Bernie Tumbles

Hey Everyone,

So I know I’ve been behind with a lot of the inbox questions. It’s been a little hectic the last few weeks but I just wanted to point out some things that you might find interesting.

About the Kickstarter and DVDs

If you have questions about the KS and DVD, we’ve been answering them in the FAQ section of the page.

So if the campaign ended today we’d be the Number 1 “Webseries” in the history of KS, beating VGHS season 1. Of course this comes with a big *Asterisk* because VGHS season 2 and Cyanide and Happiness are both “Webseries” to me but weren’t classified as such. It is also crazy to think that we’re in the top 15 in Film and Video today even after counting Veronica Mars. 

DVDs -  If you’ve been following my tumblr over the year, you could probably tell that I’m not the biggest fan of DVD’s. Watching as the DVD business in entertainment has basically “fallen off a cliff” the past 5 years made me think that putting the resources towards a DVD was not a good use of them. WELL CLEARLY I AM WRONG.

As of this writing, we have essentially pre-sold 3,500 DVDS in three days! If you would have told me a year ago that a webseries in 2013 would presell 3,500 DVDs, I would have said that you were “full of it” crazy. It’s pretty incredible and I am still trying to process it. 

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About “Welcome to Sanditon”

We’re sending Gigi into an unfinished Jane Austen manuscript. I’d like to clarify that though I will be directing the episodes, I will not be the head writer on this project. The co-showrunners will be Margaret Dunlap and Jay Bushman which is very exciting. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with this story.

I’ve seen some questions floating around about how this series will be presented and well the simplest answer I can give you is that it’ll be recognizable to what you’ve seen yet different enough to give it a fresh feel. The interactive components planned for this is beyond fascinating to me and continues our experimental style. Jay was answering some questions on his tumblr earlier for those of you who are curious.

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So that’s it for now. It’s been an amazing experience and thank you all for supporting us. We really do have the best fans. I mean wow, just wow.

thelbdofficial:

Hank made an update video here to say thanks and answer some questions.

Here are the highlights. 

1. DVD will be region free, playable anywhere
2. DVD and book are not exclusive to the Kickstarter and will be available post campaign. You can get some of the merch faster at DFTBA.com
3. We are not taking Lizzie Bennet Diaries off YouTube. It’s staying there. The DVD is supplemental.
4. What happens with the extra money. Better DVD (closed captioning/more features), better Sanditon series, but primarily most of it will go to the cast and crew that worked so hard over the past year for very little pay to bring you The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. 

Also remember that many questions are answered in the FAQ section of the Kickstarter.

So we just crossed $250k. Wow. Be sure to watch the video if you have any questions. Also the FAQ section of the kickstarter.

Re: Transmedia. There are a lot of UI issues with a DVD, a low res screen, and clunky remote controls/navigation. Not ruling it out, but we can’t guarantee it.

Hey Everyone,

I’ve been getting a lot of requests for interviews for educational projects (thesis/papers/etc) in regards to storytelling and The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.

Since I can’t do dozens of individual interviews, I’d like to do one or two “hangouts/conference calls” to discuss as a group. If you want to participate, please email thesis (at) lizziebennet dot com so that we can coordinate. 

Include your name, school, and basic project details (one sentence) in your email. 

Please respect that this is not a fan event. This is for those of you who would like some more in depth knowledge for your educational endeavors. Space will be limited. 

Thanks, 

Bernie

spytap:

I’m a little late to the discussion, but I wanted to make sure I gave this topic the thought it deserved. Two weeks back, I - like many others - shotgunned House of Cards over the course of a couple days. I’d come down with some sort of ebola-esque virus, rendering me unable to do much outside of consuming massive quantities of over-the-counter medication and equally massive quantities of Netflix. Thus, in a perfect storm of “why the fuck not” I decided to devote what little energy I had to seeing whether House of Cards was really all Netflix professed it to be.

Here’s the short answer: Yes, House of Cards may well be the most important and influential piece of content this year - but for many reasons that I hadn’t predicted. While it’s very existence was enough to make it interesting from a business perspective, there were certain aspects of its execution that really pushed it beyond curiosity and into importance. No, I’m not talking about the oft-cited breaking of the fourth wall (which you either buy into early or spent the remaining 12 hours or so hating everything about) but rather, certain other aspects of the final product turned out to be significant game-changers for both the creative and business models of television as a whole - and the implications are staggering.

Let’s break it down:

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My friend Barrett being awesome.