Extra Credit Read #007 - Just go watch everything you can from Glitch Productions
If the traditional pipelines won’t give the people what they want, the indie ones will.
Hello again!
I LOVE animation - how can I not, it’s one of the founding pillars of Hollywood. I promise I’ll branch out into more mediums in the future, but this is NOT the week for that. Just a few days ago, Australian indie darling Glitch Productions dropped their new pilot THE GASLIGHT DISTRICT: a “gothic crime drama” about a family of undead gangsters vying for control of their post-apocalyptic island home. It’s been up for less than a week and has already amassed 10 million views.
To be honest, I usually don’t care for this kind of horror - but I’ve been thinking about this show every day since it came out, and I think that speaks to its charm. The characters are unique and memorable, the art is stylishly experimental, and it leans into a dark aesthetic that major studios tend to avoid. The fact that it’s gained such a huge viewership in such a short amount of time makes it clear how hungry audiences are for a move in this direction.
Glitch Productions is an Australian outfit founded in 2017 by Luke and Kevin Lerdwichagul, who were looking to fill a largely abandoned segment in the animation market for teens and young adults. Their career began in 2011 with their YouTube channel, SMG4, which featured Nintendo fan animatics. After the channel earned over 5 million subscribers and 3 billion channel views, they used this platform to branch into original content.
Glitch’s first major productions were 2020’s META RUNNER and the 2021 spinoff SUNSET PARADISE, which lived in the world of video games and used techniques developed in their fan animations. For their third production, MURDER DRONES, they collaborated with animator Liam Vickers - this began a strategy of partnering with online artists with unique, signature styles. (Fans also note that the Glitch team was able to give artists the support and structure needed to actually finish projects that might have otherwise been abandoned.)
The success of MURDER DRONES pushed Glitch’s YouTube channel to 1 million subscribers, and gave them the credibility to pursue collaborations with bigger names, including popular YouTube animator Gooseworx (for the fantasy/horror THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS) and even Dana Terrace, creator of Disney’s THE OWL HOUSE (for the upcoming KNIGHTS OF GUINEVERE).
We’ve already discussed HAZBIN HOTEL and the more recent I DON’T WANT TO BE A MAGICAL GIRL, two projects which began as crowdfunded endeavors and ended up with major studio attention. It just goes to show that even if the current powers that be don’t want to take risks with animation, they really should! It’s clear right there on the YouTube view counter how big of an appetite audiences have for curious, left-of-center animation projects, ESPECIALLY when it comes to YA content. Yes, anyone who can find the next BLUEY is going to be a billionaire, and whoever has the new BOJACK HORSEMAN or COMMON SIDE EFFECTS will certainly win a ton of awards, but why are we ignoring teens and young adults? Are we forgetting how much of a money printer a good fandom is?
I have a terrible cold this week and am just letting the rage wash over me at this point. The numbers are there for everyone to see and it’s clear what kind of projects viewers want. We have several prominent creators on the scene who have given us wildly successful projects like THE OWL HOUSE, BEE AND PUPPYCAT, SHE-RA, and executives are all but ignoring them. Animators from Emmy-winning projects are out there having to work retail on the side.
If Hollywood isn’t going to fund new projects, places like Glitch are. And those jobs are going to be in other cities and other countries. To be clear, if artists can find stability they should absolutely jump for it - but that’s just such a terrible loss for Los Angeles. Hollywood should be sad that our most creative people are slipping away. Eyes and wallets are going to follow them.
Your angry sick friend,
TIP
See you next time!