Artcow WogglebugLoveProductions / Cynthia Hanson / Cherie Anne Hapney - One Womanchild's Fruitless Quest to Make Her Cockroach Husbando a Household Name

[For The Internet]

For the Internet: I'd never heard of Cool Cat actually. I might look it up sometime soon to see how valid your points may be in comparison to my work.

Please do. Wogglebug is higher quality than Cool Cat but that doesn't mean much in the scheme of people discovering your work without exposure. He had a much higher budget than you and did a ton of advertising and still couldn't make meaningful sales until an audience of people who enjoyed the film ironically became aware of it through a comedic critique video.

And if it is inevitable that my movie will be "pirated" when its released on DVD, I'll just get ahead of everyone and post it online myself at my website the day the Amazon Instant Video and, or, DVD is also released.

That's fine, but the second it's up it will be pirated. Probably out of spite rather than interest to be honest. Forcing people to leave a 5 star Amazon review to get your DVD is incredibly arrogant. Only a troll would have that dedication. Your target audience (parents of children) will not have the time, patience or inclination to jump through hoops for a DVD. It will ensure only the purest trolls will get their hands on your DVDs, not the purest fans. You can't just assume you're going to get that awesome, dedicated fanbase of people as devoted to the character as you are. You're putting the cart before the horse.

And I feel I'll simply have to at least put out 4 movies because the one that almost was completed (before I changed the script again) that I was for a while planning to release first is now going to be the fourth released instead.

What was I saying about carts and horses?

And I am not actually refusing to do market research in the way you mentioned, with the sort of audience you mention. It's just the things that have been stopping me from reaching them is I have a hard time finding the sorts of forums for them when I search. Also, as I said before I've also found a forum that had potential to it that I wasn't qualified to join. The same thing happened not long ago when I signed up for a forum for secular homeschoolers. I couldn't get into the actual forums because I was neither a parent nor a homeschooler.

I'll tell you what, if you or any of you can locate and pinpoint me to a few of such forums and social media groups online that have my targeted audience reachable, I'll spend more time there than here from now on.

No. Just, no. People here have jobs. People here have degrees that they're working on. We are not doing your work for you. If you're having so much trouble finding forums, go on facebook, pinterest, vine, twitter... any social media platform you can to find. I know you have a facebook. Join any groups dedicated to parents (it doesn't matter if you're not a parent, plenty of groups are public), children's films, film making, anything related to your work and post. Advertise, offer free e-samples, link to trailers/teasers on youtube and vine and take any feedback they give you graciously. If you come back and tell me that you can't find groups like those on facebook et al my suspicions will be confirmed that you have no intention of ever putting in the work you need to make your dreams come true and will never listen to anything we have to say unless we wrap it in the softest of kid gloves.

As for the Oz fans, it's just that I consider my fandom to be an opposing team to theirs and people will need to choose which teams to root for. Because the Wogglebug really doesn't receive much respect if any at all in the Oz fandom and so he needs another fandom to himself to get it. So that's what I'm giving him. Also because of certain things in my novels I seriously doubt Oz fans would actually become fans of me even if they became readers. As far as as anyone is concerned the Oz fandom and the Wogglebug's fandom will forever be two completely separated fandoms that dislike each other.

Has it ever occurred to you that the majority of Oz fans don't have a stupid death match grudge against your fandom? The majority of Oz fans don't even KNOW about your fandom. There are probably some loons who are passionate about sticking to 'canon' regarding Oz characters and not taking them out of Oz, but every fandom has spergs like that and to preclude them all because of some of them being idiots is possibly the worst move you could make. These are the only people who will see your work, know who the Wogglebug is and be interested because he is the Wogglebug and he is a character from a fandom they like who somebody is doing something new with. Excluding them will pretty much ensure you don't find success.

Put it this way: do you think that all Harry Potter fans who prefer the canon works are at war against the Harry Potter fanfic writers and fans of HP must choose sides? There's a similar character division in this group: book readers who are only interested in canon usually find Draco Malfoy to be disgusting, complex and cowardly because that is how he is written by JKR. There are a large portion of fanfic writers, however, who see him as deeply misunderstood and ultimately a funny, charming and brave person. Those two interpretations are at odds. Canon book fans (ie the Oz fans) see Draco (ie the Wogglebug) in a mostly negative light and fanfic writers (ie you) see him in a positive light and create new media to reflect this.

Guess what? There are a few spergs who attack each other over this because they're spergs, but the vast majority of the fandom doesn't give a shit about that fanfic even if they don't agree with the character interpretations. In fact, a lot of people who prefer the canon books read fanfic and enjoy it. There is no war, it's completely something in your head. People do not have to pick sides. Fanfic proves that you can passionately love your canon series but also love alternative interpretations made by people other than the author. You should be reaching out to these people to show them how great the Wogglebug can be and I guarantee you you'd pic up fans because so many people love fanfic/alternate character interpretations. And no, I am not calling your work fanfic.

As for Voiceguy's payments, I'm not saying I don't want to pay him all at once but just if I do it will likely have to wait for months and months of saving up to do. And I am also paying not one but two illustrators also at the same time. I've paid off Robert Henry for the first two novels art in the past two years (a total of $1,000), and owe him another $400 for the third book next year which I'll be doing in installments every third Wednesday of the month starting in January.

Okay, now is where I get harsh because you can screw yourself over till the cows come home, but you can't screw over people who have loyally worked for you for years, above and beyond the call.
If you do not have the money to pay him on time, you should NOT be continuing work on the Wogglebug franchise until you are in a position to pay off anything owing to voiceguy and your animator and then only resume when you can pay them in full each time. Yes, installments are better than not at all but the fact you are in that position is extremely unfair and unprofessional. You should be sacrificing everything you have (ie making the movie) to pay these people, not asking them to make compromises so you can have your cake and eat it too.

You say you want to be a film maker, so learn something from someone who worked in the industry. You will never get off the ground if you treat your cast and crew like shit - and this IS treating them badly. Your reputation as unprofessional will proceed you and you will not get hired. Nor will people work for you. I have seen it with my own eyes many times. If you're too difficult to work with, nobody will touch you. I used to be in the same agency as a guy who was phenomenally talented. Like, Heath Ledger talented. He was good looking and a naturally gifted actor. He could have been an oscar winner one day. But he dicked around on set and pissed off directors and it got to the point that nobody would hire him because he was considered unprofessional. He dropped out of acting.

Me and Voiceguy haven't done a contract together yet at all. I was planning to for a long time but never got around to it. But thanks for bringing it up again as it seems important. I want to be able to pay him in the right way for him. I haven't had the chance to discuss these matters with him yet. But I would prefer he tell me what he wants to agree on and not have you actually decide for him. Its disrespectful to both me and him. I admit two things that will make all the difference for me is if I can be able to move to another apartment that has less rent in the spring and have a successful indiegogo campaign next year in the spring also. I can only do my best with all these things.

I'll be upfront with you, Cynthia. I sent a PM to voiceguy telling him you were planning on paying him in installments and not increasing his rate and I advised him to get a contract drawn up ASAP to protect himself. I am giving him this advice as a fellow actor, not because I'm trying to spite you. I am not trying to dictate the terms of the contract (and you're an idiot for thinking I would try to do so, frankly), I'm just telling him he should have one to protect himself because that is standard in the industry. If he had an agent or was a member of a guild you would not be allowed to hire him without a contract. The terms are between you and him, although I think you should both get legal advice to make sure the contract is fair since it seems like neither of you are versed in entertainment contracts.

You should be the first one pushing for it because you say you want to be a film maker and obviously you'd only want to do things above board, right?

Sorry if I'm being too harsh for you, you sound pretty defensive so I guess I am being rough on you but I am out of patience after this thing with voiceguy. I really don't give a shit if you think I'm overstepping my bounds by advising him to get a contract with you, but that is literally all I advised and it benefits both of you (although admittedly my concern is protecting him moreso than you because he's the one in the vulnerable position). I know the industry and what you're doing is not okay so I'm advocating for him. I'm glad you understand the importance of contracts now and I know you don't want to screw him over so please do the right thing and make it a priority immediately.

 

[ActualKiwi]

After all this anti-Oz-fandom sperging, I'm actually half tempted (if she ever actually brings it out) to toss a copy of the film to the oz fandom boards and watch the drama. Who knows, some of them may actually like it in their weird little isolationist-fandom way..

 

[For The Internet]

I think the only people under 5 who will unironically like the movie will be Oz fans, tbh. If she won't do it, you'd be tossing her a bone by doing so. She'd undoubtedly make a couple of sales.

 

[WogglebugLover]

Please do. Wogglebug is higher quality than Cool Cat but that doesn't mean much in the scheme of people discovering your work without exposure. He had a much higher budget than you and did a ton of advertising and still couldn't make meaningful sales until an audience of people who enjoyed the film ironically became aware of it through a comedic critique video.



That's fine, but the second it's up it will be pirated. Probably out of spite rather than interest to be honest. Forcing people to leave a 5 star Amazon review to get your DVD is incredibly arrogant. Only a troll would have that dedication. Your target audience (parents of children) will not have the time, patience or inclination to jump through hoops for a DVD. It will ensure only the purest trolls will get their hands on your DVDs, not the purest fans. You can't just assume you're going to get that awesome, dedicated fanbase of people as devoted to the character as you are. You're putting the cart before the horse.

I'm not forcing anyone to leave a 5 star review. I actually encourage honest reviews. Especially because I can spot dishonest ones. And I suppose I'll just have to plan ahead and get DMCA takedown claim forms ready ahead of time. What else are they for anyway?

What was I saying about carts and horses?

I didn't mean to start on the fourth movie first. It just ironically turned out this way. It's really only just that I had to change the script from stating the Wogglebug is from Oz to that he is from Genoma now. Because I am not going to change the original plan of him being in this non-Oz environment exactly like he was never in Oz to begin with under any circumstances, and the fourth movie was the best I could fit it into the timeline of my series. Besides I feel releasing the movie about his and Sylvie's adventure rescuing the Enchanted Forest would be better at conveying my visions of him, as well as the two movies that come afterwards, to gain success they way I want it. You would likely agree with me also if you knew all the details and because of you all, as well as my misdealing with the Oz community, I will simply have to release the movies with his life in Genoma first and his New York Adventure fourth with adjustments to the script.

No. Just, no. People here have jobs. People here have degrees that they're working on. We are not doing your work for you. If you're having so much trouble finding forums, go on facebook, pinterest, vine, twitter... any social media platform you can to find. I know you have a facebook. Join any groups dedicated to parents (it doesn't matter if you're not a parent, plenty of groups are public), children's films, film making, anything related to your work and post. Advertise, offer free e-samples, link to trailers/teasers on youtube and vine and take any feedback they give you graciously. If you come back and tell me that you can't find groups like those on facebook et al my suspicions will be confirmed that you have no intention of ever putting in the work you need to make your dreams come true and will never listen to anything we have to say unless we wrap it in the softest of kid gloves.

All right. I've started looking on Facebook again and have found a dozen potential pages and groups to post in so far.

Has it ever occurred to you that the majority of Oz fans don't have a stupid death match grudge against your fandom? The majority of Oz fans don't even KNOW about your fandom. There are probably some loons who are passionate about sticking to 'canon' regarding Oz characters and not taking them out of Oz, but every fandom has spergs like that and to preclude them all because of some of them being idiots is possibly the worst move you could make. These are the only people who will see your work, know who the Wogglebug is and be interested because he is the Wogglebug and he is a character from a fandom they like who somebody is doing something new with. Excluding them will pretty much ensure you don't find success.

Put it this way: do you think that all Harry Potter fans who prefer the canon works are at war against the Harry Potter fanfic writers and fans of HP must choose sides? There's a similar character division in this group: book readers who are only interested in canon usually find Draco Malfoy to be disgusting, complex and cowardly because that is how he is written by JKR. There are a large portion of fanfic writers, however, who see him as deeply misunderstood and ultimately a funny, charming and brave person. Those two interpretations are at odds. Canon book fans (ie the Oz fans) see Draco (ie the Wogglebug) in a mostly negative light and fanfic writers (ie you) see him in a positive light and create new media to reflect this.

Guess what? There are a few spergs who attack each other over this because they're spergs, but the vast majority of the fandom doesn't give a shit about that fanfic even if they don't agree with the character interpretations. In fact, a lot of people who prefer the canon books read fanfic and enjoy it. There is no war, it's completely something in your head. People do not have to pick sides. Fanfic proves that you can passionately love your canon series but also love alternative interpretations made by people other than the author. You should be reaching out to these people to show them how great the Wogglebug can be and I guarantee you you'd pic up fans because so many people love fanfic/alternate character interpretations. And no, I am not calling your work fanfic.

If you really think those things about the Oz fans you just don't know hardly anything about how my past misdealings with them went. And I really just cannot hand out my franchise to them. I'm doing my best now to get it out to them that I am not what they had thought I was when I had my misdealings with them. What you explained is in a way a point I want to make also. Basically anyone can just do an alternate universe of Oz with the Wogglebug in a for the better or worse way. But no one but me could have the insight and foresight to put him in a non-Oz environment exactly as if he was never in Oz to begin with and make it clear this is how it should be and should have been all along for him. If ever I am listed in any way whatsoever in their Baum Bugle again I want to be as the Founder of WogglebugLove Productions which is completely separate from the Oz fandom because I am not an Oz fan but just a Wogglebug fan, and that what I do is not a reimagining of his character as much as just an imagining of him in a different and better place from when he was in his inception so that he could have a more positive starting out and a greater journey towards his evolving toward his ambitions that would always be a good one.

And, ActualKiWi, if you do ever get a chance to do what you suggested, I suspect the admins and mods of the boards won't let it be shown because of my past misdealings with them. I could be wrong though, and if I am then I really do want to have the movie I'm currently working on be the first one shown to them and not the other one I was working on all the more.

Basically if I was to go into any online Oz fan forum or community to reach out to them with my franchise my most honest opening statement would be like this:
"Hello Oz fans. I want you to know I think your fandom sucks and that is why it has sucked the lovability out of the Wogglebug's character for over a century and more. But I have to thank you all very much for being the most asinine, narrow-minded, and unrepentedly nasty idiots towards him for me to come to love him so much and start my own fandom that is completely separated from yours and always will be. For starters you can look into my Oz-related novels about him that make a mockery of your favorite fantasy series based on the truth as I see it and slanders the good names of all of your favorite characters for a change. Happy reading!"

You see what I mean?

Okay, now is where I get harsh because you can screw yourself over till the cows come home, but you can't screw over people who have loyally worked for you for years, above and beyond the call.
If you do not have the money to pay him on time, you should NOT be continuing work on the Wogglebug franchise until you are in a position to pay off anything owing to voiceguy and your animator and then only resume when you can pay them in full each time. Yes, installments are better than not at all but the fact you are in that position is extremely unfair and unprofessional. You should be sacrificing everything you have (ie making the movie) to pay these people, not asking them to make compromises so you can have your cake and eat it too.

You say you want to be a film maker, so learn something from someone who worked in the industry. You will never get off the ground if you treat your cast and crew like shit - and this IS treating them badly. Your reputation as unprofessional will proceed you and you will not get hired. Nor will people work for you. I have seen it with my own eyes many times. If you're too difficult to work with, nobody will touch you. I used to be in the same agency as a guy who was phenomenally talented. Like, Heath Ledger talented. He was good looking and a naturally gifted actor. He could have been an oscar winner one day. But he dicked around on set and pissed off directors and it got to the point that nobody would hire him because he was considered unprofessional. He dropped out of acting.



I'll be upfront with you, Cynthia. I sent a PM to voiceguy telling him you were planning on paying him in installments and not increasing his rate and I advised him to get a contract drawn up ASAP to protect himself. I am giving him this advice as a fellow actor, not because I'm trying to spite you. I am not trying to dictate the terms of the contract (and you're an idiot for thinking I would try to do so, frankly), I'm just telling him he should have one to protect himself because that is standard in the industry. If he had an agent or was a member of a guild you would not be allowed to hire him without a contract. The terms are between you and him, although I think you should both get legal advice to make sure the contract is fair since it seems like neither of you are versed in entertainment contracts.

You should be the first one pushing for it because you say you want to be a film maker and obviously you'd only want to do things above board, right?

Sorry if I'm being too harsh for you, you sound pretty defensive so I guess I am being rough on you but I am out of patience after this thing with voiceguy. I really don't give a shit if you think I'm overstepping my bounds by advising him to get a contract with you, but that is literally all I advised and it benefits both of you (although admittedly my concern is protecting him moreso than you because he's the one in the vulnerable position). I know the industry and what you're doing is not okay so I'm advocating for him. I'm glad you understand the importance of contracts now and I know you don't want to screw him over so please do the right thing and make it a priority immediately.

I don't mind you sent a PM to VoiceGuy to draw up the contract with me ASAP. I realize it is important. I would have done it sooner but he just kept getting busy with family matters, or ill with a lot things, and he did take a long hiatus after his wife's death also and I just felt it wasn't appropriate to bring it up during those times. I ended up almost forgetting about it over such a long time. But thanks for reminding me about it. I promise I will discuss it with him thoroughly and we will both be able to come to terms we can both agree on, one way or another. At the moment, if memory serves me well, I think he is on his Christmas vacation with his family in Texas and we may end up getting around to it on his return.

I was never actually saying I was intending to pay him in installments though. I was just suggesting it out of worry because of the things I mentioned before. I admit having a very successful Indiegogo campaign is what would make a world of difference for me and everyone. I wish I'd had one before now. But it looks like I'll have to wait until late February before I launch again with a greater chance of success. Because according to research I did lately the best chances of having a successful campaign anywhere are often about the timing they take place in and it is after most people receive their tax refunds that guarantees the best success.

 

[CatFace]

I didn't mean to start on the fourth movie first.

This is NOT what putting the cart before the horse means. You need the money BEFORE the movie. ANY of the movies. You shouldn't be working on any movie at all until you have the money to pay the people you employ.

What job do you currently hold, other than wogglebug?

 

[WogglebugLover]

This is NOT what putting the cart before the horse means. You need the money BEFORE the movie. ANY of the movies. You shouldn't be working on any movie at all until you have the money to pay the people you employ.

What job do you currently hold, other than wogglebug?

If you must know. I don't have one.

 

[CatFace]

Aaaaaand there we go. Thanks for finally answering.

 

[ActualKiwi]

I'm not forcing anyone to leave a 5 star review. I actually encourage honest reviews. Especially because I can spot dishonest ones. And I suppose I'll just have to plan ahead and get DMCA takedown claim forms ready ahead of time. What else are they for anyway?

". Which is that they first must be verified as having watched the movie on Amazon Instant Video by having submitted a no less than 5 star review on its Amazon page ". Taken directly from your PM earlier in the thread. Don't assume we're stupid, we remember these things. And DMCA takedown won't catch everything that gets put up- the internet is a rat maze.

I didn't mean to start on the fourth movie first. It just ironically turned out this way. It's really only just that I had to change the script from stating the Wogglebug is from Oz to that he is from Genoma now. Because I am not going to change the original plan of him being in this non-Oz environment exactly like he was never in Oz to begin with under any circumstances, and the fourth movie was the best I could fit it into the timeline of my series. Besides I feel releasing the movie about his and Sylvie's adventure rescuing the Enchanted Forest would be better at conveying my visions of him, as well as the two movies that come afterwards, to gain success they way I want it. You would likely agree with me also if you knew all the details and because of you all, as well as my misdealing with the Oz community, I will simply have to release the movies with his life in Genoma first and his New York Adventure fourth with adjustments to the script.

The more you change, the more money you have to spend dealing with these changes, and the more time you have to spend dealing with the changes. Not making changes will save you both time and money and may save your entire project. Oh and don't blame us or the Oz community for your release schedule- that's entirely up to you, we have zero influence on what you decide to release first.

All right. I've started looking on Facebook again and have found a dozen potential pages and groups to post in so far.

Good. But have you actually posted in them? Or are you just going to scope them out and lurk endlessly?

If you really think those things about the Oz fans you just don't know hardly anything about how my past misdealings with them went. And I really just cannot hand out my franchise to them. I'm doing my best now to get it out to them that I am not what they had thought I was when I had my misdealings with them. What you explained is in a way a point I want to make also. Basically anyone can just do an alternate universe of Oz with the Wogglebug in a for the better or worse way. But no one but me could have the insight and foresight to put him in a non-Oz environment exactly as if he was never in Oz to begin with and make it clear this is how it should be and should have been all along for him. If ever I am listed in any way whatsoever in their Baum Bugle again I want to be as the Founder of WogglebugLove Productions which is completely separate from the Oz fandom because I am not an Oz fan but just a Wogglebug fan, and that what I do is not a reimagining of his character as much as just an imagining of him in a different and better place from when he was in his inception so that he could have a more positive starting out and a greater journey towards his evolving toward his ambitions that would always be a good one.

Your argument continues to be circular and childish- Wogglebug is from the Oz universe, no matter what you want to believe or change. There will always be ties to the Oz universe in the minds of anyone who sees your movies or reads your books if they know anything about Oz or do the most minimal research. Your attempts to avoid this and alienate a huge part of the fandom is not doing you any favours.

And, ActualKiWi, if you do ever get a chance to do what you suggested, I suspect the admins and mods of the boards won't let it be shown because of my past misdealings with them. I could be wrong though, and if I am then I really do want to have the movie I'm currently working on be the first one shown to them and not the other one I was working on all the more.

Oh I plan to. And I also plan to tell them to be free with their critique of it and re-distribute where possible.

Basically if I was to go into any online Oz fan forum or community to reach out to them with my franchise my most honest opening statement would be like this:
"Hello Oz fans. I want you to know I think your fandom sucks and that is why it has sucked the lovability out of the Wogglebug's character for over a century and more. But I have to thank you all very much for being the most asinine, narrow-minded, and unrepentedly nasty idiots towards him for me to come to love him so much and start my own fandom that is completely separated from yours and always will be. For starters you can look into my Oz-related novels about him that make a mockery of your favorite fantasy series based on the truth as I see it and slanders the good names of all of your favorite characters for a change. Happy reading!"

You see what I mean?

...Once again, you're letting hatred blind you. If you just said "Hey, guys, I made this movie about a character i believe was neglected in the original oz canon, what do you think?" that might win you some fans. What you just said is going to even further alienate not just the Oz-fans but anyone they know or talk to, and anyone that reads that comment anywhere (since it will likely get reposted on twitters, etc).

I don't mind you sent a PM to VoiceGuy to draw up the contract with me ASAP. I realize it is important. I would have done it sooner but he just kept getting busy with family matters, or ill with a lot things, and he did take a long hiatus after his wife's death also and I just felt it wasn't appropriate to bring it up during those times. I ended up almost forgetting about it over such a long time. But thanks for reminding me about it. I promise I will discuss it with him thoroughly and we will both be able to come to terms we can both agree on, one way or another. At the moment, if memory serves me well, I think he is on his Christmas vacation with his family in Texas and we may end up getting around to it on his return.

He always seems to be conveniently away when we point out you needing to communicate with him. Make very sure you do set up a contract. Do NOT forget this, it's the basics of film-making, or even any standard trade of skills/work or hiring talent.

I was never actually saying I was intending to pay him in installments though. I was just suggesting it out of worry because of the things I mentioned before. I admit having a very successful Indiegogo campaign is what would make a world of difference for me and everyone. I wish I'd had one before now. But it looks like I'll have to wait until late February before I launch again with a greater chance of success. Because according to research I did lately the best chances of having a successful campaign anywhere are often about the timing they take place in and it is after most people receive their tax refunds that guarantees the best success.

Backtracking again, when we have clear quotes of you doing so? Welcome to the internet, there are no "takebacks".

WogglebugLover said: ↑
As for how I will continue to pay my voice over for the Wogglebug, I am sure he will never charge me the same amount again if he understands I'm in a completely different living situation now than I was three years ago when I first paid him. I plan to discuss these things with him as soon as I can. If I still need to pay him at all it will likley be in installments and less than I'm paying my illustrators now.

EDIT: Really? You have NO job to support your production? Where are you getting all this money to pay for the movie/book costs? Or the merch? Or even your living costs? According to amazon you're not particularly selling enough books to even cover low-cost rent, let alone the rest.
I asked before, but exactly how much have you made from your entire franchise so far? Even just a ballpark figure would do..
I think @voiceguy is going to regret being associated with you by the end of this, as are your illustrators and anyone else involved..

 

[CatFace]

It's honestly extremely concerning to me that you thought "cart before the horse" was talking about starting from the last movie rather than realizing it was talking about the resources needed to produce a movie.

Can you see why that is not really a normal line of thought? Do you understand why hearing that from you makes me worried for your state of mind? I am not being mean. Can you identify the issue here? Why did you make a jump in logic like that?

 

[HickoryDickory]

She's been doing the same schtick for years. Here's her in 2013 at OhGodWhy. She's Avenging Atheist.

Also:

Found here: http://www.whygodwhy.org/t1640p150-horrific-profiles

 

[voiceguy]

He always seems to be conveniently away when we point out you needing to communicate with him.

There was nothing "convenient" about it. I always take a hiatus from voice work in December, and this pat year has been rife with illness, family problems (including the death of my mother)(I wonder if Brad Watson_Miami wants to take the credit for that too?), and RL issues that have prevented me from doing much in the way of work. Cynthia has shown a great deal of patience and given me a lot of latitude (not attitude) about my lack of desire to work given all that has been going on in my life in 2015. I appreciate the fact that she is being incredibly generous to me in terms of time since all of the other actors have completed their lines for the first movie and I haven't even started. I know how anxious she is to get things rolling which is why I will be giving this project my full attention after the first of the year.

Although we have not discussed contract issues, they will be ironed out -- have no fear on that point. Cynthia considers me vital to the franchise and we are not out to "cheat" each other, but to work together amicably. And for the record, I voluntarily offered (given her finances) to lower my rate for her -- she did not in any way manipulate me into it. I enjoy doing the role and will continue to do so once we have straightened how I will be paid. Everything has been on the up and up between us for three years now, and I don't think either one of us wants that to change.

 

[ActualKiwi]

There was nothing "convenient" about it. I always take a hiatus from voice work in December, and this pat year has been rife with illness, family problems (including the death of my mother)(I wonder if Brad Watson_Miami wants to take the credit for that too?), and RL issues that have prevented me from doing much in the way of work. Cynthia has shown a great deal of patience and given me a lot of latitude (not attitude) about my lack of desire to work given all that has been going on in my life in 2015. I appreciate the fact that she is being incredibly generous to me in terms of time since all of the other actors have completed their lines for the first movie and I haven't even started. I know how anxious she is to get things rolling which is why I will be giving this project my full attention after the first of the year.

Although we have not discussed contract issues, they will be ironed out -- have no fear on that point. Cynthia considers me vital to the franchise and we are not out to "cheat" each other, but to work together amicably. And for the record, I voluntarily offered (given her finances) to lower my rate for her -- she did not in any way manipulate me into it. I enjoy doing the role and will continue to do so once we have straightened how I will be paid. Everything has been on the up and up between us for three years now, and I don't think either one of us wants that to change.

Either way, I might recommend advising her to not be so hostile towards a massive chunk of potential fanbase, as it seems she somewhat listens to you. Or get her into being more professional at least- her actions are not doing her well here.

 

[CatFace]

@voiceguy you are really nice but I honestly think continuing to work on this project in the state it's in only serves to feed the delusions of a mentally ill unemployed woman....

 

[Golly]

Basically if I was to go into any online Oz fan forum or community to reach out to them with my franchise my most honest opening statement would be like this:
"Hello Oz fans. I want you to know I think your fandom sucks and that is why it has sucked the lovability out of the Wogglebug's character for over a century and more. But I have to thank you all very much for being the most asinine, narrow-minded, and unrepentedly nasty idiots towards him for me to come to love him so much and start my own fandom that is completely separated from yours and always will be. For starters you can look into my Oz-related novels about him that make a mockery of your favorite fantasy series based on the truth as I see it and slanders the good names of all of your favorite characters for a change. Happy reading!"

Doesn't excessive fandom loyalty tend to mellow as fans age?

Spoiler: Source: Minor Powerlevel

Have been a rabid teenage fangirl in a pretty dorky fandom.

I bet the Oz fandom is sufficiently quirky and possessive, but as one of the oldest fan communities I can think of, there must be some wizened veterans who are open to alternate interpretations. Wicked already did what you're doing with the Wogglebug on a much grander level, and it was a roaring success. Maguire, from what I can tell, held no animosity toward the fandom. Instead, he just wanted to explore the nature of evil and lend another perspective to the character of The Wicked Witch of the West. It may have been controversial in the Oz community, but ideally, fan debates come down to personal taste and playful discussion. At least one self-proclaimed Oz fan openly liked it. If members of the Oz fandom are capable of enjoying a polar switch on one of their biggest villains, then some would certainly be potential candidates for enjoying your take on the Wogglebug.

I'd wager a guess that whatever you've presented the Oz community with in the past was unfinished (compared to your current standards) and/or delivered in a not very enticing way. It may be wise to keep away from the community while you're honing your product, but when you feel like you've reached a point where you're confident with the Woggleverse, you should graciously, kindly, invite the Oz fans to see what you've been cooking.

 

[CatFace]

I'd wager a guess that whatever you've presented the Oz community with in the past was unfinished (compared to your current standards) and/or delivered in a not very enticing way.

Basically if I was to go into any online Oz fan forum or community to reach out to them with my franchise my most honest opening statement would be like this:
"Hello Oz fans. I want you to know I think your fandom sucks and that is why it has sucked the lovability out of the Wogglebug's character for over a century and more. But I have to thank you all very much for being the most asinine, narrow-minded, and unrepentedly nasty idiots towards him for me to come to love him so much and start my own fandom that is completely separated from yours and always will be. For starters you can look into my Oz-related novels about him that make a mockery of your favorite fantasy series based on the truth as I see it and slanders the good names of all of your favorite characters for a change. Happy reading!"

Enticing.

 

[Sanae Kochiya]

I forget if this was shared. Might be old news given how she already announced this in the topic itself but I felt like sharing.

Spoiler: Long screenshot.

 

[WogglebugLover]

@For The Internet and everyone else, I want you to be assured that Voiceguy contacted me right after his latest post here and me and him had only a little discussion about how I will pay him in the future for the recordings of Woggie's dialogue in my movies and we easily came to an agreement on everything. All is well and good between us still. It always was. It turned out he always agreed to me paying him a reduced fee all along, and just like he said in his own post he made the offer and I just had to agree to it because of my current financial situations. He also agreed I can pay him in installments just like I do with my novels artist, as long as it is monthly which I can manage. And he also added he would just prefer to put off the next movie until his payment for the current one is completed. Which I of course understand and agree to.

@For The Internet you should be ashamed of yourself for jumping to conclusions and making me feel SO bad for a while when it was SO completely unnecessary. Like I said before, Voiceguy should be the one to tell me what he prefers and wants for the future of our working together, and not you acting like you want to decide it for him. I expect an apology to both Voiceguy and me.

 

[ActualKiwi]

I forget if this was shared. Might be old news given how she already announced this in the topic itself but I felt like sharing.

Spoiler: Long screenshot.

View attachment 63618

Yeah, the entirety of that PMversation you had with her hadn't been shared, but it just reinforces what was said here in the main thread. Including the fact she likes to backtrack about things she's quite clearly stated a few pages back (such as the 5-star thing, the installment plans, etc)

EDIT: @WogglebugLover you're in no state to demand apologies from anyone here, given your pretty much constant antagonism even when people are trying to offer helpful suggestions and advice, often from a viewpoint of people who have experience in these matters.

 

[WogglebugLover]

I bet the Oz fandom is sufficiently quirky and possessive, but as one of the oldest fan communities I can think of, there must be some wizened veterans who are open to alternate interpretations. Wicked already did what you're doing with the Wogglebug on a much grander level, and it was a roaring success. Maguire, from what I can tell, held no animosity toward the fandom. Instead, he just wanted to explore the nature of evil and lend another perspective to the character of The Wicked Witch of the West. It may have been controversial in the Oz community, but ideally, fan debates come down to personal taste and playful discussion. At least one self-proclaimed Oz fan openly liked it. If members of the Oz fandom are capable of enjoying a polar switch on one of their biggest villains, then some would certainly be potential candidates for enjoying your take on the Wogglebug.

I'd wager a guess that whatever you've presented the Oz community with in the past was unfinished (compared to your current standards) and/or delivered in a not very enticing way. It may be wise to keep away from the community while you're honing your product, but when you feel like you've reached a point where you're confident with the Woggleverse, you should graciously, kindly, invite the Oz fans to see what you've been cooking.

I've heard of Gregory Maguire's work and its popularity and while you make a good point about it and how it somewhat relates with what I'm doing in my Wogglebug franchise, it's still vastly different from it. For one thing Wicked is geared only towards adults and my franchise is geared toward General Audiences as much as possible.

And I think I need to remind you I'd said before, anyone could do an alternate universe of Oz with the Wogglebug being for either the better or worse. But no one but me can do what I really want to do and that is to put him in a non-Oz environment like he was never in Oz at all. And by such I mean giving him a new life in a new place that is better for him and more tailored to enable him to succeed in life in all the ways he ever failed in Oz just because something or someone got in the way.

And more importantly, you need to know I was NEVER intentionally exposing myself to the Oz community. It was an accident, and all because of a stupid mistake I made of publishing through an Oz books publisher and not just doing my own publishing from the start. And while you are partially right about what they were exposed to that I wrote no being completed yet. I didn't know it at the time though. I was very upset when a lot of the people on those boards mistook my book for something that was actually trying to contribute to the Oz series that they consider canon. It never was and that was why publishing the way I did at first was a mistake at all. For instance the original text, as it is now and must stay as, always referred to the Wogglebug as Mr. Wogglebug and not as Professor Wogglebug. That was because the whole time I was writing it I felt I was strictly not portraying Professor Wogglebug as they all thought of, but I was strictly portraying Mr. Wogglebug who I perceive from the Marvelous Land of Oz and the Visitors From Oz stories afterwards and within a vision of him I intended to put in my non-Oz related movies starring him. It was in fact only by holding this vision of him purely that I could do the sort of story I did at all and make him friends with the Frogman, and also Terry, at all.

I rewrote the first two chapters of the first book I published, "Mr. Wogglebug, the Frogman, and Terry, this year, along with a few elements in the middle and end redone. In addition I wrote a third book called "Mr. Wogglebug's second time Around" that clarifies that it comes just before the other book and that the trilogy of Mr. Wogglebug, the Frogman, and Terry takes place in an alternate timeline in Oz history that was changed from the original by only one thing being changed first. Which is that the Wogglebug found out why the group he joined was on their way to the Emerald City in the first place and he thus felt automatically compelled to become their leader. And while he may not have been the perfect leader he was still a great one.

I would prefer to not ever openly invite the Oz fans to see what I do even after its all done. At least not without making a statement along the lines of what I already explained and @CatFace reminded you of.

 

[HickoryDickory]

I've heard of Gregory Maguire's work and its popularity and while you make a good point about it and how it somewhat relates with what I'm doing in my Wogglebug franchise, it's still vastly different from it. For one thing Wicked is geared only towards adults and my franchise is geared toward General Audiences as much as possible.

And I think I need to remind you I'd said before, anyone could do an alternate universe of Oz with the Wogglebug being for either the better or worse. But no one but me can do what I really want to do and that is to put him in a non-Oz environment like he was never in Oz at all. And by such I mean giving him a new life in a new place that is better for him and more tailored to enable him to succeed in life in all the ways he ever failed in Oz just because something or someone got in the way.

And more importantly, you need to know I was NEVER intentionally exposing myself to the Oz community. It was an accident, and all because of a stupid mistake I made of publishing through an Oz books publisher and not just doing my own publishing from the start. And while you are partially right about what they were exposed to that I wrote no being completed yet. I didn't know it at the time though. I was very upset when a lot of the people on those boards mistook my book for something that was actually trying to contribute to the Oz series that they consider canon. It never was and that was why publishing the way I did at first was a mistake at all. For instance the original text, as it is now and must stay as, always referred to the Wogglebug as Mr. Wogglebug and not as Professor Wogglebug. That was because the whole time I was writing it I felt I was strictly not portraying Professor Wogglebug as they all thought of, but I was strictly portraying Mr. Wogglebug who I perceive from the Marvelous Land of Oz and the Visitors From Oz stories afterwards and within a vision of him I intended to put in my non-Oz related movies starring him. It was in fact only by holding this vision of him purely that I could do the sort of story I did at all and make him friends with the Frogman, and also Terry, at all.

I rewrote the first two chapters of the first book I published, "Mr. Wogglebug, the Frogman, and Terry, this year, along with a few elements in the middle and end redone. In addition I wrote a third book called "Mr. Wogglebug's second time Around" that clarifies that it comes just before the other book and that the trilogy of Mr. Wogglebug, the Frogman, and Terry takes place in an alternate timeline in Oz history that was changed from the original by only one thing being changed first. Which is that the Wogglebug found out why the group he joined was on their way to the Emerald City in the first place and he thus felt automatically compelled to become their leader. And while he may not have been the perfect leader he was still a great one.

I would prefer to not ever openly invite the Oz fans to see what I do even after its all done. At least not without making a statement along the lines of what I already explained and @CatFace reminded you of.

The Wogglebug isn't real, Cynthia. He has no being other than what you come up with in your own head. He's interchangeable with any other official characters or OCs.