CliqueClackKickstarter campaigns we like: Video Watchdog
If you’re a true movie buff, you should be familiar with ‘Video Watchdog’ magazine. But did you know they are planning to launch a digital archive of every issue? Read on to find out how you can help make this dream a reality.
CD: You say that for the first two months of release, the issue will be free. I think that’s awesome, but many people may be concerned that giving something away will hurt the quality of the magazine. How do you address those concerns?
DL: I don’t understand how someone can perceive that giving something away will hurt the quality of the magazine. Perhaps you mean that giving something away devalues it? That you have to give it away because nobody will buy it, perhaps?
That kind of logic may be true for printed copies in an old distribution model. Lots of money goes into printing something. If you have to give it away just to get it out of the house so you’re not sitting on mounds of paper because nobody will buy it, well … maybe. But digital doesn’t sit around the house piling up in a corner. Yes, there are costs to making something digital, but it is less than print costs. With low-cost and entertaining advertising support, we feel we can deliver an enhanced version of the magazine for free to the end user, removing any stumbling blocks (like paying) to getting to the advertiser’s message, while clicking through, ordering, and enjoying the experience.
We have to re-think the old distribution models if we want to be successful in a digital world. What does the reader want? Free! If they can’t hold it in their hand, why pay for it? And if they’ve already been a print subscriber, they don’t want to have to pay for the digital version as well. Who can blame them? What do advertisers want? Low cost, wide distribution, measurable and immediate results. What does the publisher want? Wider distribution, excited word-of-mouth, happy readers and advertisers, more people to order the print editions, and become print subscribers.
Our digital model brings the reader and the advertiser together, brings more meaningful interactive content to support the written word, and leaves a lasting impression. It’s not a replacement for print, but an enhanced experience.
CD: Do you worry that the digital edition may eclipse the print edition?
DL: Not at all! We know our subscribers. They love print as much as we do. If they can’t get to the bookstore, or money is tight, sure. They may look at the digital version for a while. But they’ll place an order for the print edition if they miss it. They collect. They like to read without a machine in front of them. Flip through the pages. Have the tactile experience. But they’ll also find benefits to the digital versions, like searching through the whole archive for a film they remember reading about. Play that trailer for the obscure film they remember, and see extra stills, articles or more comments from Tim.
TL: My only concern is, might our ideas here be just a little too far ahead of the curve? Our current issue, number 175, is a truly interactive experience. We created it as an inkling of where our ideas for this digital format might go, not only for reviews and feature articles but for advertisers. I would like the digital edition to be like a nightclub where our readers can go to party after they’ve received and digested the print edition. Because the digital edition is more immersive; it puts you into the atmosphere and sounds of the films you’re reading about. We want to receive video letters from our readers. We want video companies to buy links to remove middlemen like Amazon from the relationship that should directly exist between customer and company, so the companies can profit better and stay in business longer. But the people who click on the digital edition need to bring a certain vision of their own to reading and using it, for all that to happen. We believe it can, and that it will.
CD: And you plan to offer every back issue as a digital edition at some point?
DL: That’s what the Kickstarter project is about! Every back issue, across all platforms, on all devices!
CD: What’s the one main thing you want our readers to know about Video Watchdog and this project?
DL: If the project is not funded, we will not be able to be on Android, Kindle, Nook, and Windows devices. We will not be able to digitize our back issues — that’s thousands of reviews and hundreds of articles that people might have had available to them. We’ll be able to bring out new editions of Video Watchdog, but only in Flash and iOS (computer and iPad/iPhone) formats going forward. We will be sad…
TL: … because we know what this Archive could mean to people. I think it could become a place where horror, fantasy and genre film fans could more directly connect with the people who make the films and the people who release them on disc.
CD: Any additional thoughts?
TL: Yes! I want to urge anyone reading this to come to our website, go to our Digital area, download the Video Watchdog app and check out what we’ve done with our first digital issue! That’s what we want to do with 176 other issues — and you can make it possible by pledging as little as $10, $5 — even $1. $1 could mean the difference between us meeting our goal or not.
DL: And remember, Kickstarter is All or Nothing! This Digital Archive won’t happen without reaching our goal, and every pledge tells the world you believe in us.
Please spread the word, pledge, and ask Santa for a Tablet of your choice for Christmas!
I want to thank Tim and Donna for taking the time to answer my questions. If you’re a real movie buff, or even if you just have a passing interest in the unusual films out there that may not get mainstream coverage, check out Video Watchdog in print or through the app, see what Tim and Donna have to offer and consider donating to the Kickstarter campaign.
