Want to grab any of our Kickstarter-exclusive rewards before they disappear forever? If it's listed below, you've still got time to pre-order now!
PLEASE NOTE: The physical rewards below will not ship until at least July 2022. Digital rewards will be distributed as soon as they are ready.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
MST3K Weekly Update: Oct 25-29, 2021
over 4 years ago
– Wed, Nov 03, 2021 at 01:13:58 PM
Meet the Team: Gary Glover, Production Designer & Artist
Happy Halloween,friends!
It’s Friday again, and we're mostly just scared at how fast October went by! After a few weeks of brief updates from set, we're back in the saddle this afternoon with some new details about the Kickstarter, the launch of the Time Bubble Tour, and the kind of detailed weekly update you've come to expect! As always, Lesley and Ivan are your crypt-keepers, here with the latest frights. Let's check it out, shall we?
PRODUCTION NEWS
EPISODE SHOOTING: As we reported last week, we're thrilled to confirm that we have now finished shooting four episodes of the new season featuring our newest cast members (Emily, Nate, Conor and Yvonne), who had about 24 hours to rest before they headed to York, PA for final rehearsals for MST3K Live's TimeBubble Tour.
Even though we shared a lot of behind-the-scenes photos from our Pennsylvania shoot last week, here are two more we wanted you to see:
Joel frames a shot for a Gizmoplex video featuring the #MakeMoreMST3K Snow Globe!
A shot of most (but not all!) of our incredible Philadelphia cast and crew, just before we wrapped.
BACK TO PREPPING: Now that we've wrapped up our first block of shooting, our entire production team is back in the office working hard to prepare for the next round of filming, which begins in Los Angeles in just a few weeks. As part of that, our crew has packed up a lot of the costumes, props and robots used during our Philadelphia shoot, and shipped them off to York (to use on the live tour) and Los Angeles (to use when we film more episodes).
Servo and the costumes are headed for York. The U-Haul boxes are headed to LA.
NEXT UP: For our next round of production, we'll be shooting in Los Angeles for 1-2 weeks with Jonah, Baron (Servo), Hampton (Crow), and Rebecca (GPC + Synthia). We'll also have several days where we pick up all of the scenes involving our extended cast, including Grant Baciocco (Waverly), Russ Walko (Growler), Patton Oswalt (Max), Felicia Day (Kinga Forrester), and Mary Jo Pehl (Pearl Forrester).
Then, after a brief break for Thanksgiving, we'll resume for another 1-2 weeks in December before wrapping production for this year. We'll give everyone a few weeks off for the holidays, and then we'll spend January finalizing everything we need for our third and final shooting block, which will begin in mid-February, just after the MST3K LIVE tour ends.
EDITING BEGINS: Finally, even though we still have a lot left to shoot, we thought you might be excited to know that the editing and post-production process is already underway. Our editor(s) have begun logging and reviewing the footage captured on set, and will start assembling rough episode edits that Joel and the team can review before we start shooting in Los Angeles.
As most of you already know, we're still attempting to reach the last 10% of backers who haven't filled out their reward surveys, so that we can include their rewards in our main manufacturing runs.
If you HAVEN’T FINISHED YOUR SURVEY, we’ll still do our best to make sure you get all of your rewards… but the longer it takes to get your survey, the more your choices may be limited for options like t-shirt design, color and size. So, help us help you: please get your survey submitted ASAP. If you still have questions, let us know.
If you HAVEN’T RECEIVED YOUR SURVEY, we are probably having trouble getting in touch with you. Please check this article in our Backer Support KnowledgeBase for instructions on the fastest way to get help and receive your missing survey.
And again, if you have submitted your survey, don't worry: We’re still moving forward with reward manufacturing for everyone who has sent in their answers, so that we can get your rewards delivered ASAP.
2. CHALLENGE COINS: Preview of metal dies from the mint!
We're eagerly awaiting the first physical samples of the CHALLENGE COIN rewards, but so far, the production process is off to a good start.
Just this week, our coin-making partner sent along this photo from the mint where our coins are being printed, showing the dies for three of the designs:
We're expecting the first full-color samples within a few weeks, and will be sure to give you a look at those when we get them.
3. SURPRISE REFUNDS: Some of you overpaid on BackerKit!
A small handful of backers – about 100 of you – may have noticed that you received $30 refunds from the #MakeMoreMST3K BackerKit this week. If you were among those backers, don't worry: we haven't canceled any of your rewards! We just discovered a small number of people who selected the same reward upgrade twice when filling out their BackerKit surveys, and were charged for it a second time. We don't want anyone overpaying, so we went ahead and refunded the additional $30 upgrade charge that you had already paid for – but you'll still get all of the rewards you're expecting, including the full set of 20 CLASSIC BONUS EPISODES that Joel selected for this Kickstarter.
4. IN-PERSON SET VISITS: Plan for mid-to-late February. Exact dates coming soon!
If your Kickstarter rewards include an IN-PERSON SET VISIT to join us in Philadelphia during the final 1-2 days of production, don't worry: you haven't missed anything. As of now, we're still expecting to schedule your set visit for mid-to-late February 2022, during our last two days on set. We're finalizing the exact timing now, but we'll contact you in the next week weeks to confirm your schedule for visiting set.
5. VIRTUAL SET VISITS: More set visit sessions coming in November and December!
For those backers whose rewards include access to our VIRTUAL SET VISITS, we're making final arrangements now for a set visit in November that will let you spend an hour watching our cast record the riffs and silhouette segments for an upcoming episode, as well as additional sessions in December, January and February. We'll let you know the date of the NOVEMBER VIRTUAL VISIT in next week's update, but you can expect it to take place during the week of November 15-19 – and, as always, if you can't join the set visit live, we'll make sure you're able to re-watch the full video afterward.
6. ONLINE CLASSES WITH JOEL: We'rescheduling the livestream lectures and discussions!
For backers whose rewards include access to Joel's livestream classes about movie riffing, robot puppeteering, and designing inventions with magic, good news: we can now confirm that the INTRODUCTION TO MAGIC & INVENTIONS class will be live-streamed on SATURDAY, JANUARY 15, 2022. As of now, we're planning to hold the INTRODUCTION TO MOVIE RIFFING class in March 2022, and the INTRODUCTION TO ROBOT PUPPETEERING class in April 2022, so stay tuned for exact dates and times.
7. GIZMOPLEX UPDATES coming later this month!
Finally, for those of you waiting for news about the future of the GIZMOPLEX virtual theater and apps, good news: we've been working on them non-stop, and should have more specific we can share before the end of November... including details on how you can volunteer to participate in the first backer-exclusive beta test period! Keep an eye on this month's weekly updates for more news.
TURKEY DAY 2021: TOURNAMENT UPDATE
The Turkey Day Tournament continues! This week, WARRIOR OF THE LOST WORLD fought off DADDY-O to advance, and MAGIC VOYAGE OF SINBAD won out over EEGAH to secure the first spot in this Turkey Day Marathon! (We’re going to keep voting to see who “wins,” though!)
Today’s battle features WARRIOR OF THE LOST WORLD attempting to fend off a new challenge by HERCULES AGAINST THE MOON MEN. Get your vote on here!
COMMUNITY NEWS
Have you checked out the new official MST3K forums yet? Join up here, it’s a rager. Here are a few sample threads from the past week:
The TIME BUBBLE TOUR kicks off in York, PA TOMORROW! (Wow, that came up fast.) Rehearsals have been going great, and are continuing as we write this update, with the first public preview performance scheduled for TOMORROW NIGHT! The entire Alternaversal team is proud of this show, and of our terrific cast, and can't wait for you to join us for... MAKING CONTACT.
Coming soon, to a theater near (many of) you!
We had a sudden flood of tour date announcements come through this week, so buckle up.
As always, you can see all the currently-announced dates and theaters on our tour website at MST3KLive.com.
MEET THE TEAM
Each week, we’re introducing you to another member of the MST3K team. This week, it's...
Gary Glover, Production Designer & Artist
1. In a sentence or two, what do you do on MST3K? I’d say I’m really a “Jack of all Trades” (Master of some!) that would include: Illustrator, Visual Development, Production & Concept Design, Photoshop Jockey, Matte Painter and poster maker. I became involved visually with MST3K in the 90’s as I created T-Shirts, mouse pads, calendars, stationary and The Bot Building Booklet for Best Brains,Inc. I worked with Joel on posters for Cinematic Titanic and then got invited for Visual Development early in 2015 for what would become Season 11 of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 reboot. The past six years has been the icing on my work cake!
2. What do you love most about your job? I’m incredibly lucky to do what I do for the show! It’s an amazing process to work with all of the team of creatives and clever folks associated with MST3K. Getting to do so many posters over the years has been so much fun for me. Illustrating seasons 11 & 12, the last three live show posters, the hybrid B-movie poster series, and my involvement this season with the production is really a high point in my career.
3. Tell us a fun fact about you. My family and I have been mesmerized with MST3K since the early Comedy Central days, and I began sourcing parts and building bots. It was my bot building that got me hooked up with Joel. That was 20 plus years ago and they can’t get rid of me!
That's all for this week! As always, please join us on the forums in the dedicated forum link for this update, and share your questions and feedback.
And have a spooky-good weekend, everyone!
Your Tricked-and-Treated Correspondents,
Lesley & Ivan
MST3K Weekly Update: Oct 18-22, 2021. Hello from Week 2 on Set. PLUS: BTS Photo Dump!
over 4 years ago
– Sat, Oct 23, 2021 at 04:02:37 AM
In This Update
Production: Wrapping up shooting in PA. Lots of photos!
Kickstarter: Please submit your overdue reward surveys ASAP!
Events: Turkey Day Voting + RiffTrax Live Halloween show!
Tour News: Arizona, Nevada, Ohio, Georgia!
Helloooooo Backers!
It’s time for your Friday update, and this week’s installment will be a little different, because both Ivan and Lesley have been on set all week for the first block of shooting on the new season of episodes that you made possible. So, here’s what’s happening.
PRODUCTION NEWS
We’ve got a small but mighty crew here in an unmarked studio near Philadelphia, and the entire team has spent the past two weeks hard at work filming new episodes that introduce our newest (co-) test subject, Emily Connor (Emily Marsh), and her own versions of Crow (Nate Begle), Servo (Conor McGiffin) and GPC2 (Yvonne Freese).
We’ve also been shooting some scenes with Synthia and Mega-Synthia. Originally, we also planned to have Pearl here as well, but due to some last-minute scheduling conflicts, she’ll be joining us on set next month in Los Angeles instead.
Jonah has been doing a fantastic job of directing all of the scenes, including a few new musical numbers we can’t wait for you to hear – and with the help of Josh Fruehling (our Assistant Director) and Sarah Morisano (our Unit Production Manager), we’re pretty much right on schedule and on budget!
This afternoon, we finished shooting the last scenes we needed for Emily’s episodes… which is good, because on Sunday, this cast will head out for a week of final rehearsals, and then head to cities near you for MST3K LIVE’s TIME BUBBLE TOUR! And even if you caught this cast during the last live tour, you should know that they’re somehow better now, so you’re in for a good time.
And, while we don’t have a lot of time to write a more detailed update this week, we have been taking a lot of behind-the-scenes photos for you. See for yourself:
Joel and Matt review some last-minute script revisions.
Costume rack just next to the kitchen, for quick access!
Emily gets prepped for her next scene by Fre, our incredible hair and makeup artist.
A behind-the-scenes look at what is behind the scenes. Literally.
Jonah and Joel confer on the details for a host segment.
You wanted pictures of the snack table? You got 'em.
It's been a long two weeks. GPC2 is all of us.
Jonah and Emily review script revisions before shooting a take.
The greenscreen often needs a paint touchup to remove wear, tear and scuffing.
We're on a tight budget. We only had enough color for Servo.
EVENT NEWS
TURKEY DAY TOURNAMENT 2021: The Turkey Day Tournament continues! As a refresher, for this year’s Turkey Day Marathon, YOU are choosing four of the episodes by voting for your favorites. Here’s where the competition stands as of today.
RIFFTRAX LIVE: HALLOWEEN SPECIAL: Elsewhere, our pals at RiffTrax — Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett — are heading back to the big screen, with a RiffTrax LIVE Halloween performance of Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes! They'll be broadcasting to over 700 theaters across the U.S. this Tuesday, October, 26th. Visit Rifftrax.com/live to find a participating cinema near you!
RENO, NV: Your tour date will be announced on Monday, October 25 at 10am PST. Your backer presale (code: MVSGN) will run from Tuesday October 26 at 10am PT. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday, October 28 at 10am PT.
YOUNGSTOWN, OH: Your tour date will be announced on Tuesday, October 26 at 10am ET. Your backer presale (code: MVSGN) will run from Wednesday October 27 at 10am ET. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, October 29 at 10am ET.
ATLANTA, GA: Your tour date will be announced on Tuesday, October 26 at 10am ET. Your backer presale (code: MVSGN) will run from Wednesday October 27 at 10am ET. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, October 29 at 10am ET.
You can see all the currently-announced dates and theaters on our tour website at MST3KLive.com.
That’s it for this week. Next week, it’s back to the production office to prepare for our second block of shooting in November – but that means we’ll be able to update you on some of our progress with Kickstarter rewards and Gizmoplex development.
In the meantime, join us on the forum thread for this update, and let us know what you think. Have a restful weekend, all!
Your Correspondents,
Ivan & Lesley
MST3K Weekly Update: Oct 11-15, 2021. PLUS: A Message from Joel!
over 4 years ago
– Sun, Oct 17, 2021 at 01:23:20 AM
In This Update
Production: Done with Week 1! Set Photos + the IATSE Strike
Kickstarter: No news this week. Please submit late surveys ASAP.
Turkey Day 2021: Voting has begun – cast yours now!
PLUS: A Special Message from Joel!
Greetings from Week One on Set!
It’s Friday, and somehow, amidst the intensity of our first week of shooting, Lesley and Ivan (but mostly Lesley) are here with the latest news! It’s going to be a quick one, as we have a lot going on, but let’s get into it, hmm?
PRODUCTION NEWS
DONE WITH WEEK ONE: The big news is that we’ve started shooting, and it’s going fantastic! We’ve recorded the riffs for four episodes and half a dozen shorts, and are now on our second day shooting host segments – which actually puts us 1-2 days ahead of our schedule. That means we’ll have more time to shoot bonus content for the Gizmoplex, Turkey Day, and other surprises. And, while we can't tell you too much about the specifics of what we're shooting, we do have some pictures to give you a sense of what's going on:
Production isn't official until you see a photo of the slate. So, now we're official.
Jonah (director) and Josh (A.D. and producer) watch a take on the screen.
L to R: Producer Matt McGinnis; behind the camera; Crow waiting for his cue (right).
L to R: Jonah, Nate, Emily, Joel & Conor
IATSE STRIKE: In other news, as many of you have seen, IATSE, the union that represents the skilled technicians, artists, and craftspeople behind every American film or television show you watch, as well as many live shows and concerts, has voted to strike on Monday if they cannot reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. IATSE is advocating for stricter limits on the length of the workday, as well as harsher penalties for productions that force their crews to work through meal breaks, and also fair pay for people who work on “new media” streaming services productions.
If you’re wondering what that means for MST3K and our production schedule, the short answer is: It won’t affect anything.
There are several reasons for that. We’re a fully non-union shoot, and have no IATSE crew – which means no one involved would be affected by a strike. In addition, our shooting locations on both coasts are not on union backlots, or in facilities that are likely to have picket lines, which means our cast (who are members of SAG-AFTRA and would not want to cross picket lines) won’t be affected either. And – most important – our production already adheres to all of the terms that IATSE is pushing for, and are abiding by all of the labor adjustments they are hoping to negotiate in their new contract.
That said, even though MST3K won’t be affected by an IATSE strike, we do want to take a moment to express our unconditional support for their efforts. Without the hard work of IATSE members, most shows wouldn’t get made at all… and everything they’re negotiating for isn’t just reasonable, but essential to ensuring their members’ basic quality of life and safety. If you’d like to read some of the personal stories driving this strike, check out @ia_stories on Instagram.
KICKSTARTER NEWS
No news is good news! In this case at least. Ivan is on set this week, and says there are no major Kickstarter related developments, so we’ll resume Kickstarter news in next week’s update. However: if you still haven’t filled out your survey, please do so!
EVENT NEWS: TURKEY DAY '21
The Turkey Day Tournament continues! Just as a reminder, YOUR VOTES will choose the four fan-selected episodes for this year’s Turkey Day Marathon (we’ve chosen the other four). In the first battle, The Magic Voyage of Sinbad edged out Lost Continent to advance to the next round.
In today’s match-up, Parts: The Clonus Horror faces off against The Brain That Wouldn’t Die. Cast your vote on our Turkey Day page, or on the forums, and make your feelings known!
COMMUNITY NEWS
Have you checked out those official MST3K forums yet? Join up here if you’d like to check it out. Here are a few selected threads from the past week:
Finally, we have something different for you to finish out this week’s update: a special message straight from Joel, written this afternoon on set. Keep reading below for that.
Otherwise, that’s that for this week! As always, if you have questions or feedback, come join us on the dedicated forum thread. (Also, Lesley wants to know what you'd most like to see photos of from set — we can't promise anything, but let us know what you're dying to get a look at.)
Thanks for everything, friends, and have a smashing weekend.
Your correspondents,
Lesley & Ivan
Dear MST3K Preservation League,
Hey again, it's Joel. Today marks the end of the first week of our shoot for Season 13, and it has been a tremendous amount of work from many talented parties. I have a few minutes while our writers make some script adjustments, so I thought I’d take a minute to write to you all.
Josh Fruehling, our Assistant Director, just announced that we’ve got five minutes until we start shooting again, so I’m writing to you from the greenroom of an “off the radar” studio near Philly. More on that later.
Right now everyone is a bit giddy, and we’re doing really fine work, so far. Jonah Ray is doing an incredible job directing these episodes, and guiding the cast to give really beautiful performances. In fact, things are running so smoothly that we’re ending the week slightly ahead of schedule. For a producer such as myself, that’s a good feeling.
I’m also happy to report that everything we’ve been planning for the past year is finally becoming “real” and legible. This afternoon, Emily and the Bots will finish their second full episode, which means – when added up – that we shot over two hundred pages of scripts and riffs this week. Getting these elements recorded represents the work of about a hundred people so far, and from my perspective, the riffs are as good as anything from the Netflix season, and even from many of the well-loved classic seasons.
The sketches are markedly different, though. Emily, Nate, Conor, and Yvonne have chemistry that is unique, probably because they spent months on the road together and did nearly 100 performances during MST3K Live’s The Great Cheesy Movie Circus Tour. If you saw the last live tour, you know what I’m talking about.
However, they also got a new perspective on MST3K, because they all wrote on many of the episodes this upcoming season. Simply put, they’re now able to be familiar with the material in a way they couldn’t before, and it shows. I’m not going to say anymore about it though, as it’s time to put away the grease gun. All I will say is that they’re doing a terrific job with these new episodes, and I can’t wait to see what they do next.
After we finish shooting next week here in the Philly area, the cast – along with our long-time collaborator and friend Tim Ryder, who will be directing the live tour – will start a week of final rehearsals for the upcoming “Time Bubble Tour,” which starts on October 30th.
Whew. So grateful for the help and support. It’s thanks to all of you that we are here doing this now, and I’m so glad we’ll be able to share these episodes with you.
Cheers and Thanks,
Joel
MST3K Weekly Update: Oct 4-8, 2021
over 4 years ago
– Sat, Oct 09, 2021 at 04:31:27 AM
In This Update:
Production: Shooting starts MONDAY AM on new episodes!
Kickstarter News: Overdue reward surveys + Virtual Set Visits
Turkey Day 2021: Voting for this year’s lineup starts next week!
Tour News: Chicago ticket pre-sale has begun!
Meet the Team: Tammy Golden, Writer
It’s Friday, Friday, Gotta Get Down on Friday!
Hey. It’s Friday. Ivan and Lesley are here with your weekly update, piping hot from the MST3K oven. Let’s jump into it!
PRODUCTION NEWS
ON-SET PRODUCTION: We’ll start recording new episodes first thing on Monday morning. Yes, that means production on season 13 starts next week! It’s all happening so fast. So, this week has been focused on making all of the final preparations that we need before heading to set in Philadelphia to start shooting all of the episodes featuring Emily, Nate, Conor and Yvonne before they have to hit the road for MST3K LIVE at the end of October.
As you can guess, that means that we need to have all of the SCRIPTS, PROPS and COSTUMES for those episodes ready to go… and while everyone is still hard at work, we’re feeling good, and confident we’ll have everything we need on Monday morning.
Script binders being assembled for each member of the cast and crew.
REHEARSALS: To make sure the cast are comfortable with their scripts – and that Jonah has a chance to explain what he’s looking for as the director of these episodes – we’ve also held a few virtual “table reads” over the past week.
These sessions give our cast and directors a chance to get together for a collective read-through of the host segments for each episode, and to ask questions about specific lines or staging directions. Since we pay for studio time, equipment and production crew by the time, it’s essential to make sure everyone feels comfortable and prepared before we ever get to set, so that we can start shooting as quickly as possible.
“LOADING IN”: To make sure we’re ready to shoot on Monday morning, we’ve also started the process this morning of “loading in” all of our equipment, setting up the initial stage and lighting, and figuring out where everything will be positioned during the shoot.
For the first several days, we’re going to focus on shooting all of the silhouette riffs in the theater, which means our cast will be in chairs facing a greenscreen, with a few small screens just off to the side, so that they can watch the movie as they perform:
Once those are done, we’ll move on to shooting all of the host segments, as well as some additional material we need for the Turkey Day Marathon, Gizmoplex member events, and Kickstarter rewards, like personal video messages from the SOL, and “sponsored segments” for our GIzmoplex Founding Sponsor backers.
Speaking of which...
FOUNDING SPONSORS: We’ve also spent the last few weeks working out some really fun and novel ideas for how we plan to integrate our “Founding Sponsor” backers, and their MST3K-loving businesses, into our plans for the coming year. (In case you missed it, the highest pledge level on the Kickstarter was for backers whose companies wanted to help launch the Gizmoplex and make Season 13.)
We’ve been really fortunate that our first round of sponsors are all long-time fans of MST3K, and that they share our desire to involve their brands in ways that make MST3K and the Gizmoplex better, rather than interrupting or distracting from the show.
We’ll explain more about how we’re approaching this process when the new season premieres, but we hope you’ll be surprised and excited to see how the idea of sponsors fits into the world of MST3K and the Gizmoplex.
Our thanks to the 200+ backers who finished up their surveys and turned them in this week!
If you HAVEN’T FINISHED YOUR SURVEY, we’ll still do our best to make sure you get all of your rewards… but the longer it takes to get your survey, the more your choices may be limited for options like t-shirt design, color and size. So, help us help you: please get your survey submitted ASAP. If you still have questions, let us know.
If you HAVEN’T RECEIVED YOUR SURVEY, we are probably having trouble getting in touch with you. Please check this article in our Backer Support KnowledgeBase for instructions on the fastest way to get help and receive your missing survey.
Again, the real challenge is that a lot of these remaining backers might not be seeing any of the emails we send, including these updates… but if we can’t reach them in a reasonable amount of time, it will be difficult to deliver their rewards at all. So, we’re still evaluating the best options.
In the meantime, we’re also moving forward with reward manufacturing, so that we’ll be able to get rewards to those of you who completed your surveys as soon as possible.
2. Virtual Set Visits: Video almost finished, more sessions coming soon.
As we explained last week, we ran into some significant technical problems during our first Virtual Set Visit two weeks ago, and are in the process of finishing an edited, HD version of the entire session. We apologize for the delays in getting that online, and are relieved to report that it will be available no later than Sunday afternoon. Once it has been posted, we will email all backers who get access to let them know it’s available for viewing. In the meantime, we appreciate your patience and understanding.
In addition, more good news for backers with Virtual Set Visit access: We’re already preparing for several additional set visit sessions over the next 3-4 months, covering everything from on-set production, to post-production and editing, to writing music for MST3K. Stay tuned for a full schedule of the sessions, and remember: if you can’t attend the sessions live, you will be able to rewatch them after the fact.
COMING UP: TURKEY DAY 2021!
Some of you (we hope) were around for our WILDLY popular Turkey Day Tournament last year, in which YOU, THE VIEWERS voted for our Turkey Day marathon 2020 episodes!
Well, we are doing it again this year, and TURKEY DAY TOURNAMENT 2021 features a few important changes.
We’ve selected four episodes ourselves, and so y’all will only be voting on FOUR episodes of the EIGHT episode marathon. We hope that’s okay; it was necessary to get the new Turkey Day segments produced in time for the marathon. (And those new segments? Will have some very exciting information for those of you looking forward to season 13.)
Voting will happen twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, starting next week. Each new round of voting will run for three days, and will be announced on the Official MST3K forums. We will update you on the results in these Friday updates as well.
If all goes as planned, we will launch the tournament and open the first vote this Tuesday, October 12.
So if you’d like to vote on Turkey Day episodes, and our constant nudging hasn’t convinced you to sign up for the forums yet, now is a good time to do so!
COMMUNITY NEWS
Speaking of which, have you checked out the new official MST3K forums yet? Join up here if you’d like to get in the zone. Here are a few brain-tingling threads from the past week:
PORTLAND, OR! Your date will be announced on Monday, October 11, and then the presale will begin the following day, also with code MVSGN.
MISSOULA, MT! Your date will be announced on Tuesday, October 12, and then the presale will begin the next day, again, with code MVSGN.
You can see all the currently-announced dates and theaters on our tour website at MST3KLive.com.
MEET THE TEAM
Each week, we’re introducing you to another member of the MST3K team. This week, it's...
Tammy Golden, Writer
1. In a sentence or two, what do you do on MST3K? This is my third season writing on MST3K. There are lots of moving parts, and a lot of thinking outside the box, trying to see something new in a scene I've viewed 11 times. It's a form of Stockholm syndrome. Eventually your brain has to make friends with the horrible movie and enjoy it.
2. What do you love most about your job? I have the best job in the world. Seriously. I get to yell out and listen to stupid jokes all day with a group of funny, creative people. It's always fun to see how many different points of view can come out of the same scene.
3. Tell us a fun fact about you. Fun fact: I'm anosmic - meaning I was born without a sense of smell. I'd be curious to know what chocolate, fresh baked bread, coffee, and flowers smell like, but other than that I've never felt I was missing out on anything.
Well, that’s all we’ve got for this week -- and if you’re into this sort of thing, spare a kind thought or positive vibe for our start of production on Monday!
As always, if you’ve got concerns about any aspect of the Kickstarter, or need help and information about your rewards, please contact our Backer Support Team – and remember, email will get a faster response than posts on social media, Kickstarter, or the forums!
And, if you’d like to join in a conversation with your fellow backers about this update, please head over to this week’s dedicated forum thread with your questions and feedback.
Have a resplendent weekend, all!
Your correspondents,
Ivan & Lesley
MST3K Weekly Update: Sept 27 - Oct 1, 2021
over 4 years ago
– Fri, Oct 01, 2021 at 11:31:07 PM
In This Update
Production Update: Two weeks til we start shooting! Plus: photos, props + artwork!
Kickstarter News: Overdue reward surveys + last week's Virtual Set Visit hiccup
NYCC Exclusive: Sneak peek at three limited edition comic book prints!
Tour News: Chicago ticket pre-sale begins next Friday!
Meet the Team: Josh Warner, Production Assistant
Happy Halloween Month!
It’s October, friends! How did that happen? It’s also Friday, and that means it’s time for your weekly update. Lesley and Ivan here with the most fascinating tidbits and lore, so let’s jump in.
PRODUCTION NEWS
EPISODEWRITING: Joel is still hard at work “seaming together” the thirteen episodes, and adjusting details in the host segments to support the season-long overall narrative. Also, after last week’s Virtual Set Visit to the Writers’ Room, a lot of you have asked for a list of all of our writers’ social media handles to follow. We’re working on pulling that together, and will share it as soon as we do.
TURKEY DAY APPROACHES: This week, we’ve also been working with Joel on some special scripted segments for this year’s Turkey Day Marathon, which we’ll shoot in Philadelphia in October. We don’t want to give too much away, but you can expect this year’s Turkey Day to reveal some major details about Season 13 that you won’t want to miss. (Not that you will, since we’ll also send you an update with everything we share. But trust us, you’ll have more fun watching the Turkey Day Marathon.)
COSTUMES, PROPS + BOTS: We’ve hired our propmaster for October’s shoot near Philadelphia, and have started receiving the first rounds of finished props and costumes at the Alternaversal offices:
Boxes of costumes arriving from Minneapolis
A rack of GPC2s, sleeping.
Some props. As usual, no context.
More props. Still no context.
ARTWORK & MODELS: Our long-time collaborator Gary Glover, who has done the poster artwork for Seasons 12 and 13, as well as some of the background illustration “plates” that appeared in Season 12, has officially joined the production team for Season 13, and is hard at work helping us visualize the newest images needed for our models, backgrounds, and sets. Here’s some work he did this week on Moonbase 13:
Those individual shapes will be turned into printed panels that are used to build an updated model of Moonbase 13, which we’ll then use for some new model shots this season. Also, just like our models from Seasons 11 and 12, the window panels as designed as green screen, so that we can replace them with footage of whatever is happening inside the base.
KICKSTARTER NEWS
1. The survey deadline has passed, and we’ve still got about 4500 unanswered surveys.
We’re evaluating the best way to make sure those backers will still be able to get their rewards without holding up the timeline to get rewards produced and shipped to those of you who did finish your surveys. Our main challenge right now is that we suspect many of those remaining 4500 backers haven’t seen the BackerKit emails at all, and don’t know about the deadline, so we’re trying to figure out other ways of reaching them.
2. We’re working with manufacturers to figure out an estimated reward shipping schedule.
We’re still learning how COVID will affect the production and shipping of each of our rewards. A lot of materials are harder to get than usual, and across the board, almost all freight providers are estimating that shipments may take weeks – or months – longer than usual.
That said, we’re doing our best to move forward with reward production as quickly as we can, and will keep you posted on our estimated schedule for shipping your rewards as we learn more.
As of now, we are planning to send out the MST3K HOLIDAY CARD this year, in time for (surprise) the holidays. As for the other physical rewards, well… with one or two exceptions, our current goal is to receive them at our warehouse, pack them up, and ship them out by around mid-February.
3. We’re working on fixing the technical issues from our first Virtual Set Visit.
For those of you who joined us for last week’s VIRTUAL SET VISIT, we apologize for the extremely awkward technical problems that arose during the post-Writers’ Room Q&A.
The quick explanation is that we were using a new service that allows us to capture HD footage of each speaker for later use, and to livestream and patch in video callers with questions, all at the same time. While it performed fine in all of our technical tests, it ended up choking hard during the actual livestream, resulting in video and audio that several backers accurately described as “painfully unwatchable.”
That said: we’re almost done re-assembling the entire session in HD, and will make that video available shortly for all backers whose rewards include Virtual Set Visit access.
And, for those of you who expressed concern or disappointment with last week’s experience, please know that we’re re-evaluating our technical setup for all of the remaining Virtual Set Visits and livestream events. We’ll do our best to make sure this doesn’t happen again, and we’ve got at least 3 more virtual set visits planned throughout production, so you’ll still get more chances to ask questions.
MEANWHILE, IN NEW YORK...
Going to New York ComicCon next weekend? If so: (a) we’re jealous, (b) please remember to be safe and wear a mask, and (c) be sure to stop by Source Point Press (Booth 2137) to check out three ultra-exclusive MST3K + NYCC art prints that will be available for sale!
Drawn by the incredible Shane Campos and art-directed by Season 13 Executive Producer Mike Federali, each 11x17” illustration riffs on an iconic classic comic cover.
Only one design will be available each day, and there are only 100 numbered copies of each print… so if you want one, be sure to hit up the booth early!
Have you checked out the new official MST3K forums yet? What are you waiting for? Jump in here if you’d like to check it out. Here are a few tempting threads from the past week:
Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, OCTOBER 13 at 10am CT.
You can see all the currently-announced dates and theaters on our tour website at MST3KLive.com.
MEET THE TEAM
Each week, we’re introducing you to another member of the MST3K team. This week, it's...
Josh Warner, Production Assistant
1. In a sentence or two, what do you do on MST3K? I'm the lucky production assistant in PA. I get to work closely with Joel to help keep the pre-production process running smoothly. Since I'm the P.A. in PA, I got the cool nickname “Papa.”
2. What do you love most about your job? Joel Hodgson coming and randomly showing me obscure punk rock anthems.
3. Tell us a fun fact about you. I'm straight-edge. So when I turned 21, the first thing I tried naturally was coffee for the first time.
That’s all for this week. As always, join us on the forum thread with your feedback and questions, and have a sparkling weekend!
