TLDR questions (help us by answering):
- Would you support a Patreon or a monthly Ko-fi with regular exclusive content?
- What would you want to see on a Patreon/Ko-fi if we did one?
- What about YouTube Channel Memberships? Would you be into that? Does anyone even understand what that is?
- Are you interested in (or hate) any of the following ideas? Covering cons outside of LA/San Diego (tell us which ones!), scripted comedy stuff (like the Wambi storyline), bonus/BTS stuff (extended interviews, bloopers), non-cosplay interviews (what groups or events?), other video content (challenges, reviews, etc.), merchandise (yes, no, what?), anything else?

STATE OF THE CHANNEL Q&A
Is this a dead channel or what?
This is not a dead channel! It just seems that way.

If this channel isn't dead, then why so few videos?
The reason why videos have been slow to release is that the editor, me, is just slow. Why so slow? Basically the show is run by people who have full-time jobs. Between that and other commitments, time to edit has been harder to come by since the beginning of 2017, and it has gotten even more ridiculous in 2018. Videos are coming out months, not weeks, after conventions, and extra videos, like the bonus extended interviews, are not even coming out any more.

Wait, is this Ben?
No. Ben doesn't edit the videos. Also, if you ever see someone communicating on the YouTube channel, it is definitely not Ben. Ben comments using his own account.

Then who is the lazy/slow editor guy?
Itsa me, Halbo9000, or just Hal. I produce these videos and edit them.

So editing is slow. Fix that.
We have looked into getting editing help, but that process has also been slow because we just don't have the resources to bring in help. For the last two years, or approximately since the Adpocalypse, the show has been losing money every time we shoot anything. YouTube has nerfed our reach and earning rate substantially. We earn about a third of the revenue than we used to prior to 2017. The revenue we do earn goes towards covering our out-of-pocket expenses, but at the end of the day we don't even cover those costs fully anymore.

If you are losing money, why are you still making the show?
Well, the reason we still make the show is because I really like making the show. And I think the people who work on and appear on the show like being on it (go ask them). Also, I am convinced that there are at least, maybe, a hundred of you who like watching these videos. Maybe? So this thing, this show, has become at the very least a fun hobby that is shared with a community of people who like making and watching cosplay and jokey content.

Back to fixing the editing thing...
We have been thinking about getting editing help a lot lately and about the lack of resources (read: revenue) to do more stuff on this channel. We set up a Ko-fi account, http://ko-fi.com/schadenfreudeindustries, and are really grateful to everyone who donated. Seriously, those donations mean a lot to us. But we have been also considering either doing a Patreon or a monthly Ko-fi. We are close-ish to pulling the trigger. The question for YOU is: would you back a subscription-based-thing for this channel and what would you like to see us do? For that matter, what do you would you like to see more of in general?

Okay, so what is coming up?
Glad you asked. Believe it or not, we have probably shot more content per convention this year than we ever have. We have shot at least two days at each convention where we usually shoot just one day. The plan is for the rest of the year we will hopefully get at least one major video out a month, possibly even more. We have also shot a series of bonus videos that are not specifically convention videos. I am thinking of using those videos as subscription rewards content. So for what it is worth, we are shooting a lot. I just need to edit or figure out a way to generate enough revenue to hire editing help. Looking ahead, we want to try different things with the convention videos. For example, would you like to see us cover Dragon Con? We are thinking about it. What about panels or booths at shows? We have met a lot of you at conventions while shooting, and we are trying to think of fun content to actually do at the show. And what about non-convention stuff? Did you guys like the sketches we did with Wambi and the Necronomicon in 2017? Those were fun, but surprisingly costly to make. We would be into doing more and different things, but it would be great to hear from YOU as to what you would like to see.