A new book by Aaron West and edited by Jill Blake about the film company that has challenged the status quo and achieved success.
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Hello again, everyone. With the Kickstarter campaign over and the wind at my sails, I've been working on the book and a lot of other things. Plenty more to come.
First off, as promised during the campaign, all backers have access to the accompanying web platform. If you have not created an account at CineJourneys.com, you have one now. Your user name is your first and last name without any spaces. Mine would be AaronWest. Your email is the same that you use with Kickstarter. You'll have to create a password, and I recommend just using the password reset link here. (Please note that not all Kickstarter user names are the same. If you have a middle initial, it will not be part of your user name. Some people did not provide a last name, so the username will be your first name only.)
Anyone who already has an account with CineJourneys will automatically have A24 Kickstarter access. You will see it under subscriptions in your membership dashboard.
Below is a video showing you around the website and the content areas you'll be able to access. This is about 10 minutes and should answer most of your questions. Feel free to comment here if you have additional questions.
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Below is the Black Phillip illustration from Caitlin Kuhwald. This will be available for various award tiers. In the near future we will share graphics of available merch options before you complete your Backer Survey. Most likely that will be on BackerKit, which is the platform we are using to fulfill rewards.
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Finally I have completed my binge-watch of every A24 feature film, and also quite a few specials (comedy, TV, documentaries, etc.). Just seeing all their output was essential in order to organize the book. In total, this was somewhere between 200-250 titles. The feature films at present are between 170-180, but that is a moving target as they are releasing a large number of films this year. Opus just came out, and was not a hit at the box office. Death of a Unicorn and Warfare will be out soon, with plenty more to follow. It's going to be a busy A24 year.
Now that the big binge is over, I have the book structured accordingly in the respective four parts. As noted in the video above, I'll be sharing a comprehensive table of contents at the website channel. The next step is to finish writing, and I'll be adding a little bit to what I've already written for flow. As an example, when covering a modern filmmaker that was influenced by a specific new wave movement, I'll cover that history before talking about the filmmaker's work. It is a juggling act because I expect the reader's film knowledge to vary, but we want everyone to grasp what we're talking about. For example, many of you might not have heard about Dogme 95 or Mumblecore, but both are important context to understand modern film.
As noted in the video, expect a private update in the near future that will allow you to sign up directly for the upcoming Journeys and Classes. We'll be delivering digital rewards soon, some of which will include website membership and access levels.
Thanks,
Aaron
Thank you yet again for supporting us! The Kickstarter was thrilling, exhausting, and very fulfilling. We needed a little rest, and this week have been back at it. I've been working on the book. We've worked on the website to accomodate digital access. We've also been working on the physical items, which will end up being rewards for you.
As mentioned during the campaign, we'll be fulfilling these with Backerkit. We are going to start loading everything when we have Caitlin Kuhwald's final illustration for Black Phillip, which we expect next week. Oh yeah, and there's that book that these will ship with. That has to get finished! I've been on what I have been calling "the great A24 binge watch" and making sure that I've seen all of them (including the bad ones, and yes, there are bad ones!). By the next update, I'll likely have seen every A24 feature film, most comedy specials, and a good portion of their TV programming.
Speaking of digital access, we think this is pretty cool. We had mentioned that there would be a companion access area on our website. When people buy the book, they'll find instructions on how to access this exclusive area. A24 has a LOT of films coming out in 2025, so I expect we'll be making updates even before the book is officially released. You won't have to worry. We are going to load you into the website so you'll have access immediately. We'll also send a private backer update with info on how you can participate in the upcoming programs. We also realize that not everyone has free time or wants yet another email subscription, so we'll be setting up an "opt in" model for those who want to be more active than others.
Below is a screenshot of what that access area will look like. This is part of an area on our website that has not been launched yet called "Channels." We hope to formally launch and announce this soon. There will be channels for other projects of ours, and those of our friends.
As I've been full-on motoring to get these films watched and this book finished, there have been changes. In fact there is a brand new table of contents that is more fleshed out than what we initially posted on the Kickstarter. We've added chapters that we think you'll find interesting, and we've balanced out the book. For example, the final part will start in 2020 and the first chapter's working title is "Fucking Pandemic." Yep. I think we all get that. As disruptive as it was for all our lives, it was disruptive to the film industry and that made for a really strange film production and distribution period. It ultimately led to yet another golden age for A24, and their second Best Picture win.
Speaking of Best Picture wins, did anyone watch the Oscars? It was an okay year for A24, but it was a tremendous year for A24 grads like Sean Baker. Anora won 5 Oscars, and Sean personally won 4, making history in the process. Sean has been a friend to me and others like me. He loves stuff like this! I've been able to congratulate his Cannes and Oscar success. I'm genuinely very happy for him, as a friend and a fan.
Last but not least, here is the final artwork for Sacramento. We're pretty happy with it!
Hello Backers!
To say thank you isn't enough. We went into this campaign confident that we had something people would want. We had put a lot of work into this prior to the campaign, during, and will continue afterwards as we get the book ready and ship rewards.
Last night's livestream was a blast! We had a decent last day of the campaign, and the final stretch goal was $5,000 to get postcards. We ended up hitting that on the nose. That means that everyone who purchased the book will have it shipped with bookmarks, stickers, and postcards. Backers will also get access to the A24 Journey in April, and those who pledged $50 or higher will get access to the online class after the book is released.
We had a lot of special guests last night. To start with we had Caitlin Kuhwald, the artist who is responsible for some of the lovely illustrations in the book. We concluded that we cannot print this book in black and white. That changed from day one of the campaign, so those of you who pledged for the book are getting a healthy discount.
Caitlin shared this snapshot of the Sacramento print. She expects the complete artwork to be ready next week. This is just the middle section. She'll also be working on Black Phillip.
We had Carl Petrosyan, who will be doing the layout of the book. Ryan Verrill from Disc-Connected joined us, and he got us to the $5,000 mark. Thanks, Ryan! Tiffany Vazquez, David Blakeslee, Imogen Sara Smith, Rodney Wade, Louis Hill, Joe Petrucelli, Christian Ortiz, Keith Enright, and Chris Mohan also joined. You can watch the replay below. At the end we were a bunch of Eight is Enough boxes watching the ticker. You can watch the replay below. We had some minor technical difficulties, but the stream is still watchable. We goofed off quite a bit, and didn't even get into the merch until the stream had ended. We think you'll be happy with that too.
Updates will be a litlte slower from here on out. Of course we'll share the completed artwork and we will send surveys through Backerkit. We tried to remind everyone that shipping would be charged when we fulfill items, so please be ready for that.
I'll continue writing. The end of the first draft is within sight. As we get this edited and polished up, we'll share some excerpts. Last night I showed off the digital access area on our website, which is where most of those excerpts will live. We'll also publish updates and additional chapters after the book is published. Of course all of you will get free access.
Feel free to send messages with questions or drop comments. We'll see those and respond. This project wouldn't be a reality without you, and we are eternally grateful.
We are down to the wire, and we are looking forward to celebrating the end of the campaign. We’ll be hosting a livestream on our Facebook page and YouTube channel with special guests. Some of the guests have been involved with the project. Others are film professionals involved with CineJourneys, and best of all, there will be our friends and supporters. It’s going to be a great time!
You can find more information on our website.
We also hit another Stretch Goal. As noted in the last update, we know that the stickers that we achieved are going to be awesome, and we'll share those images after the campaign. Anyone with physical goods in their pledge will have these included.
In addition to stickers, we have a bonus stretch goal. Later this year after the book comes out, I am going to lead a 3-month online class on A24 using the book as the "textbook," although it will be more casual than classes that you're used to. Every pledge over $50 will get free access to that class. That will be the case if you are a digital or ohysical backer.
We hoped to have more images ready by the end of the campaign, but we also want to make sure they look right. Illustration is not easy. What Caitlin is working on is complex and it's going to be down to the wire. She is going to attend the livestream and there's a chance that another full illustration will be unveiled on the call. Whether that happens or not, it won't be long for the remaining images.
That is it until tomorrow. Again, thank you thank you thank you for your support. We're going to hook up our backers!