Cora McClain | Copy Editor

How much does it cost to fund an animated series? Well, according to “The Legends of Vox Machina Kickstarter is LIVE!” it takes $750,000 to make just one 22 minute episode. This was the initial goal Critical Role, a Dungeons and Dragons web series with an all-star cast of well-known voice actors in the video game and animated world, set in their Kickstarter campaign in order to fund a 22 minute animated special entitled “The Legends of Vox Machina.”

As stated on the project’s Kickstarter page, the team initially pitched the special to traditional media studios. However, they soon changed their strategy after finding little to no success with these studios and networks. In order to “stay true to our beloved characters and tell the stories (their fans) want to see,” they decided to turn to their fans (a.k.a Critters) to make it a possibility.

The Kickstarter launched March 4, and within 40 minutes, the community gave them $1 million. By 5 p.m., the community smashed through the original stretch-goals, giving the project $3 million.

“The target was $750,000, but that was because we thought we might hit it,” Travis Willingham, Critical Role CEO and cast member, stated in their eighth Kickstarter update on March 7. Dungeon master and cast member Matthew Mercer added that they hoped they’d  “hit it by the end of the campaign.”

After reworking their plan for the campaign, they changed the project from a four-part special, to a complete 10 episode season. The first two episodes would follow the original arc for the special, with the last eight following an arc in their original campaign.

However, funding all 10 would take $8.8 million. On April 4, the community heeded the call. During the first half of their regular stream after a week-long hiatus, the community raised $400,000 to ensure they would get that 10 episode series they wanted.

As of April 9, the project stands at $9,199,756 with 66,634 backers and nine days left.

Now, what does this film project tell us about the future of entertainment?

“The Legends of Vox Machina” isn’t the only entertainment based project smashing records through crowdfunding. “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” a film project that revived the original show, ended their campaign with $5.76 million and Netflix picking up the series.

Entertainment other than film also follow this trend. “Goodnight stories for Rebel Girls,” a children’s book series, previously held the title of fastest funded project on kickstarter — earning their goal of $40,000 in 30 hours — and ended their campaign with $675,614. Along with the critical success of “The Legends of Vox Machina,” these projects and the overwhelming support for them illuminate just how viable crowdfunding can be in creating entertainment.

A trend is brewing in the industry: give the power back to the consumers to pick the entertainment they wish to consume. Coupled with the popularity of streaming services over major media networks, it’s easy to see that the entertainment field is beginning to shift away from traditional media towards a new and exciting partnership between creators and consumers.

As an avid consumer of online content (including that of Critical Role) seeing projects funded by a community in support of their favorite creators thrills me to no end. I felt for a long time that the mainstream entertainment industry has been out of touch with the audiences and communities that flock to the screens. However, online content made by smaller creators who have a close tie with their fanbase can lead to better content made by bigger budgets and an end product that services the wants and needs of not only the fans, but also the creator. I believe that we need more of these partnerships to revamp the entertainment industry and give new people the opportunity to release their creativity and provide people with content they want to see.

Fanbases are powerful entities that breathe life into the entertainment industry and would easily do their part to aid the creators they love. “The Legends of Vox Machina” is just one example of what a world of community supported content can create.

Contact the author at cmcclain17@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Critical Role