I probably should have gotten around to writing a campaign review for MST3K earlier, but I honestly needed to give more attention to smaller campaigns, that while interesting, were not as sure to be successful. With those campaigns finished, I can finally discussion MST3K’s reboot campaign, with almost two weeks remaining.

Basic Information

Format: Digital, DVD, and Blu-ray
Estimated Delivery: November 2016
Location: Minneapolis, MN

About MST3K

First, really? I mean really? You’ve never watched MST3K? Alright. So then, what is MST3K anyway? MST3K or really Mystery Science Theater 3000 was a television show that ran from 1988 until 1999. The IMDB summary is a pretty good introduction to the “plot” of the show: “In the not-too-distant future, a man and his robots are trapped aboard the Satellite of Love, where mad scientists force them to sit through the worst movies ever made.” And at 197 episodes, by the end of the 11th season, it just goes to show that there is never a shortage of B movies.

What makes the show entertaining really isn’t the movies themselves. It’s the commentary, and endless riffs, by the characters who are forced to watch them.

Campaign Specifics

Goal: $2,000,000
Pledge Tiers: 30 tiers ranging from $10 – $25,000
End Date: Sat, Dec 12 2015 1:00 AM EST
Funding Type: Fixed

Meetups

Probably one of the most interesting components of the campaign was the use of Meetups to help promote the campaign. For those who are not familiar with Meetup.com, it’s a social media site which focuses on creating groups that allow people to coordinate, local group meetups, as the name suggests.

This is really an amazing way to use social media in order to not only advertise a crowdfunding campaign, but to help ensure that the brand is well supported after the campaign ends. I could easily see this being used for gaming campaigns, where after the campaign ends, the same and the games arrive, there are already seeded meetups available to help set up gaming events. Or in the case of videos, like in the MST3K campaign, screenings.

Chances of success

Well, there really isn’t too much to write here in regard to campaign success. Even with the $2M price tag, the campaign has already long broken past its initial goal and is moving towards its next stretch goal: additional episodes. The only question then is whether or not the project itself will be successful.

There are certainly risks involved. The project itself is rather extensive. It can’t be easy to reboot a series, especially one that relies on buying rights to movies (one of the reasons why each episode is so expensive is because the show has to purchase the rights to screen the movie that they are commenting on). But the people involved are professionals, with plenty of experience in the industry, so that helps settle most of my concerns. That leaves whether or not the premier screening will be delayed, due to unforeseen snags, as my primary concern.