#affordable entertainment

[winged-fool]

Oof imagine hyping up this big announcement all week only for everyone to react by saying it's the worst idea ever. A swing and a miss, my guys.

#watcher #watcher entertainment #I love you all #But there's no way you will keep most of your fanbase #We can't afford to pay for yet another streaming subscription service when some of us can barely afford groceries

[hollowwish]

You guys do realize a lot of watcher fans complaining about the six dollars don't just need to "cancel their disney+ or hulu subscriptions." They're the people who ALREADY can't afford streaming services. It's not that they should be supporting independent creators over big corporations, it's that they literally cannot afford to do either.

#Some people in this tag genuinely do not know how poverty works #Like. 6 dollars is A LOT by american standards right now #And that's not even counting countries with currency worth less #For some watcher fans this is literally '6 dollars towards content or 6 more dollars towards rent to keep my housing #Or food so I don't starve' #ren posting #watcher #watcher entertainment #Edit: there's also people like me who CAN AFFORD IT #But they have better things to put money towards. Like college and therapy and medications and a mortgage #So not every fan who can afford it will because there are simply more important things to pay for. Especially in this economy

[trashygayraccoon]

Well...guess my comfort straight men have finally disappointed me....

#watcher #watcher entertainment #ryan bergara #shane madej #steven lim #wtf were they thinking?? #their main audience are broke students #we can't afford that

[heinous-bitch]

all I can think about the whole watcher situation is that they're basically telling international fans to fuck themselves

#watcher #watcher entertainment #a horrible decision really #i live in ARGENTINA #do you have any idea how horrible economy is at the moment? #I can't afford it

[constellaj]

anyway im tired of people treating Disney (corporate) and Disney (writing and directing staff) as a monolith. yes Disney (corporate) funds massive anti gay legislature. yes Disney (corporate) only recognizes demographics in terms of how much profit they can bring. but trans guy in Baymax isn't an evil trap put there by the shareholders to draw in queers and wring us of money. the trans guy in Baymax exists because in the writing room a bunch of storyboarders and storytellers were spitballing "hey, what people do we need here?" and one of the answers that came up was "trans guy" from a person who sincerely believed that representation was not only valuable but necessary. there are real people making every choice you see and hear. you can hate how corporate feigns blasé without assuming it's all some premeditated plan. you can be rightfully suspicious of corporate motivation without erasing the artists with their own motivations

#this doesnt just apply to baymax but its the most recent example #it can be forgiven that people dont know/think about how the indistry works #but if youre going to critique the actions of a company you need to be aware that not every party involved would do the same thing #and before anyone clowns: #disney has a monopoly on western entertainment and production and animators routinely bounce between jobs #nobody who disagrees w Disney policy can afford to *just leave* disney

[bergarachan]

gagged them bad i fear

#this felt worth posting #especially to those saying we're 'bullying them' #girl we no longer can afford to support our favorite content creators #why WOULDNT we be upset #belle chats #watcher #watcher entertainment

[eggcats]

"people are mad that that artists wanted to be paid" no, people are mad that they HAD places of revenue they could have invested in and instead decided to fuck everyone over and piss off their fans who have been there since the buzzfeed days

(+ the only reason they're now saying they're not pulling content is BECAUSE of the backlash, and this isn't even going into how any growth is now impossible if it's their own platform, they are NOT big enough or produce enough content for this)

like, apparently they have a patreon? have never heard of it. absolutely no advertisement on it, when PLENTY of people would subscribe if they plugged it at ALL (like, fans love bts content, early episodes, extra/uncut stuff, having their names be credited at the end, a discord, etc) but I've never heard of it, and according to people who have subscribed, they didn't find it worth their money (not an ideal baseline for their own service)

they have merch? make more and better quality/nicer designs (or just fun quotes! so much of my stuff from their buzzfeed days is just shane quotes, but the only stuff I've bought from them now is their jackets and the professor doll, nothing else. I've looked at their catalog, it's ugly. put a funny quote on a shirt and I'll buy it guys, it's not that hard)

a youtube membership for similar stuff to the patreon, yt livestreams, USE THE PLATFORM YOURE ON MAYBE???

explicitly asking fans to turn off adblock for them on their videos

but, like, I am absolutely not paying $60 just for like 1-2 shows that only get like 4 episodes a year. they do NOT have the content for this on their own (and why tf do they have 25+ employees???? bro what) - not to mention, the inaccessibility the new platform and ability for non US based fans to even subscribe

people watch bc of the dynamic between Shane and Ryan, some of my favorite episodes are ones where we get the random text on screen- nothing fancy

tbh I get what they want but it's been my opinion that too much of their stuff that I watch has become a) formuliac and b) overproduced without much to show (imo mystery files comes to mind, it's Fine but I only enjoyed the banter vs all the unnecessary visuals, the same with ghost files)

I've seen people mention how expensive just the ghost hunting stuff is, and like yeah, maybe stop buying that big fancy brandname equipment without and instead ask for sponsors to advertise your stuff, all that stuff is nonsense anyway so it's not like you're lying about like betterhelp or something

and idk, maybe having a show where you apparently eat gold and caviar isn't the best if you're struggling with money (esp bc who watches it? not me)

what they need is someone who actually knows anything as their ceo, having less than half the staff they do, and investing in the avenues they already have with SOME pay walled content (not all), and maybe learn how to actually produce their shows without bleeding themselves dry bc the fans watch for THEM not the "production value"

#watcher #watcher entertainment #listen guys this is the dumbest thing you could have done #long post #ive just seen a lot of 'you guys just dont want to pay artists' bro i was ALREADY giving them money and supporting them #this is NOT how to do that this is how to shoot your fanbase dead #also like many people cant afford this now? especially when its an exorbitant amount for almost nothing

[mechadria]

the watcher stuff is sure feeding my blocklist bc if you're out there even mentioning that 6 dollars is actually okay or using "artists deserve to get paid" as some sort of master argument when a lot of fans are also artists in their own right (and not ones that can afford a tesla) and like they weren't getting paid before i simply do not ever want to see you on my dash x

#watcher #watcher entertainment #watcher tv #like. so many of their fans are also artsy little creative nerds #im an artist. a lot of us are artists. #i dont get paid for my art period because people are broke and rude #im certainly not gonna scrape my small budget to fund steven “anybody can afford 6$” lim #if u don't like this post comment on it and tell me!!! gonna make the list sm easier babes x

[lumiereswig]

One thing I'm not noticing anyone else talking about—the production value thing is not because they think it's what the fans want. It's not. They want to go for higher production value, it's important to them. That's not a bad thing. Ryan has stressed multiple times on podcasts, behind the scenes content, even the live appearance I saw him at that it's important to him their new media is better quality than Unsolved. I think part of that is just anxiety that what they make isn't good enough, but I'm also sure it's a natural artistic yearning to want to expand and grow. Shane and Steven probably feel the same way about their shows. Ryan has also mentioned how taxing it is for so much of the channel to be about him, which he mentions again in the video with the comment about wanting to expand with other creators. And there's nothing weird about that! That's just facing realistic burnout. The vibe in the announcement video from Shane and Ryan is extremely telling of burnout. They're growing the content because (1) it's exhausting for them to make the exact same style of content for the 8+ years they've been doing it, and one of the ways to get past burnout is by pushing your boundaries and growing creatively; and (2) just making the shows, all of the shows, with themselves as the camera-facing element has to be exhausting for them.

I still think this is a bad decision but I think it's one grounded in their own creative impulses and how hard they've been working for several years now, not some urge to suddenly live the high life. They want to make stuff they're personally proud of, and right now that's beyond their means. I'd make an argument that they should opt for scaling back instead of jumping forward right now, but that doesn't mean they're making this choice because they hate their fanbase or are suddenly a big corporation. They've made a mistake, and hopefully they'll be able to tweak the Watcher TV system in the next couple days to make it more affordable for all.

#watcher #watcher entertainment #shane madej #steven lim #ryan bergara #took this out of my reblog on the post because trolling the tag i'm seeing the same takes over and over #tl;dr i think the vitriol has gone well past the point of acceptable and if you actually look at their track records you see #a constant desire to better and prove themselves. they're moving too fast too soon but they're not ~evil~ dear lord #i'll happily watch anything of theirs i can afford. i'm not sure i can afford this. i hope they think of a new solution but the takes that #are like THEY ARE EVIL are demanding too much from a small company that's made a super dumb choice

[mayonesavegana]

This whole debacle makes me think of ao3. It’s a free website (of course it’s by fans for fans and not a business) that is so good that when they ask for donations the exceed their goal every single time, they even have merch and people still just give them money because they love the site. Quality free content and profit are not exclusive from each other. If your consumers are happy you will make money no matter the price of your product.

I understand production costs and all that, but I feel like they have been making bad business decisions for a while. The distribution of viewers per video is very uneven and not all of their content popular. I can’t justify paying for a streaming service if I’m not sure of the quality and amount of content I’m going to have access to. Sure, I love puppet history and I guess I enjoy mystery files, but would I pay only for those two? No way. I don’t subscribe to HBO just to watch Rick and Morty, sure it helps that it’s in there, but I also like the DC animated series, and I could watch game of thrones I guess, and the nanny, and the Barbie movie, and Harry Potter. And a lot of shows and movies with different actors and directors and production companies.

And the people comparing this to Dropout don’t get that they have a lot of content that makes the subscription not feel like a waste of money.

Artist should get paid and be allowed to art in peace, but you can’t ask casual viewers to pay for your airplane tickets, your Tesla, your cameras, your new background and your A grade wagyu gold covered stake in china when not even your more loyal fans watch all of your content. It feels greedy and out of touch with American economy right now, but also with your international fans who can’t pay because of region restrictions or because 6 dollars in other countries is not a reasonable price for anything.

I hope they grow and that their creative dreams come true, but I feel like it will be incredibly difficult to accomplish that after the way they went about it (abruptly and with no kind of preparation) and the response they got.

#watcher #watcher entertainment #watcher tv #people saying they are a company that has to pay their employees I agree with you #but you can’t expect me to pay for something I don’t want to or can’t afford because I feel bad for them #also if a company does bad business decisions it’s their own fault and unfortunately thats capitalism #capitalism is fucked #sending best wishes to the watcher staff right now #hope everyone will come out of this okay

[deathianartworks]

Gotta get them Ghouls 👉👉

It's a good day to be a homo y'all, @wearewatcher came out with some banging merch so I just had to redraw it in my own style!!

The proceeds of their pride merch goes towards LGBT charities so be sure to get some if you can!!

#artists on tumblr #art #artwork #digital artist #fanart #wearewatcher #watcher entertainment #watcher fanart #ghost files #ghost files fanart #shane madej #ryan bergara #ghouligans #their merch is so good y'all #this brit just wishes he could afford the shipping #gay #lgbtq #pride month #pride merch #trans #queer

[acorn-alcove]

Me seeing the new watcher video knowing I’m a broke college student who cannot afford to pay another monthly subscription 😭

#like I’ve been watching them for years and love them #but I can’t fucking afford that #watcher #watcher entertainment #ryan bergara #shane madej #steven lim

[pretty-toru]

Gojo's idea of getting your attention when you're a new teacher at Tokyo Tech is committing the crime of eating your bento box that you packed for lunch and stored in the fridge in the lounge. You can't believe when you went to retrieve it only to find it completely missing and nowhere to be found. This left a really bad impression of the annoying idiot who stole your entire lunch—Seriously, who even does that?? And you were adamant at getting down to the bottom of it so you wrote a note to the Bento Box Thief and stuck it on the fridge.

After the back and forth exchange throughout the afternoon, which became exceedingly clear that it's nothing more than a game from the culprits' end, you had a really strong desire to punch him in the face when you find him out. The last note Gojo writes to you is the time and address to a fancy restaurant as a way of making it up to you, and you almost want to stand him up but you couldn't possibly miss the chance to meet him and decide on your sweet revenge.

#the 'revenge' is ordering every expensive item and wine bottle on the menu hoping he'll sweat when you keep listing one thing after another #then come to find out gojo comes from money and can easily afford it which puts a damper on your plan and he finds it entertaining #dare I say even adorable? #you just became even more interesting and enticing to him—his taste is questionable but he isn't exactly normal either #he's definitely working on getting a second date with you but you keep playing hard to get (that's alright he loves a challenge) #gojo satoru #gojo x reader

[firespirited]

It's always funny to me how a company says "we own everything an employee makes even on their own time" when the employee can just...

not tell them. Sit on it until they're unemployed.

well... about that... Carter Bryant waited until his contract was over before pitching the full Bratz concept while trying to get work elsewhere.

When Bratz made it big, someone at Mattel did manage to remember he had at some point vaguely tried to pitch a teen doll line and it'd been rejected and they went digging. In court, they used the fact that he'd done some sketches on the free notepads they hand to their designers as evidence it probably wasn't done on company time but on company "property".

For a while there Mattel owned Bratz until the decision was reversed. And you might be thinking like I did, ah good the property reverted to its original owner.

Nope, Bryant gets nothing. MGAe are using the work he did in the early 2000s on the repros and he gets nothing. Both big doll companies won't employ him. Same for Garrett Sander: he sells artwork of "teen monsters" and does conventions.

It was part of their job to keep coming up with ideas and pitch as many as possible but it's also part of their job that they're disposable as designers... but if they pitch old ideas there's a chance it could result in litigation. I can't be certain but I think Sanders is hamstrung by having worked extensively on the (non cartoon) She-Ra: he couldn't pitch a warrior princess, magical girl or superhero line to any company without Mattel saying they own it or some design elements like a cape and sword combo, look they have these files in their vaults!

This, from companies that copy liberally from each other, from celebs and from fashion. The whole thing is absurd. These two designers have less ownership over their work than your local painter.

So a doll designer can't sit on anything unless they keep their ideas in their head and it's literally their job to be not just spitballing but sketching ideas all day and the company will only produce a few (but own them all).

I don't know many many industries this spans but it's wild: imagine Disney suing Taika Waititi for a new film he wrote the super basic outline for while he was bored on a plane for a press conference for Thor 4 because he used a company rental tablet to rehearse for questions and send himself an email, what if it had jokes he pitched in a writers' room at some point not knowing someone was keeping minutes?

Steven Sumners currently works for MGAe but I've been following on flickr since the 2010s and he's worked at Spinmaster, Mattel and Hasbro. They're expected to bounce around the industry as doll lines come and go but somehow keep the ideas flowing but also locked in their heads? Also no royalties, no copyright. Baffling.

#rant #long post #saf #intellectual property #take a quick guess why i get uncomfortable buying new even when I can afford it #and why i promote factory rejects (though they do make fun projects) #mattel #mga entertainment #dolls #barbie #bratz

[carmelasoprano]

Bebe Neuwirth as Avis DeVoto in episode 2x07 of Julia, "Shrimp and Grits"

#bebe neuwirth #avis devoto #julia hbo #julia #edit:bebeneuwirth #edit:julia #edit:avisdevoto #* #` #i dearly love looking at this beautiful woman's face #especially as i take breaks from reading about the ubiquity of postfeminist approaches to successful ageing in celebrity culture #as something to be 'managed' so that the body must be constantly surveilled for fear of deviating from #narrow conceptions of normative feminine beauty defined by youthfulness #raise a glass to every woman in the entertainment industry not dyeing her hair‚ going under the knife‚ or being injected with botox #and pour one out for every woman in the entertainment industry who is in an effort to make the most out of an impossible situation that #would limit her financial mobility and career opportunities if she didn't fall into line! #hear‚ hear #i will say though that i think as many women who can afford not to undergo cosmetic surgery as a 'solution' to aging shouldn't #because those who have prestigious enough careers (think meryl streep) can continue to land rolls anyway #and i think more women could leverage their success without resorting to such means #rant over i guess

[veeraine]

i love watcher so much (only bc shane and ryan), and i am literally mind boggled by their decision to put their content behind a paywall?? like what did you expect people to say to that? my flabbers have been well and truly gasted. the main content i watch of theirs is ghost files & mystery files, no way can i justify paying the monthly or annual amount for content that is not consistently posted. i don’t want my money to go toward some guy eating a burger w gold on it, sorry! awful decision and i will now be yapping about it to everyone, this has truly baffled me.

also steven lims instagram post did NOT sit well w me. wdym ‘for those who want to continue watching’ ????? im sure everybody WANTS to keep watching, they literally CANNOT keep watching because you put a price tag on something they enjoy? people can’t afford that much bc ,,,, like the economy?? the state of the world??? inflation? minimum wage not being a liveable amount? soooo tone deaf and i’m glad people are finally discussing steven cos i’ve never been a fan of him💞

#watcher #ryan bergara #shane madej #shane and ryan #buzzfeed unsolved #ghost files #mystery files #ryan #shane #watcher entertainment #steven lim #paywall #like you’re literally taking away peoples comfort and enjoyment? people can’t afford $6 a month