Major production changes! (good ending)
Hello to all! It has been a while since anything regarding Wild Westly has been posted either here or on social media, so I feel as if I owe you all an update.
Wild Westly is still moving forward and being worked on, with the trailer almost complete! HOWEVER, Wild Westly, as it existed when we first set out to produce our pilot, is no more.
Instead of a pilot episode, Wild Westly will launch with episode 1 and continue linearly from there. We realised that the pilot did us no favours, as we never intended to pitch it and had always intended to work on the project in-house, and the pilot was unrealistically long to fit in all our characters and key themes. Raising enough money for the pilot we had would have been an impossible task, and the pilot itself would have been non-canon by the nature of it being... yknow, a concept. It was a lot of work and money for an end product that we wouldn't be proud of as creators and fans wouldn't be proud of as backers.
Although this seems like a step backwards in terms of production, what has been done for the project already (a LOT of pre-production) will not go to waste! Concept art, character designs, and early boards will still see the light of day, either in the finished product or in the art book we intend to release as part of our (eventual) Kickstarter promises.
Now for the part you want to hear: What does this mean for those who have auditioned?
If you have auditioned for an artist, pre/post-production, or VA role in the project, we're still keeping an eye out for you! We already have a few VAs bookmarked for future characters that we know we want to do, and some animators/illustrators saved for when we begin production. The behind-the-scenes changes within the project will not affect or squander anyone's chances of working with us!
I (Winston) am a first-time showrunner, and the dream has turned out to be a lot harder, longer, and more expensive than I had initially anticipated... but seeing the responses we got from talent and fans alike has been one of the key elements that has kept the project alive these last two years. Every mistake, setback, and rebirth has been a wonderful opportunity for me and the project, and we're fortunate that these learning curves and revelations have occurred before we were in too deep to make these necessary changes.
We truly want to make the best show we can, not just for people to consume, but for everyone who works on it to be proud of. We're so grateful for every single audition, comment, and collaborator who has supported our endeavours, and we hope to share concrete updates with you soon in the form of a trailer and a Kickstarter.
Best wishes to everyone who has auditioned, is auditioning, and will audition! Keep up the amazing work and keep creating however and wherever you can!!
Lots of love from Winston and the rest of the Wild Westly team!
