I met these awesome ladies (Kit and Silver) back in March of this year via a Wee Bee Geeks interview and was able to see their pilot at Comikaze (in early November). Here is my interview with Kit about this super cool indie webseries!
What is Sweethearts of the Galaxy?
Sweethearts of the Galaxy is a 9 episode web series about a cosplayer (Katelyn) who hits her head and then thinks she’s actually a superhero (Trinity Infinity). It becomes her friend’s job to not let the crazy know she’s crazy by coming up with comic book inspired scenarios to help her through her daily life.
You had a successful kickstarter campaign; congrats! Why did you use kickstarter and what do you think helped you make your goal?
We decided to go with kickstarter mainly for the recognizably factor and to hopefully reach a greater audience of people who enjoy independent film. We liked that people knew about Kickstarter already so we figured they’d feel safer giving us money through that service. Simultaneously we knew there’s a large following of people who enjoy surfing Kickstarter and finding interesting projects to support. We hoped to tap into that group as well and try to build a fan base that isn’t only from the world of conventions and ‘Kit ‘n Silver’. I think the main factors that contributed to our success were the good distribution of prizes, the very kind press we got online, and our families. I did a ton of research before we launched learning what prizes were most popular, what dollar amounts people most often gave, and what we could reasonably expect to raise based on similar projects. Then it was all about getting the word out, which we had a lot of help from a ton of websites. Of course in the end it was our families and friends that came through the strongest. The people we personally reached out to, wrote a letter, sent a message, talked to, those were the people that donated the most.
Where are you currently with this project?
The project is fully shot and in post. I believe we’re at least 90% in picture lock, and we’re just putting in the music to finish up the season! We have the first episode good to go with 2 & 3 very close to being done, if they aren’t already. Then we’ll have a short holiday break and we’ll be back in the new year with the remainder of the season! Which of course can hopefully launch us into a new Kickstarter for season 2!
How do you think your screening at Comikaze went?
Comikaze went amazingly! It was the first time I had seen the finished first episode and I was in tears from laughing. I knew the show was good but I had no idea how awesome it could be with all of the added effects and music!
How was having a panel, a booth and a screening Comikaze?
It was awesome having that much going on…if not exhausting. We had such a great response from everyone it left little to no time to just sit and breath. Which, hey, is the way we like it! The booth had a constant stream of friends and new faces coming by that we got to introduce our show to, and that was the goal of the booth! The screening/panel turned into a ton of fun; thanks to the help from our families, who brought in the donuts and coffee for everyone who showed up early on a Sunday to support us. It was really great to see how many people showed up so early to support us and watch the first episode. I was a happy little camper at the end of Comikaze!
Here is a recap of their fun panel at Comikaze!
Surprisingly, one of the first major hold ups was getting a composer. Kit pointed out that you “gotta have the right people” which is key to making successful projects. Both Kit and Silver were happily amazed at how grand the whole project turned out to be. They filmed a little over a week solid with what they described as a very professional crew. Writer, Michael Premsrirat, explained that it can become an “intense little campaign when you work on a small shoot” and either you will want to kill each other or you will have each other’s back at the end.
Actress Megan Alyse commented on how it all “happened really quickly.” She felt that it had not all settled in yet and she would like to “see how it goes” in terms of seeing how people react to the show. The director of the series, Dexter Adriano, recalled how this project was the “closest you could get to having a professional crew without having a professional crew.” He went on to say that they “found their legs as we went on” and that they were sad by day eight because they found their stride but were almost done. Premsrirat joked about pitching his ideas to Adriano by quoting Adriano’s reaction, “That! I like that” after hearing the cosplay show pitch.
Even though they had a successful kickstarter, waiting to see if they would make their goal was rather nerve wracking for those involved. Kit confessed, “my self-esteem goes up and down with the kickstarter.” Alyse said she even downloaded the kickstarter app just to stalk their own campaign. They chose to do a series funded by kickstarter so they could retain creative control. Kit explained that “kickstarter lets you stay in charge” and that “the Hollywood model destroys visions.” Silver was “still in shock” after seeing the final episode.
Currently they are looking into the festival circuit. The first episode airs today (11/27) on YouTube!
Fun fact: They did plan out the comic book series within the show though not much of that comes across in the show but both Kit and Silver exclaimed, “we know it!
To learn more, check out their facebook page, YouTube channel and Twitter.