LITTLE UPDATE AND THE REALITY OF MAKING STUFF IN 2025

Evening all. Not much to say. Just checking in ahead of tomorrow night’s Digi Level 2 premiere. Even if you’ve watched the ep, we hope to see some familiar names in the chat.

I mean, surely you want to see people’s reactions to those first 10 minutes don’t you…?!

In other news… I’m plugging away with Ep 6. It’s a tricky one, because the bar was raised with the pirate episode. A lot of it is done, but I’m kind of reworking my original concept. I don’t want to just repeat myself, and I don’t just want to just fall back on my old tricks.

I do annoy myself in that way: I could crank it out and give you the episode now, as is, and most of you would be happy. It’s more about pressure I put on myself. So, hang in there. Reckon you’ll have it within a week or so. Yes: two eps in a month! It’s almost like the old days. 

Talking of… Poland is still on. Three episodes. One big adventure. Sanja’s currently doing some extra research, in case there’s anything I’ve missed. Though they all take place in the same country (or two…) they should be very different from one another.

COMMUNI-TY PRANCER

Something else we’ve been discussing this week, now that our life has kind of landed on an almost even keel again, are ways to bring the Digi community together. We inevitably neglected that over the past 18 months or so – and we want to make more stuff, more regularly – so we’re very keen to start building it up again.

We’ve thrown a few ideas around, but watch this space. Hopefully it’ll be a busy year on both channels - and beyond. 

Also, thank you for your feedback about crowdfunding a potential DL3 by the way. It’s helpful, and allows us to make tentative plans for the rest of the year. I honestly didn’t think anyone would be interested after the delays with DL2.

Raising the budget will be more of a challenge than it used to be – not least because the community is now scattered across myriad social media sites. The retro gaming community really has fragmented now. As a result, we don’t expect to ever raise as much as last time, but so long as we have enough to be able to afford to make the thing… we’ll be good.

We also appreciate that although we’ve grown the main channel over the past year, the core of our audience still loves the madness of stuff like Digi Level 2 and the old desk videos. There’s a tight concentration of you, and now that we’ve kind of reclaimed our channel as ours, and have found a format we love, we no longer feel the need to ignore all that.

Also, getting back to DL2 reminded me how much I enjoy the messing around.

CREATE EXPECTATIONS

I’ve also realised that the mentality of being a supporter of someone’s work means you do want to chip in. At least, I do.

There are a few creators I support, even if they don’t put out regular content, just because I love the stuff they make when they do make it. I want to help buy them the freedom and space to have ideas. It's so much harder when you're worried you can't even cover the mortgage.

The artist/writer Michael Kupperman is one, who - as per his Patreon - Is currently finding it hard to find the mental and emotional space to make stuff.

I support him on Patreon and have been trying to encourage him to crowdfund a book – because he can’t find a traditional publisher anymore. The work that used to be his bread and butter has dried up – relate – but he still wants to produce the work, and he still wants to be able to pay the bills. I'd happily continue paying his Patreon and chip in for a book, if he sets one up, so maybe I do get you saying you would too.

It’s incredibly hard now for creators to get funding from any large organisation nowadays. Things have changed beyond all recognition over the past decade in the entertainment and creative industries. Money rules. Take the BBC for instance; the kinds of quirky comedy you used to get on there would never happen now.

In part, that’s because the BBC has become – to a degree – a commercial entity. They no longer just produce content for their own channels. Shows are made with a view to being sold to other territories, and nothing gets made without international partners. Which also increases the number of voices involved in the mix, and waters down any project’s identity.

Consequently, you get no real authored work on there anymore. Even one of the ITV’s big hit dramas of last year – Mr Bates Vs The Post Office – is considered a flop, because it was too parochial, too UK-centric, and therefore can’t be sold overseas. Gone are the days of The Young Ones, Monty Python, Look Around You. Just wouldn’t happen now. It’s inevitable the License Fee will be axed sooner or later, and the Corporation is getting ready for that day.

Which is why supporting your favourite creators is so important if you’ve loved their work in their past. YOU the producers now. YOU are the only ones ensuring the world doesn't become a grey soup of identikit, mass-market slop.

Tim Heidecker – of Tim And Eric fame – is another I contribute to. I pay an annual subscription to his Hei Network, which gives two series of On Cinema At The Cinema a year, plus a live Oscar’s special, and other bits and pieces.

He also has a separate Patreon for his daily Office Hours show, and does live work here and there. It’s a brilliant model, because – again – he’s just too idiosyncratic to get his work produced anywhere else. Cartoon Network - where TandE got their break, has become, like everywhere, about ratings and money, rather than the weird, singular, shows it used to make.

So, if you enjoy quirky, niche stuff… and you can afford a little bit a month, do please support the creators you enjoy. I can tell you, we always appreciate it.

Lastly, I'm interested to know: who else do you support?