you support Save College of Wizardry and get at reserved and paid spot!

We sincerely hope you like our perks and support what we do.

Examples of perks that show You helped Save College of Wizardry!

• Signed Magical Certificate
  (A signed personal certificate showing you helped save College of Wizardry)

• Medal of Magic Saviour
  (In-story medal for heroic magic, a true friend of magical schools)

What if we can't raise all the money?

If we fail to raise all the funds, things will take longer, maybe years, but College of Wizardry will reopen its doors! With Indiegogo flexible funding, every contribution will be invested in full, earmarked specifically to rebuild College of Wizardry and run events in the future. All contributions help preserve College of Wizardry over time, and the more we get the faster we get there.

The immediate needs

What does the College of Wizardry need right now to survive? To run the upcoming events, to reaffirm the relationship with the community and with Czocha castle. Before this happens, no major investor will back the IP, and it would be hard to say if the players would come back. But if we reopen the doors now, we are confident we can keep them open.

"Unfortunately it's not like we can just go to some goblin bank
–those don't really exist in this world."

Regardless of the outcome of this fundraiser, P is giving free ticket vouchers for future events to all current ticket-holders, but better yet would be to run the events as originally intended. To enable this crowdfunding campaign, P makes a down payment to Czocha castle of twenty thousand Euro, which means the incredible location is booked and reserved for College of Wizardry to happen on the original dates!

How will your contributions be invested?
The goal is to immediately reopen College of Wizardry for witches and wizards. To preserve it so it can stand on its own legs again. One of the most important uses of the contributions is to be able to rehire Lead Producer Robin Steen, Iryt and the crew and freelancers for the 2019 events. The entire team is ready to go, with full support from P. After making good towards the crew, we would also like to commission some amazing talent and experts to support them.

In a nutshell, by running these events we ensure College of Wizardry is in good shape moving forward. We can reopen ticket sales and from there it's a matter of bringing more magic to more people, better, sooner and more fantastic!

All in all about half of the funding needs this year are the Indiegogo campaign for the April events and related costs. The other half is development investments by The company P to preserve College of Wizardry, funded outside this crowdfunding campaign.

As a reference, a high-level budget for the 2019 April events and costs for the first phase of reconstructing College of Wizardry is estimated to include Indiegogo and bank fees, conversion costs et cetera ca 10 000€, Location, set & props etc, castle rent, food, consumables ca 65 000€, Documentation, character photographs and other services ca 10 000€, Busses, transportation, other ca 15 000€.

See more on our Long term plan at the end of this page

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The whole point of this fundraiser is to save College of Wizardry and make it available to the World again. To make that a reality, contributions will first go directly to pay for castle rent, food and other consumables, staff and freelancers, set dressing, costume, gear, travel and transportation et cetera to run the events in Spring. If we manage that, College of Wizardry will reopen its doors. The events in Fall will open for new players, and we will have preserved the magic for the future!

More miraculous perks:

• Magic Saviour Wand
  (A handcrafted gift, perfect for anyone to try their friendly neighbourhood spell casting!)

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There are numerous crafters and artist supporting the College of Wizardry events. We would like to offer more commissioned work this year to all these brilliant creatives. Naturally, the art and work on all perks for the campaign are donated freely.

The raised funds would go to freelancers to take College of Wizardry forward. Especially we are looking to bring on some of the stellar Polish professionals that know College of Wizardry like no other, including the brilliant Agata Swistak who is attached as Assistant Producer.

One awesome part of this stretch goal is that we have invited the incredible artist Toshi Salvino (Dollfille) from the US to College of Wizardry! Toshi is offering her amazing work for free, and will help guide the NPC makeup crew in makeup and mask. She will also join the event as a special character, written by Freja Gyldenstrøm–a magically animated living doll inhabiting in the castle during Magic & Mischief! This would be Toshi's return to larping from when she was younger, and we couldn't be prouder to welcome her to the witchard family!

Toshi on YouTube
Dollfille Instagram

Photo Credit Abi Laurel
 

Here's a feature in New York Magazine about Toshi and her friends. P had the absolute pleasure of working with Toshi at Sleep No More for the Unknown 9 launch during New York ComicCon, and we are totally in love with her work! Her work and magical participation will be documented especially by brilliant Jeremy Caldwell.

Beautiful art perks:

• Main Donor Portrait (Limited)
  (Credited, and an in-character canvas print "oil painting" at Czocha castle)

• Signed Art Print (Limited printing)
  (Artwork of Czocha castle and witchards by Lars Bundvad)

"We like to explore making College of Wizardry stronger
and more accessible, bringing the magic to more people and places."
 

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Bring sorcery wherever you go with Magic Study Books, with maker-tips and playable content and lore. Take these beautiful books to magical courses at College of Wizardry or other magical schools. If we manage to raise the extra funds, we will begin to commission artists and writers (both professional and fans), and develop a growing set of on-demand student books.

Note that all source material would also be readily available to players online for free.

Playable Study Books on various topics (source and rules books made in-game, such as spells and magical history)

Exclusive House Books (with hidden mysteries and mini-quests)

Faculty Class Books (with DYI labs, presentations and teaching assets, lore student tests, as well as mini-quests between classes)

Fan-created 1st Study Book, and College of Wizardry Student Handbook
 

Get lots of magic loot in one perk:

• Save College of Wizardry Kit
  (This is a nice package with a lot of magic stuff and surprises)

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We all imagine that magical market hidden behind ancient stone walls and secret library passage ways. We like to populate it with all the fan creators out there. We like to support and grow the vibrant online community of crafters and small businesses that provide players with wands, wardrobe and more. And give them a permanent in-game place at events. The castle yard is perfect for travelling merchants of magic putting up tents and wagons. To boost the fan creations that are such an important part of College of Wizardry, we like to create an actual "coin". As extra flavour. Online pre-sales on people's Etsy etc would of course continue. Needless to say the coin would work as a voucher at the tavern! We've created tens of thousands of fantasy coins and sci-fi tokes for larps before and know the process.

"Witchard" is a gender neutral name for a spell caster,
coined by the College of Wizardry community.

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We would like to commission Horseradish Studio, the incredibly talented group behind much of our documentation and the Save College of Wizardry! video here on Indiegogo.

We will show the evolution of this world of magic over all these years, and the start of the next chapter in this living saga. The team will follow the rebuilding, interview fans and crew, and create a short-form professional documentary about the magical world we all helped save. The College of Wizardry has garnished press impressions in the hundreds of millions internationally, and is likely the most widely publicised larp in history.

Watch their latest documentary (110 000+ views so far). And here is their stunning reel ⇢​

Some of the press over the years:

Some perks for the bigger donors:

• Grand Donor Book Page
  (A personal letter page in a beautiful leather book at Czocha)
  

• Partner Video Feature
  (Video profile for web and social media, and the possible documentary)

"From here on it's a matter of more magic, better, safer, sooner
and bringing the magic in new ways, to more people and places!"
 

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Launching the 2020 events

Launching future events is of course one thing we will definitely do further down the line. But with enough support from fans and the public to help College of Wizardry get through 2019, we can start thinking about the future now. And develop and launch larp events for next year and onward.

This will be done in dialogue with player advisory groups, veterans and newbies willing to give advice, and in conversation with the many stellar larp organisers out there.

Our aim is to continue the classic larps. We would also like to explore doing special events and storylines for player groups perhaps not yet included fully. Such as cuter, friendlier playful events for children of all ages. Or the darker, rawer consequences of spell casting for seekers of the horrifying. Inclusiveness, such as ethnicity, language and accessibility and gender would also be expanded. We know there is a feminist event designed with ticket sales started but postponed, that we would like to revive, with the original creators.

Example of a truly grand perk!

• College of Wizardry Official Sponsor (Limited, only one left)
  (We like to invite partners to show support for College of Wizardry)

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And beyond!

Thoughts on the long-term plan

We want to bring the College of Wizardry to the rest of the world. To take the magic to new fans and more places.

"It's time to kick in some doors and make the entertainment industry embrace the incredible warmth, intimacy and creativity of larping! We know both Hollywood and Magicwood, and its high time to let the beings of both mingle."

– Christopher Sandberg, Founder P

P will create a professional concept video reel and look book. This will involve many creatives from College of Wizardry for commissioned work, along with leading industry creatives. P will set up pitch calls with investors, agents, studios, networks and streamers. With the aim to see how the magic can expand to a larger audience of non-larper and larpers alike, set in this fantastic story universe.

P has created, produced and collaborated on several award-winning prime-time drama series and transmedia productions, all including immersive theatre and larp events. P has also worked for several years advising one of the largest theme park operators in the world, on the development of participatory experiences. P Directed and Produced the global immersive launch event for Unknown 9, with Sleep No More and McKittrick hotel in New York, together with Cirque du Soleil founder's immersive company Reflector Entertainment. This garnished over one hundred million press impressions world-wide and is nominated for the Shorty Awards in "Best use of Storytelling".

Note: None of this would in any way intrude on the privacy and immersion of the larps. These will remain a safe-haven and the heart of the College of Wizardry world.

The company P is estimating it will invest ca 100 000€ in the first phase (on things such as insurance, legal fees, and development for investors and partners to come in and support). This is funded outside the Indiegogo campaign and should extra support come in it first goes go to creative commissions for development and presentation materials et cetera to the community and freelancers and professionals (see Stretch goals).

This includes getting it ready for major investor support, with the aim to set up a dedicated College of Wizardry company. This company is one we hope to run with and be owned in part by the community. As this would be quite a complex international set up, it will take time to figure out and to make sure that it is professionally managed, so that the situation it is in now isn't repeated.

To that end an analysis, business plan, investment white paper, creative brief and project pitches will be professionally produced. Brought to international event partners and entertainment and culture investors and funds, with the vision to collaborate with others to bring College of Wizardry to more people. This may include translations to other languages, establishing in other countries and on new continents, and reaching other demographics such as families and kids.

• Sales partners
• Research and academia partners
• Agents
• Transmedia and game expansions
• Expansions into new markets and language translations

P wants to preserve College of Wizardry and also try to let more people experience the magic, and we are confident we can secure funding over time. Moving forward, we would seek international partnerships not only for development funding, sales and publishing, and event production, but also to explore possible formats for expanding the universe into storytelling accessible to more people (such as a participatory drama series). We have direct relationships with all major networks and streamers, with many years of awarded productions in our portfolio.

The company P Founder Christopher Sandberg is a returning juror to several leading international funds for participatory storytelling in Europe and North America, with experience from funding many tens of millions of dollars in projects. As an example of such ventures, P produced the Emmy-nominated Conspiracy For Good, created with Tim Kring (Heroes, Treadstone), where we worked with Nokia to raise funds to build several libraries in Zambia, Africa, together with Room To Read, stocking them with books, giving scholarships to girls, and create awareness about literacy. We feel we can give College of Wizardry expertise and care, and are honoured for the opportunity to support this community. For more on P's work in participatory storytelling, see the bottom of this page.

Please look at some of P's work at the end of this page if you are curious about what we do.

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Do a shout out!

We would be very grateful if you'd consider sharing and liking Save College of Wizardry! in your social networks (use the Indiegogo share tools). The more people that know about it fast, the better chance to help the players now and College of Wizardry going forward. Thank you for taking the time to check us out! <3

Make a support message
Just take a selfie or shoot a few seconds on your smartphone or webcam saying "I want to save College of Wizardry!", post it and link to our campaign, with hashtag #savecollegeofwizardry

We'd love if you'd add our Facebook frame, easy as abracadabra!

1. Click this link! ⇢​

Social media visuals and more contributed by Lisa Wolfrum
www.wolfrumgraphics.com

Read on

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3.
About College of Wizardry

What is College of Wizardry?

A magical universe

College of Wizardry is a contemporary magical realism fantasy story universe, where the participants populate the world in real, live events. At its core is a beloved live action role-playing game series that has run 20 main events so far at Czocha castle in Poland.

And there is a whole ecosystem of countless of fan items, art and spin-off events. Most importantly, thousands of players and volunteers create their own magical characters, make costumes and props and bring them to life together! This is real magic of love!

Courtesy of Liselle Made
www.etsy.com/shop/LiselleMade

In images

More images also on Instagram

A few of all the magical people

The spellbinding main location, Czocha castle

A few words about earlier fundraisers

College of Wizardry fundraisers are some of the most successful larp-related campaigns on Indiegogo. First the very early larps at Czocha. Then later to expand the experience into a German language spinoff. It is worth noting that the cancellations of College of Wizardry by the earlier organisers, was due to other factors than the sustainability of the events themselves. The original group had to the best of our understanding overextended their projects to a point where they lacked operational capital to continue. This fundraiser is trying to save something established, loved by so many enthusiasts around the world and to take it forward. We don't expect any hype about an amazingly new thing today. But a fantastic existing one we want to preserve. And instead we hope that you find this fair and serious and trust us to rebuild before we innovate and expand. We thing that the decent thing to do, is to try to first deliver on the promise to those who now hold tickets to cancelled events.
 

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4.
About us doing this campaign