Independent Film Group Raises Over $1 Million in Hours on Indiegogo
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- June 10, 2014
Rooster Teeth Built Channel on Halo Comedies
By James DeRuvo (doddleNEWS)
Another crowdfunding record has been smashed. Rooster Teeth, the producing team who built their core audience on filming comedies around the video game Halo by using the animation from the game itself, has raised over $1 million within 52 hours on Indiegogo for their upcoming science fiction feature film Lazer Team. The record breaking total doubles the money that they were asking for, and they still have nearly a month to go in their campaign. WOW. If that doesn’t underscore the importance of bringing your audience with you to a crowd funding campaign, I don’t know what does.
After over a decade of providing online content, Rooster Teeth has built a veritable empire that could rival just about any Hollywood studio. They have over 5500 videos on YouTube, which has over 7.5 million subscribers and content that includes a host of animated programs, live action shorts, gameplay commentaries, and podcasts, and they even run their own fan convention in Austin Texas. Members pay for subscriptions to content, which buys them early viewing privileges, and access to premium content.
But what they are known for is the popular Halo?parody series Red vs. Blue. If you’re not familiar with RvB, it’s a hysterical comedy that takes place in literally in the Halo video game universe. That’s because Bernie Burns, Matt Holum, and Gus Sorola, the founding members of Rooster Teeth, have produced 12 seasons of RvB using the computer graphics engine that’s built inside all Halo Games using the XBox. It’s a technique called “machinima,” and Team Roosterteeth may not have pioneered the technique, but they’ve certainly made it an art form .
But what has really made the show is the great writing and voiceover performances of the actors for such memorable characters as Sarge, Grif, Donut, Church, Tucker, and Tex. The comedy also has a darker, more serious subplot as the two teams, which seem to be locked in mortal combat with each other, rather than the Covenant enemies of the video games, also have to deal with Project Freelancer operatives. It’s a brilliant comedy that’s been able to hold up even when Halo’s game play quality continues to advance.
Now Rooster Teeth is moving into feature film work and have created a comedy called Lazer Team, which tells the story of the deciphering of a coded alien transmission and dealing with the knowledge that universe is not only what we’re told it is, but it’s very dangerous place. Sound like great sci-fi fodder to me!
As of today, Rooster Teeth has raised nearly $1.2 million and they still have 26 days to go. Reaching their goal, they have added several “stretch goals,” which are rewards that get activated once the initial goal has been reached and they want to offer better perks to see ?just how high they can get their total.
And not only do Burns and company have a dedicated following which are screaming “shut up and take my money” for them to make Lazer Team a reality, but they’ve also laid ?out exactly where that money will be spent with a brilliant breakdown of costs, campaign calendar, and backer perks. It’s definitely a prime example of how to run a textbook campaign.
Check it out on Indiegogo here.
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