An incredible first week

Hi folks,

Thank you so much for the incredible week we had last week. Our Kickstarter campaign has now raised over half a million pounds, a milestone that whilst we were hopeful, we didn’t even dare to dream about this time last week. I don’t think we can overstate how grateful we are. Within one minute of launching, the Kickstarter was fully funded. Just like that, and for the most positive reason, every pre-written post, every social post pushing us towards our initial goal, every early Patreon update immediately went out the window. We just sat there, lost for words, as our total sky rocketed above our wildest hopes for the first 24 hours. So thank you, to everyone who donated, to every Patreon subscriber, to everyone who bought a t-shirt.

We have been updating our stretch goals throughout the week, and have successfully funded a UK Live Show. The next goal would be a UK tour, followed by a US tour if we hit £800,000. These have been highly requested by many fans over the years, and is something that the Kickstarter will allow us to do in the best, most professional way. You can read a little more about our plans for these in the public updates we’ve shared on the Kickstarter page itself, which can be read here.

Any live show will cost Rusty Quill money in development, travel, venue costs, props, staffing and more. Funds raised from the Kickstarter will go towards covering some these costs and other incidentals. We've seen a number of posts requesting that addition to UK and USA we add Ireland, Canadian and European dates as part of these tours and we are looking in to this as well.

Additionally, we are currently in discussions with third parties to try and arrange a recording and/or stream of a live event so that those who are unable or don’t feel comfortable attending can still participate. We intend that everyone pledging £200 or above will get free access to this stream/recording. However, it is important to note we will be working with 3rd parties on any live show to ensure any show is at once professional, safe and high quality as a result tour locations and live streams will be dependent upon interactions and arrangements with third parties. As part of these third-party discussions we are also currently planning how best to provide early access and discounted and/or subsidised live-event tickets to all backers and Patreon subscribers along with safe ways to offer Kickstarter and Patreon exclusive meet-and-greet opportunities.

Unfortunately, due to how busy last week was, and also because of some sick leave within the team, we accidentally missed the Friday bonus content upload. We’re really sorry for this, and are working to ensure that a similar thing doesn’t happen again. The deluxe transcript that should have been shared on Friday will now go out on Tuesday, and another instalment of Martin’s poetry will be shared this Friday.

Finally on Trice Forgotten Below Decks today, join creator Nemo Martin and historical consultant, Nira Wickramasinghe. They’re discussing everyday resistance, the slave trade and the erasure of the individual throughout history.

The dramatic conclusion of Trice Forgotten will air next week – thank you so much to everyone who has listened to the show. If you haven’t yet checked it out, now is the perfect time. Trice Forgotten is everything Rusty Quill does best, plus the incredible talent of the writers, performers, and our own amazing production team. We know that many of you will be asking about the future of the show, and please bear with us, as there are some discussions that won’t take place until the new year.

We will be hosting a Trice Forgotten wrap party for Patreon in January, so keep your eye on the horizon for more information on that in the new year.

As for what’s next once Trice Forgotten is finished, we can confirm that Cry Havoc will start releasing in the spring. This is to ensure our editing team are given a break between actively releasing shows. With that in mind, there will be a hiatus of public Rusty Quill content, however patrons will still have Compulsory Film Appreciation (leading up to a Christmas-themed finale) and some new patreon-exclusive episodes of Enthusigasm to enjoy.

Here is our full schedule for this week:

Monday 28th November

SEAS Below Decks 9 – Everyday Resistance (Patreon) (4pm GMT)

Tuesday 29th November

NOBLES bonus – Deluxe Transcript (rescheduled) (Patreon) (4pm GMT)

SEAS Below Decks 9 – Everyday Resistance (Public) (4pm GMT)

Friday 2nd December

NOBLES bonus – Martin’s Poetry (Patreon) (4pm BST)

Have a good week all!

The Rusty Quill team