A Kind of Freedom

It was a stressful launch day - partly because I had so much to do, and no where to do it. Some decorators turned up to do the landing - nothing to do with me, it was all a bit random.  But, it meant that I couldn't use my office when trying to tell the world about patreon and my page and share great audio and... Not the decorators fault - they were really good, the finish looks to be a good standard (as they say on Homes Under the Hammer).
And I wasn't expecting a busy day fielding vast take up - this is going to be a slow build, it's going to move over the year, not a weekend.  That said, I was surprised at where the total reached by the end of the day - and I had a number of additional one off contributions (thank you!) and other help offered which isn't on the patreon feed.
I couldn't relax during the evening at all. I kept fiddling and rushing about to little purpose.  It was only at the end of the day, when I shut the laptop down and stopped that it hit me.

This is freedom.
Not freedom from tyranny, not freedom from money worries, not freedom from commitments... it's freedom from me.
Let me explain.  I make a lot of work happen.  I've averaged something like 14 different shows every year when not ill.  And even then, I don't think it went below double figures.  If I keep up this work rate in the theatre then I'll probably kill myself.  I tend to only have two speeds, super fast or super slow, and super fast added to live theatre and a high turn around is not good for me.
But now I can do things differently.  I can still create at my preferred work rate, but creating an audio show instead of a live show is a whole different world of work.  One of the things that eats at my life is the learning of new monologues - especially as I rewrite them as I go along.  Now, I can make the text work over the same period of time, but not have to spend that month ramming the words into my brain.  I can just, you know, get them right.
This means that, each year, I can focus on a just a few live shows of my own and take my time making them happen.  This year I've got one new show planned for April - Shakespeare: The Ever Living! and some other long term projects ticking along.  I'm acting in maybe a couple of other peoples shows.  And creating an entire new universe in my head to beam to your ears.
This is freedom.
If I can get the patrons.
Please, support me, if only for a $1.  It's really easy to do and doesn't take more than a couple of minutes.

www.patreon.com/robertcrighton

Patreon Projects - Videos

To help you see the kind of work you're going to get - here's a selection (it will build over the day) of videos telling you all about some of the stuff I want to make for you.
You can help by pledging support on: www.patreon.com/robertcrighton
There's the introduction video, a troubleshooting guide and guides to each new thing planned at this time - or will be, by the end of the weekend!

Patreon Launched!

My Patreon page has been launched and there are already pledges!  The more people who support me, the more exciting the work gets, the bigger the casts, the bigger the worlds.  So, please share this information with the world.

www.patreon.com/robertcrighton

And, of course, pledge something.  The first audio of this new phase of my life is now online - below - a series I'll be treating you to for the rest of the month.  Full blog on it here.
If you want to pledge but are having problems then get in touch with me at: contact@milkbottleproductions.co.uk
(I know that some older versions of Internet Explorer need a setting adjusted, it's not difficult or dangerous to do, just a bit of a chore - let me help you make it less of one.)

A picture of me, with a microphone, in front of which is where I'll be from now on, thanks to you...

Patreon - Learning by Doing

So, not long now till the big launch for my Patreon page and I'm figuring out, vaguely, how to make it happen.  Several interesting things have come up as I've troubleshooted (troubleshot?) the set up.

1. Internet Explorer can't see Patreon.  Well, that's not quite the case, the default setting for the older version hasn't got the correct setting enabled, so you have to adjust this manually.  DON'T PANIC.  It's very simple and you can just email me if you need a hand (contact@milkbottleproductions.co.uk or on Twitter @RobertCrighton) - I don't want to stop anyone pledging if they wish to.  An easier solution is to use a better internet platform.  Like any one other than IE.

2. Patreon seems to prefer credit rather than debit cards. I got someone to pledge one $1 to test what it was like to sign up (it's a doddle, no different to anything else) but it declined the debit (though, that might have just been them).  Otherwise, smooth as a babies arse.

3. There is VAT added to any pledge - so adjust if you feel the need.  Those donating in the UK should find that the added VAT makes the dollar pledge about the same as it would be in pounds sterling (exchange being what it is!)

4. It's really easy. Minor computer problems aside, if you do any shopping online, it is no different.

See you tomorrow!

Oh, and a little teaser for the first Patreon supported project - Wartime Memories - is below.

What Patreon?

Hang, one of the releases coming soon thanks to Patreon

So, you've read the earlier posts, you know I want your pledges in return for audio... but what audio?
Well, I'm glad you asked that question.

I don't want to post a SCHEDULE.  Partly because I always miss the deadline by a day or two, or rush, or generally demoralise myself looking at one.  Also, it's an open ended thing, so how far ahead should I go?  How much you'll get each month will vary, some months might be a bit quiet, some you'll get something almost every DAY, but what I can promise you will get is randomness.  No two things will be the same.  So, here's a list of the kind of month you MIGHT see.

Firstly, each week you might get some shorts - something along the lines of Hear If be Knews, which spoofs headlines of the day/any day.  These might come almost daily if I'm in the mood.

Then, you might get once a month a random audio essay.  It might be cheeky, rude, and discuss very seriously a very unimportant subject.  See my essay on the word Muff.

If we call the above the bread and butter stuff, now the meat and two veg.  This might come in the shape of a radio play like Historic Crimes, which is a full length cast play.  Or it might be a short radio series, like The Museum of Tat, which is episodically short, but as a series lasts over an hour.
Or, final option, there might be an audiobook/performance of some of my back catalogue of stories, like The Natural History of Trolls (which I'm going to re-record and upgrade at some point!)
Among all this content there will be the odd bit of medieval drama as part of the Before Shakespeare project.

For this first month you're getting my first ever documentary, Wartime Memories, which follows reminiscences, recently discovered, of a veteran of the First World War - see below - and sometime in April I will release a re-edit of the hugely popular comedy, Hang, which we recorded in front of a live studio audience in 2014.

So, please, this weekend, pledge something to my Patreon launch, from only $1 or more... (the interface is American, so it's all dollars, but I'm sure the pledge will come out in pounds... unless you're American... I'll stop now.)

Why Patreon?

So, people ask me, why Patreon?  You make theatre, they say, why ask for funding for audio projects?
Well, there are a number of factors.
Firstly, I already do a lot of online audio content in association with my theatre work, I just don't get directly paid for it (or next to nothing - I think I took 3p last year, and 2p of that went out as royalties).
Secondly, I already have an informal Patreon arrangement with some of my audience who kindly pay me to make work (and it has made such a difference - last years Metal Harvest would not have happened without that support), so it makes sense to get a bit more organised.
Thirdly, whilst I love making theatre, the physical strain - or more importantly, the stress - of producing the work I do isn't sustainable anymore.  I have to reduce the number of different live shows I do each year, but I know I won't stop producing a similar amount of - for want of a better word - content.  I still create, I still write and at present haven't the resources to get that material out there, except as audio or text.  It makes sense to try and make the audio realm my new base, take the opportunities that the internet offers - and avoid hospitalising myself.
That said, I still produce live shows - part of the deal for my Patreons are offers on tickets, associated merchandise, and home shows - I just won't produce as many different shows.  This year, for example, I am currently writing two new forty-fifty minute pieces for live performance, with the expectation that I will write maybe an additional full length piece.  Normally I produce half a dozen or so.  And I still will - but they'll be online instead.  And they'll be fantastic (he said, hopefully).

So, on Friday (or whenever onwards) come to my Twitter feed or here and have a look at my Patreon page, and contribute if you can.  Or just share.  Sharing is good.

I'll leave you with this radio play I produced in 2014, Historic Crimes - a play about what might happen if you discovered that Shakespeare was a criminal.  I have shared this before, but I was forced to compress the audio to an unacceptable level - this is the listenable version!

Patreon Launch - Audio Adventures For All

Update: go to www.patreon.com/robertcrighton

Friday is a big day for me - it's the beginning of a whole new chapter of my work, and you're all invited to join me.  Until now I've been a mostly theatre based animal - producing (possibly) far too many new shows every year and chasing my own tail.  But now I'm shifting the way I distribute my work - focusing on a just few live shows a year and instead producing more audio work for anyone in the world to listen to.

To make this happen I'm launching myself on Patreon - a crowdfunding site which supports artists in the long run, rather than by projects.  Rather than asking you, my lovely audience, to fund a project, to book tickets to see a specific show or quietly pass me money and help behind the scenes, I'm asking you to fund my work on a monthly basis.  It doesn't have to be for much.  It can be as little as a pound a month.  You can stop or change your amount at anytime.  It's entirely open ended.

What do you get in return for your money?  Well, firstly, you get content.  You'll get radio plays, audio readings, audio essays, new work, old work, every month in differing quantities and styles.  That's a given.  By giving something you give me a budget to make this stuff and (if there's enough of you) not starve.

Depending on what you give, there are other rewards... (all in dollars, but I'm sure your bank knows what they are if that's not your native currency...)
For $1+ a month you get a BIG thank you and regular updates
For $3+ a month, you'll get the above, plus special online content just for the Patrons.
For $5+ a month, you get the above, plus a shout out on the content.
For $10+ a month, you'll get the above, a physical extra thing sent once a year.
For $50+ a month, you'll get the above, ticket discounts for live shows and have the option of getting your name in a story!
For $250+ or over, you'll get the above and the option of a live show in your own home - we'll talk.

And the more that gets given, the bigger the work gets.  I'll be able to hire more actors to do plays and monologues, so that you don't just hear my voice (which, fantastic as I think it is, is a bit much all year round!) and to upgrade the technical quality of the set up.  I've got some amazing ideas I want to get out there, audio projects that are all about sound and not just audio only versions of my stage works.  It's down to you to make them a reality, for EVERYONE.

If you can't give anything (and that's cool) then please share this with people online, with your friends, with everyone, because every little helps.

This is all starting on [editor: NOW!] when I'll launch the Patreon page and all the extra gubbins - so this weekend, don't be a stranger, get in touch, give something!
Go to www.patreon.com/robertcrighton
But even if you see this later on, still join in, it's entirely open ended.  That's how these things work.

And here's a little taster of some of the things I've done so far...
Full Radio Play: Historic Crimes
Audiobook: The Natural History of Trolls
Audio Comedy Series: The Museum of Tat
Random Audio Comedy: Hear If be Knews

And some of the things to come...
All new audio recordings of popular stories from my back catalogue, including Problem Tree, Sleep Inc., Cuckold's Fair and a new version of The Examiner of Small Ailments.
Then they'll be a new edit of Hang and all new radio dramas, provisionally titled, The Great Detective, Why Aren't? and Commentary.

Go to www.patreon.com/robertcrighton