I have posted in the Ru section of this forum before but it's kinda dead, so let's try here too.
Greetings, forum. I’ve found myself in a pretty interesting situation and, frankly, I have a vague idea of how to resolve it.
Some time ago, I found
KINO. I don’t mean a movie or cartoons (it might not even be visual media), I mean
ABSOLUTE CINEMA - this kind that basically nobody does anymore. I was so touched by it that I decided to cook up something similar in the same spirit. I somehow managed to scrape together some promises, met a well-connected producer, and we decided to whip up a pilot project (starting at $10k), and then... everything stalled. And I can't quite figure out what to do next.
What I have:A market-proven formula.
ABSOLUTE KINO. According to all indicators - 100% what the market needs, even though the market doesn't know it yet! The producer was like, wow, amazing, we definitely have to make it.
A letter of intent from my wealthy homies - basically, nothing is decided yet, but if push comes to shove, the cash is there (lol).
A gamedev for the pilot - totally nuts, in a good way; he’s done so much for me even on a personal level. Definitely the guy I need.
A producer who knows everyone who matters. (Well, he
was there. Thanks for that, at least.)
Now, here is the catch. I need to solve two problems: connections and monies.
Connections.Why as much as $10k upfront for some indie stuff? Making a game itself isn't expensive - nowadays you can AIslop something together with zero effort. But making it so that it
SELLS is a totally different question. For selling factors, you need familiar names - game designers, artists, voice actors, etc., and specifically
particular people - it won't take off without them. Also distribution - advertising through their producers, agencies and studios.
For connections, I need a producer... and he suddenly went missing in action with no explanation - maybe he's busy, who the hell knows what he's doing. But I assume this isn't a huge problem - I can find another one. That one just impressed me and I didn't want to part ways with him until the last moment, but it looks like I’ll have to.
Monies.First off, even for a pilot project (we wanted to make an indie game), you need monies. Fortunately, the pilot doesn't require a gazillion dollars like AAA projects, but the sum is still considerable. Liquid cash, based on the business schedule of my contacts, won't be available anytime soon. I thought about dumping about 10k bucks into the trailer and just crowdfunding the rest. Unfortunately, since I’m broke and can't hold down a stable job due to health issues (avoided draft due to this), I'm definitely NGMI that much cash personally. Not to mention it takes time, which I’ve already wasted too much of while procrastinating .
Secondly, 10 kilobucks + crowdfunding is, of course, not millions of dollars, and the pilot will only grow into something bigger years later (no guarantees it ever happens lmao), but I would really like to have enough money for everything from the very start, for several reasons:
1. I’ve been doing this long enough to know that the best and most reasonable people to work with aren't the ones who throw in cash on the hype train "AAAAHHH LET'S FUCKING GO ALL IN 1000X BY THE MORNING" (like ICOs in 2017, NFTs in 2021, and AI right now), but those who see opportunities before everyone else. The last thing I want is to eat money off the ass of hypesters and grifters who will just ruin the whole project. I really need "my people," but I don’t know where to get enough of them. Unfortunately, very few people can accurately predict the hype (otherwise we'd have all mined Bitcoin in 2009).
2. There are no guarantees that the pilot will make enough money to cover the entirety of further production. I really want to believe it will work out, but unfortunately, there's always a risk. In that case, I’d have to get more money from somewhere else. I won't take from grifters and hypesters just out of principle.
3. Just to start the production of
THE KINO sooner. Studios plan their money burning schedules for years in advance, and I just hate waiting. The best guarantee that something gets done on time is to simply bring the cash for it yourself.
In short, boys and girls, to start, I need monies, ideally a whole sea of monies for years ahead. Money is easiest to raise when you already have a product. However, you can't make the product here without money - I ain't making some garbage SaaS with an MVP that everyone will swallow anyway; we makin' art for those most exquisite out there. A producer won't move his ass until he sees the money either (not the one who disappeared like a coward, literally anyone).
So:
No money -> no product -> no money...
It turns into some completely imbecilous Ouroboros that chokes up with its own tail. So boys and girls, what do I do?
Do NOT ever suggest the following:Ask friends for more - already did, almost everyone is either broke, greedy, or just stupid.
Make a demo with AI - amazing idea considering how much people "love" AI art! Nope, showing AI something to a real audience is a creative and professional suicide.
Make at least something - I already have several versions of the pitch deck and marketing strategy ready; I was constantly writing and rewriting until I got to the best version. I even wrote a novella-sized just for the market research reasons - the target audience loved it! And so, did anyone give me money for that? Nah!
Make a startup - I don't have the technical skills for that. My only talents that matter for this project are deep market knowledge and the ability and drive to organize something out of nothing. Also you can't just launch some SaaS from Russia easily nowadays.
Get a bank loan - I fundamentally do not deal with usurers.
Give up - suck my ass off. Just a few months ago, everyone told me the same thing - that I’m a loser, a lunatic, an idiot, that I won't succeed, that I need to stop having my head in the clouds and do something else. And what? Did I listen to anyone? If I had dared to listen to that whining at all, I never would have made it this far. I established all my current contacts simply through a strong pitch; I didn't even have to show script drafts for that - and you’re telling me to "give up"? Kiss my ass.
Ah, and the cherry on top: I suddenly remembered that I am a citizen of
this country, so I will also be having a fun quest of complying with the sanctions legislation. Russia FTW! 🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺
Obviously, this is not an investment advice, and there will be no calls to put your money into my project in this thread. Nevertheless, if someone suddenly wants to hit my head with a brick of cash with no strings attached, I won't fight you back.
If there are any other questions, I can miss them in the thread, so you'll be better off to write directly to email (the forum has a stupid rate limit on personal messages)
thenextbigthinger@yahoo.com or Telegram (I'll give it via email). PGP
https://pastebin.com/J7uepqtwP.S. If you believe that I am trying to scam someone, eat a dick.
