What made you personally want to do a season 2?
I will be totally honest. After season 1 I was totally burned out. If I never heard the word hipster again, it would be too soon. All I wanted to do was move onto my next project, which I envisioned would be – an artsy, dramatic feature film that would only be appreciated by art lovers; the opposite of Hipsterhood. But then all these little twitter and youtube comments kept popping up for me, and it was Hipsterhood fans who really wanted to know what happens to Cereal Guy and Faux Fur Girl. Like, they REALLY wanted to know, and they were upset the story was over. It wasn’t an overwhelming amount of comments, but I started to feel a responsiblity to my fans.
And so, I got over myself, and I wrote season 2. Believe me when I say season 2 is not about money, or fame, or even career-building. Season 2 is happening because the fans made me realize that the story of Hipsterhood is not over.
How will Season 1 and Season 2 differ?
I think the biggest difference is that there’s going to be more of a throughline instead of being episodic like season 1. In season 2, Cereal Guy and Faux Fur Girl have to navigate the world of hipster-dating. There will also be more interaction with supporting characters, most notably Daniel Gordh’s character, who throws a wrench into Cereal Guy’s plans. We also venture a little bit outside the Silverlake/Eastsider world of HIpsterhood.
How do you decide what to put into your kickstarter campaign video?
Nowadays everyone and their mother does a kickstarter. This results in a mountain of information about how to create a successful Kickstarter campaign that no one has time to sift through. At the end of the day, I decided to go with what I felt was most truthful. I tried to make a video that reflects my personality, the tone of the show, and that conveyed the necessary information. In my case, because it’s season 2, I knew people wanted to know what’s gonna happen, so I tried to convey that, and for any newbies who’d come across the campaign, I wanted to give them a glimpse of me and the Hipsterhood world.
So, I hope that everyone who see’s the campaign understands that I’m not trying to sell you anything, pull a fast one on you; it’s not a con. We really DO need help to make season 2 happen and Kickstarter is just a great way to get like-minded people to become a part of something they enjoy.
What have you seen in Season 2’s and Kickstarters that you think don’t work?
I feel like alot of “season 2” kickstarters are a little lazy. They know they have a fan base already built, and they know they can tap them for money, so maybe they don’t ask as nicely and as sincerely as they should? Since this is my first kickstarter campaign ever, I felt like we needed to be as open and nice and honest and sincere as possible about who we are and what we’re trying to do.
Also, I think some “season 2″‘s just kinda slap season 1 info in the campaign. I personally think you need to cater to people who HAVE and HAVEN’T seen season 1 equally. Alot of Kickstarter donations come from people who go “shopping” on Kickstarter, and you need to make sure your campaign can speak to the people who have absolutely no idea what your project is about.
How have your fans influenced what Season 2 will be?
For a while, I was toying with having season 2 be about entirely different characters. But in talking to some of the fans, it became clear that people were invested in Cereal Guy and Faux Fur Girl, and it would be most fruitful for me, and them, if I continued their story instead of starting a new one.
Will you raise money to pay the actors/crew/yourself or is that not part of a kickstarter?
The money raised on the Kickstarter will go to equipment, locations, food, and transportation. If we can raise more than our goal, we can start paying some of the crew, and cast, but, that’s only something I can think about once we reach our goal.
Here’s Episode 1 from Season 1 of Hipsterhood:
Do you think the kickstarter approach to funding digital series will continue perpetually or do you see the funding of web series evolving in the future?
I actually think Kickstarter is a really perfect funding avenue for digital series because any other route is going to be branded content-related. Kickstarter allows artists and filmmakers to keep their work truthful and honest – you don’t have to satisfy some major corporation with product placement, or make sure a storyline adheres to the mission statement of the company. When you don’t have to deal with the “studio” or the “brand”, you can make exactly what you want to make, which usually means the story will be better, and thus your only challenge is to find the people who believe it’s a story worth telling, and make sure they donate to you kickstarter.
Was there anything about season 1 that you wish you could have done differently that you’ll change in season 2?
Ha. Well, I really wanted everyone to get paid for their work in season 2, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen :).
In season 2, I would like to have more behind-the-scenes coverage. Last season I just didn’t have the man power to make BTS and make the show. This season, I’m going to have someone dedicated to making sure we get behind the scenes stuff that I know our fans will love.
Check out Season One of Hipsterhood HERE, their kickstarter for Season Two HERE, and my interview with Shilpi Roy about her writing process for Season One of Hipsterhood HERE!
The Tangled Web We Watch 