Tag Archives: sarah bernhardt

A Living Eulogy for Otherlands

Three days, twenty hours until the campaign is over. It’s led a brief but spectacular life so far. Will this weekend find us celebrating its success or mourning its loss? The numbers are so close it’s hard to say. While there’s still a glimmer of hope, I offer you a recap of what we’ve accomplished so far – and a glimpse at what might be if we succeed:

• The Otherlands animation project is born from the ashes of a sacrificed OZombie campaign.

• Autographed DVD’s, Blu Ray’s, Art Books, Posters and more are added as backer rewards.

• Animation Storyboards and Thomas Edison arrive at the 25% funding mark.

• Stop-motion animator Troy Morgan signs on as we reveal Van Gogh’s mind and hit the 35% mark.

• Motion graphic animator Ed Goin joins us as we unveil a series of beautiful Alice lithographs.

• Alice soundtrack composer and musician Chris Vrenna joins the creative team on Otherlands.

• Legendary Hong Kong film director Tsui Hark lends his creative voice and support to the project, moving Alice one step closer to the big screen.

• Otherlands flies into the mind of Hilda Hewlett as we attain 50% funding altitude.

• At 60% funding we peer into the mind of Oscar Wilde.

• Tons of press coverage lands alongside a drama-inducing glimpse inside the mind of Saint Saens (yes, it was made from manipulated Beksinski art, yes it was offered for sale, then not).

• Susie Brann (voice of Alice) and Roger Jackson (voice of Cheshire Cat) announce their involvement as we zoom past the 70% mark and set our first stretch goal.

• And lastly, we present the mind of Bram Stoker as the campaign bites and claws towards 75% of funding.

It’s been a wild ride! A quick and creative campaign racing towards an imaginative goal. The combined talent, creativity and passion we’ve presented throughout the campaign could deliver some truly amazing animation – and make meaningful progress towards Alice’s debut on the big screen.

It’s all here – the creative vision, the proven animation talent, a legendary writer/producer/director of big-budget action films, the “musical voice” of the Alice series, the literal voices of Alice and her grinning companion… A complete package. A full house.

What more could we ask for?

Well, a lot more. We’ve barely scratched the surface of awareness needed to make this thing a success. Alice fans from around the globe are emailing me every hour to say they’ve just stumbled upon the campaign. They heard about it through a friend of a friend. Or when some drive-through customer shouted “Otherlands!” in response to , “May I take your order?”

This campaign will live or die based on how effective we are in spreading the word over the next 90 hours.

Here’s what you can do right now:

Tweet this: @AliceOtherlands, Less than 90 hours to go #Kickstarter kck.st/16F4yvT

Facebook this: “Alice: Otherlands” is American McGee’s Kickstarter campaign to make a series of animated shorts based on Alice’s latest adventures. Less than 90 hours remain until the campaign ends. Help make it a success: kck.st/16F4yvT

Then do whatever other crazy stuff you can think of to raise awareness. Get CRAZY!

Speaking of crazy… Did you know French actress Sarah Bernhardt slept in a coffin to better understand tragic roles? Well, now you do! And today’s Otherlands adventure is an illustration of Sarah’s beautiful mind, as rendered by Spicy Horse artist Joey. We’ll be adding this to the campaign, as usual, as an add-on at $65 + $10 for international shipping.

From Shanghai with Crazy in my Brain,

-American

The End is Nigh


Four days remaining with the Alice: Otherlands Kickstarter campaign and we’re at 70% of our goal. We’ll need to make 15kUSD a day to finish successfully, but with the 48 hour notice and “Surge of the Last Days” I think we can do it! The thing is, we REALLY need to turn up the noise on our social, online, friends, and family marketing. So get those fingers tapping and let the world know!

However this campaign turns out, this will be my last Kickstarter. Working with the platform this year has been an interesting experience to say the least. We’ve run three campaigns – Akaneiro, OZombie and now Alice: Otherlands. Each has been unique in terms of content and presentation. The Akaneiro campaign helped us launch a game. OZombie explored the limits of my ambitions and public support while Otherlands… well, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Thing is, I don’t think I’ll ever be willing to run the gauntlet again. As many positive things have come from these campaigns, for me personally it’s a mostly painful experience. It’s tantamount to putting a giant “kick me” sign on my back. “Don’t read the comments!” screams Ophelea (our Community Manager), but maybe the naysayers and insult hurlers have a point? Not that they are necessarily “right,” but when the echo chamber of the majority destroys any and all independent thought, what is “right?”

Someone recently sent me a Lewis Carrol quote:

“If you limit your actions in life to things that nobody can possibly find fault with, you will not do much!”

The man has a point, and so my Kickstarter sentiments are not about my actions in general – just about this particular form of public exposure. Crowd funding is a gladiator’s game. I still think it’s an amazing platform, and one that our industry desperately needs, just not one that’s suited to my temperament, endeavors or (it would seem) my audience.

Speaking of the stage of life… the image you see alongside this post is a peak inside the mind of Sarah Bernhardt, the French actress who has been referred to as “the most famous actress the world has ever known.” This image will be offered via the Kickstarter campaign with tomorrow’s update. You’re getting an early sneak peak!

If you’re looking for a slightly darker mind, check out today’s update – which provides a glimpse inside the mind of Dracula author, Bram Stoker.