November Update

Hello hello my spoooooktacular friends! 

Welcome to, what I hope will be, a little monthly blog post to keep all of you wonderful people (and not-people) updated on the goings-on and happenings with all things related to your favorite podcast about Tom and Janet Miller…  or if we are being honest, your favorite show about Cilantro and Natalie.

First and foremost, I want to thank all of you, with all of my weird little heart, for all of your patience, support, and most importantly, your incredibly kind and supportive messages.  I’m going to try to have a main discussion topic for each of these posts, and I want to make sure that they aren’t incredibly long to read, but for this first one, I am just going to focus on a few smaller topics I wanted to address/respond to, and answer some questions we’ve got.  

Let’s start with the one that honestly meant the most to me.

“Thank you for taking a stand against AI.”

::Gets on soapbox::

Y'all likely noticed that new addition to the disclaimer at the beginning.  I am an artist, and the majority of my friends are artists and musicians.  AI is absolutely ruining the thing that humans are best at - being creative.  The creation and application of AI was supposed to make our lives easier and better, and give us more free time to BE human, but that is not the case.  Instead, we all get to sit back and watch how AI steals from real artists, replaces them in marketplaces for a fraction of the cost, and is destroying the environment. 

I hate AI.  I hate hearing talented voice actors, who are often struggling for work, or trying to get their foot in the door, being robbed and deprived of sharing their talents.  I also hate hearing AI voices being used in shows and games.  It’s not the same.  They lack emotion.  They often have the wrong inflection.  And it’s always done because of cost… because AI is “free” and quick.  But I know for certain that there are countless actors out there, myself included, who would lend their voices at minimal to no cost, just to help with a fun project. 

So, I stand by what I said.  This show, and anything I produce in the future, will NEVER use AI. 

Okay… deep breath. 

Moving on.

“When will the next episode be out?”

As soon as I can finish it.  We’ve had a massive influx of new listeners, so many of you may not know this.  With the exception of the actors, this is essentially a one-man show.  I get some assistance on plot creation and side story stuff, but the majority of the writing, all of the editing and sound effects, and all of the show's production is done by just me.  And I am doing this while juggling a full time job, a home to take care of, family/friends/relationships to give attention to, and my own set of hobbies that I try to enjoy.  Needless to say, I am very much lacking in free time. 

My GOAL is to get an episode out each month, but I can’t promise that.  But that's what these little blogs are for.

Okay, last one because it's quick…

“Will you bring the Patreon back/will you monetize/will there be ads?”

This is a zero budget show.  I am incredibly grateful that my wildly talented actors are okay with just making something fun. 

The reason I’ve never monetized the show is because, to be completely honest, I don’t know how to do that without bringing in ads - which I don’t want to do.

So -

Patreon:  I will likely reopen this as a no-reward Patreon.  You can subscribe just for the sake of supporting the show.  Your money will go to things like website costs, equipment costs, and licensings I might need to buy, and if there is enough to go around, I can throw my cast something as a thank you.

Monetization:  I’d like to, but I need to talk to people about how to do it without being intrusive.

Ads:  I will never put an ad in the middle of this show.  I did have the idea of including a radio show segment at the beginning or end of the episode that included whatever sponsorship I was offered… but that isn’t on the table right now. 

That said - if any of you have experience with monetizing a show, and/or have some solid marketing skills and advice, please message me.  I’m just a little guy with a big dream for a show and I don’t really know what I’m doing.  =)

Alright my friends, that’ll do it for this month’s update. 

Please join our Discord as I’ll be sharing smaller tidbits of info there a bit more often.

Stay Spooky!

-JD (Tom Miller)