FAQ - updated February 6th 2020, Mr Biffo
WHAT IS DIGITISER?
Starting in 1993, it used to be a Teletext video games magazine created by Paul "Mr Biffo" Rose and Tim "Mr Hairs" Moore. When Tim left after three and a half years, I continued as more or less the sole writer, barring some help from Misters Cheese, Udders and Toast.
Digitiser ended in 2003. This site was born towards the end of 2014 after I missed writing, and wanted somewhere to talk about video games again. I felt safer doing it from behind the Digi brand.
Since then, this site, and Digi's audience, has become a launchpad for successful YouTube projects such as Mr Biffo's Found Footage and Digitiser The Show. More recently, the Digitiser2000 YT channel has featured weekly videos hosted by myself and Paul Gannon (along with special guests), and produced by my wife, Sanja. These episodes are generally known as Digi Minis.
Going forwards, Digitiser2000.com will be a hub for all things I do under the name Mr Biffo. There'll still be articles on here, an average of one or two a week, plus the letters page, I'd guesstimate, so less frequently than before. And I might share some of the more visual posts on Twitter and our Facebook post first, as they seem to have a bigger reach on there.
WHY THE CHANGE?
I'm not stopping writing stuff altogether, but I've sunk a ton of time, money and energy into this site over the past five years, and - truthfully - it gets less views than it ever has. That's a bit demoralising (but only a bit; it's mainly my fault, see below), and I don't see the sense in focusing so much energy on something that is no longer growing when I'm doing other stuff that is (ie; the YouTube channel), and which I'm enjoying more.
Why the views have dropped off a cliff is a bit chicken-and-egg... I've been slowing down on here for a while anyway, which has an impact on views, but also... I started doing less because views had stagnated.
Plus, I get that people might not even know what this site is for; it's kind of an unfocused blog, because sometimes there'll be silly stuff, sometimes serious stuff, sometimes game reviews, sometimes things on topics that aren't about gaming at all. And sometimes stuff about Teletext-era Digi. But mostly not. It isn't one thing or another, but I've no longer any interest in focusing it on just one subject, written in just one style. This isn't my job, and besides... there's a ton of competition out there in terms of gaming content - which a one-man operation, who spent 7 years in the gaming wilderness, has no hope of competing with.
So, after a tough 2019, and a lot of soul-searching, it's important to me that I write when I feel the urge to write, conserve energy for the right projects, and not over-reach.
WHY DON'T YOU DO AS MUCH STUFF ABOUT VIDEO GAMES AS YOU USED TO?
Because video games aren't the be-all and end-all of what interests me, and I no longer have a job where I'm required to write about video games. Let's face it, even when Digitiser was on Teletext you could see that we were always straining at the leash to write about anything but video games.
I love games, I still play them, but so much of the discourse around them is so intense and serious. I don't relate to that, plus I no longer feel I have the depth of knowledge about them that I once did. And certainly not the all-consuming passion. I do feel a bit out of my depth in that world, and very much on the fringes of the retro gaming community, but mostly I just don't have the enthusiasm to write about them exclusively.
I think it's important to stay true and be honest in what I'm making, and if I were to write more about games, or make more videos about games, than I currently do, I'd be faking it.
I'VE GOT AN IDEA FOR...
Let me stop you there. In the early days, this site sometimes featured articles from other writers, but - no offence to them - they often needed so much rewriting that it wasn't worth my time to feature their work. Also, Digi is my thing, and I think people come to this site expecting Mr Biffo. The only people who get to write on here other than me are those who I trust to fit organically into the 'house style' (ie; Super Bad Advice).
Also, no you can't be a guest on the YouTube show. Sorry. It's filmed at my house, and I only really want to invite people in who I know well. If we want you, we'll ask you. Unless you're a massive celebrity or YouTuber who'd like to appear. In which case - get in touch! We'd like to steal your audience.
We will continue to plug smaller channels - we featured a bunch of our favourites in our Christmas special - as and when it feels appropriate.
SO WHY CALL EVERYTHING 'DIGITISER' IF IT'S NOT ABOUT GAMES?
For me, Digi became a style of presenting content about games, rather than something that needed to always be about games. Many times we begged our bosses to let us write about other geeky stuff. For me, whatever I do will always be consistently 'Digi-like' in its style and humour, regardless of what it's about. We're geeks and we'll always gravitate to geeky topics, so it's just a case of applying that to other subjects or mediums (such as YouTube).
I think we'll always default back towards gaming eventually - especially given Digi's origins - but it's an umbrella name for a whole variety of content.
AREN'T YOU PISSING OFF YOUR OLD AUDIENCE?
I don't intend to - it's no slight against anyone - but I'm resigned that we will, and already have, lost some people along the way. Some only want content about video games, and presumably must've just tolerated all the sillier and more puerile stuff that came with Digi. It's something I accept as the price for staying true to my muse!
I only want people watching or reading who'll enjoy what I'm making without having to compromise it. I'd rather have a smaller, deeply passionate and engaged audience that's on board with whatever I want to do, than a big, take-it-or-leave-it, one.
For me, as said, I never saw Digi - ever - as a gaming brand exclusively. That's what it was on Teletext, because that's what they wanted, but if we'd had our way we would've branched out decades ago! Digi is a spirit, a sense of humour, a style. And, at the risk of sounding like a complete megalomaniac, if I'm involved then it's inevitably going to be Digitiser-esque, because Digi is whatever I say it is!
WHY ISN'T THERE MORE LARRY, GAMEPLAY JENNY AND OCTAV1US ON THE DIGI CHANNEL?
It's partly down to their association with gaming, and my desire to step away from the gaming stuff, but also... they've got their own stuff going on.
More significantly, it's really important to me to separate the Digi Channel from being all about Digitiser The Show - let's face it, Digitiser existed long before YouTube, and we even had Found Footage on the channel before Digitiser The Show came along. I needed to reclaim my ownership of Digi, which Digitiser The Show somehow diluted, perhaps because there were so many big characters involved.
Despite only being six episodes, there seemed to be some confusion that the channel was somehow exclusively The Digitiser The Show Channel, when I never saw it that way (see below for other reasons why I'm not keen to go there).
Also, it's about what's the easiest experience in terms of producing the thing. Fortunately, Gannon lives walking distance from my house, Sanja literally lives in my house - there's no need to arrange travel for either of them! If you've ever produced something, you'll know that the fewer personalities involved the less complicated a thing is to put together - and I want the channel to have a long life, and not get so pissed off by something or someone that I throw in the towel prematurely.
Plus, when making Digitiser The Show, I realised that Gannon and I have a unique chemistry together - something that cannot be manufactured - and I want to continue building on that without adding too many extra voices.
As with all things we do, if a decision is taken it's only ever taken for the right reasons.
That said, we've spoken to both Larry and Octav1us and they're keen to do occasional guest appearances. Stay tuned.
WHO OWNS THE DIGITISER BRAND?
I do! I tried twice to buy it from Teletext's owners, and never got a response. When I made moves to trademark the brand two years ago they didn't object. It's mine now. ALL MIIIIINE.
WILL THERE BE ANOTHER SERIES OF DIGITISER THE SHOW?
Maybe. Dunno. In all honesty, it was an incredibly stressful thing to put together, in a variety of unexpected ways. And it's still going on as I fulfil the backer rewards. Also, not everyone involved enjoyed the experience and wouldn't want to do it again anyway.
Given its ambitions, it was a huge machine to launch into action, with a lot of different personalities involved. I was fulfilling the role of producer, director, main host, prop master, and more... and that was a lot to take on. Too much. Every night after a full day of filming I'd be up until the early hours working on the schedule for the next day.
And after it was all shot, I was editing the entire thing single-handedly, for months (while simultaneously learning how to edit) - during which time I couldn't take on paid work.
Additionally, it cost a huge amount of money. We spent far more than we raised in order to achieve the sort of could-be-on-tv look I wanted, and that came out of my own pocket. I can't afford to do that too often.
I'm very proud of what we achieved given our limited resources, but there were many compromises along the way, and I maybe made the mistake of listening to a few too many outside opinions, rather than staying true to my own instincts. It's still turned out pretty great, but the end result - for a myriad of reasons - wasn't entirely what I wanted it to be, and the current Digi Minis are in my eyes closer to the ramshackle spirit of Digitiser.
WILL THERE BE ANOTHER SERIES OF MR BIFFO'S FOUND FOOTAGE?
Well, I loved every minute of making it, and I adore the end result (with a few caveats), so I'd very much like to do something in that sort of style - or a different style that's a similarly bonkers sketch show. The difficulty is, as with Digi the Show, I spent more than we raised. To do it justice I need to be sensible and make sure we have a proper budget.
Unfortunately, given how niche it is, I don't know if there's the appetite there for it. I appreciate that Found Footage had a lot of very passionate fans, but it's very much a cult audience. I'm not sure we'd even raise as much as we did the first time, given how my esoteric sensibilities drove away viewers over the course of the series!
To keep doing all these projects, and do them as well as I want, I need to find a way to fund them properly and not bankrupt myself!
That said, I'm hopeful there'll be something coming later this year that'll be tangentially-related to Found Footage, and the Minis continue to feature FF-y moments.
WHY DON'T YOU APPROACH TV CHANNELS?
Never say never, but I deal with TV channels and producers every day of my life, and the joy of my Mr Biffo/Digi work is that I don't have to. For better or worse, you're mostly getting an unfiltered version of me. Much as I feel lucky to have my day job, the second you involve production companies or broadcasters you're giving up creative control, and that's the main appeal of all this. If only there was some way to do it full time...!
WILL YOU DO ANOTHER KICKSTARTER FOR ANYTHING ELSE?
Maybe, but I don't yet know what for. I find crowdfunding is a blessing and a curse. On the one hand it facilitates projects that I otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to do. On the other there's a misconception with crowdfunding that what you're paying for isn't the project itself but the rewards. Ideally, they should be seen as an incentive, or bonus, not the end result. Especially not when the end result overdelivers, and you've given it your all, as I feel we did with both Digitiser The Show and Found Footage.
Furthermore, when these rewards are physical, they require taking money away from the main project to pay for them - literally thousands of pounds in the case of Digitiser The Show - and those have to be fulfilled... which sort of turns our little two-person operation into a full-fledged merchandise shop. It's not interesting to deal with, and my brain isn't well suited to it. All I want to do is create silly, fun, things.
Plus, in all honesty, there's a small percentage of people who back crowdfunding projects who don't understand the creative process.
Until you're making something you don't know what roadblocks you're going to face, what different paths it might take. It's never going to be exactly what you set out to make. Audience and creator need to surf the surprises - good and bad.
I understand it can be disappointing to support something which doesn't turn out exactly how you want, and everyone is entitled to like and dislike different things, but you're not entitled to be a dick when something isn't tailored exactly to your own specific tastes.
It's profoundly annoying when somebody thinks that, because they've supported a project, they have the right to tell a creator directly what they should or shouldn't be doing. It's incredibly rude, not remotely helpful, and says more about that person than the one they're targeting it at. You're meant to be facilitating a creator, not buying them.
Mercifully, all of my Patreon backers seem to get this. They're a wonderful bunch.
Lastly, much as I'd like to do something again on a big scale, I don't wish to split my focus from the Digi Minis for the time being. Most likely, this year we'll use our Patreon funds and income from live show sales to do a wider variety of content, location filming, and occasional bigger scale episodes.
WILL YOU EVER DO A DIGITISER PODCAST?
Perhaps. I've an idea for a podcast I'd like to do with Sanja, but it's very different to everything else I do - on a more serious subject - and probably won't be done as 'Mr Biffo'. That might happen this year, but it won't necessarily be aimed at my usual audience.
In the meantime, go and listen to Gannon's Cheapshow, on which I'm a semi-regular guest, and I consider to be part of the extended Digiverse!
WILL YOU APPEAR ON MY PODCAST/CHANNEL?
Again, perhaps. You can certainly ask, but I do get a lot of requests, and as a result of all I've got going on - including a demanding day job - I have a tendency to be shockingly flaky. Nothing is meant by it; my plate is just generally so overloaded that I get distracted and forgetful. Apologies in advance! But don't be afraid to ask; it's always flattering, and I'm quite nice, really.
WHY IS MR BIFFO'S WORK ONLY FUNNY WHEN IT'S IN WRITING?
I dunno. Maybe it's all in the eye of the beholder. What I will say is that it has taken me a long time to figure out how to make my writing style work in a completely different medium.
I'm very word-y when I write, but ultimately concluded that I had to stop trying to replicate that in stuff that's on video, because... it doesn't work. It just doesn't at all, for whatever reason.
So I no longer try. It's again more about trying to capture the anarchic, surreal, unexpected, spirit of Digitiser, rather than recreating it vertabim (turning "Moc-Moc-A-Moc" into a game show catchphrase, is one of the more overt examples).
What's more, I've only relatively recently started appearing on camera, and in a live setting - it took a long time to get over my resistance to that - and I feel I've only relatively recently discovered my voice as a performer. Until you've done it a while it's hard to know what that voice will be, because it takes trial and error. I'm doing all my working out in public.
What I do know are two things:
1) With 20-odd years experience of working in TV, I can step outside my own work, and chances are I already know if something isn't as good as it could be. I'll already be working to improve it. I don't want outside advice unless I invite it; I get enough notes in my day job.
2) It's a journey that I hope you'll join me on. I like doing new things that I've never done before, so they'll rarely be perfect, but hopefully they'll always be interesting. There will continue to be a lot of figuring out along the way, but the joy of it is in the discovery!
Either way, I know some people will always prefer my written stuff to my other stuff. And that's fine.
AREN'T YOU A BIT OLD TO BE DOING ALL THIS?
Nah. I mean, my kids are grown-up, I enjoy it. Why shouldn't I while I'm still having fun? Besides, immature middle-aged people who still laugh at toilet humour are painfully under-served on YouTube.
WILL THERE BE ANOTHER DIGITISER LIVE?
Yes! We're going to do one in the summer of 2020, and you can find out all about it (and buy tickets) right here.
CAN I HELP OUT AT THE LIVE SHOW?
Uh... it's too soon to say. We don't even know what the show is yet. If we need help we'll ask for it, but we have a team already who we've worked with extensively, and we'll be asking them first.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THIS YEAR?
Given how burnt out 2019 made me, I'm trying not to take on as much work. That means less paid day job work as well as Digitiser-related things. My primary focus, at least for the next six months, are building on the momentum of the Digitiser Minis on YouTube, and the next live show. I want both to become bigger and better than before. The Minis are a labour of love, I really enjoy working with Gannon, and I want them to continue to look more and more professional - even as the content becomes less professional!
Also, the live show was a great learning experience... yet it still went great. I want to see what we can do now we know what we're doing a little more.
After that... we'll see. I think before I consider anything else I need a solid foundation that'll potentially support another big crowdfunded project, be it a series, a book, or whatever. Building the YouTube channel is key to all of that.
So, it's taking a small, sensible, approach to moving forwards, and not stretch myself too thinly.
HOW CAN I SUPPORT YOU?
Keep watching the videos! Keep spreading the word and sharing and retweeting the videos. Buy tickets to the live show (once they're on sale)! Buy stuff from our merchandise store. All of that will help fund us. Telling us you love us goes a long way to encouraging us to continue. Best of all, support Digitiser on Patreon. It's easily the most direct way of doing all of the above.
Digitiser isn't just me; it's also my wife, Sanja, who deals with most of the emails and whatnot, sends out crowdfunding rewards, organises live events and filming. I'm also paying Gannon a small amount for his work on the Minis. Then there are the items we feature, the technical side of things, and my time editing and organising. None of it is free.
Patreon supporters get early access to videos and occasional personal blog posts. I'm also looking into the possibility other additional content for higher tiers, such as video diaries. Frankly, if we're to continue we need to find a way to make Digitiser financially viable - and currently all the money is ploughed back into it (I spent several hundred quid over the past couple of weeks on new lighting and stuff to look at in the episodes).
If you want to sponsor one of our videos, please get in touch.
ANYTHING ELSE?
The Digi community is lovely. Throw yourself into it. There are some right weirdos - we all are, in fact - but on the whole they're all very welcoming.
WHAT IS DIGITISER?
Starting in 1993, it used to be a Teletext video games magazine created by Paul "Mr Biffo" Rose and Tim "Mr Hairs" Moore. When Tim left after three and a half years, I continued as more or less the sole writer, barring some help from Misters Cheese, Udders and Toast.
Digitiser ended in 2003. This site was born towards the end of 2014 after I missed writing, and wanted somewhere to talk about video games again. I felt safer doing it from behind the Digi brand.
Since then, this site, and Digi's audience, has become a launchpad for successful YouTube projects such as Mr Biffo's Found Footage and Digitiser The Show. More recently, the Digitiser2000 YT channel has featured weekly videos hosted by myself and Paul Gannon (along with special guests), and produced by my wife, Sanja. These episodes are generally known as Digi Minis.
Going forwards, Digitiser2000.com will be a hub for all things I do under the name Mr Biffo. There'll still be articles on here, an average of one or two a week, plus the letters page, I'd guesstimate, so less frequently than before. And I might share some of the more visual posts on Twitter and our Facebook post first, as they seem to have a bigger reach on there.
WHY THE CHANGE?
I'm not stopping writing stuff altogether, but I've sunk a ton of time, money and energy into this site over the past five years, and - truthfully - it gets less views than it ever has. That's a bit demoralising (but only a bit; it's mainly my fault, see below), and I don't see the sense in focusing so much energy on something that is no longer growing when I'm doing other stuff that is (ie; the YouTube channel), and which I'm enjoying more.
Why the views have dropped off a cliff is a bit chicken-and-egg... I've been slowing down on here for a while anyway, which has an impact on views, but also... I started doing less because views had stagnated.
Plus, I get that people might not even know what this site is for; it's kind of an unfocused blog, because sometimes there'll be silly stuff, sometimes serious stuff, sometimes game reviews, sometimes things on topics that aren't about gaming at all. And sometimes stuff about Teletext-era Digi. But mostly not. It isn't one thing or another, but I've no longer any interest in focusing it on just one subject, written in just one style. This isn't my job, and besides... there's a ton of competition out there in terms of gaming content - which a one-man operation, who spent 7 years in the gaming wilderness, has no hope of competing with.
So, after a tough 2019, and a lot of soul-searching, it's important to me that I write when I feel the urge to write, conserve energy for the right projects, and not over-reach.
WHY DON'T YOU DO AS MUCH STUFF ABOUT VIDEO GAMES AS YOU USED TO?
Because video games aren't the be-all and end-all of what interests me, and I no longer have a job where I'm required to write about video games. Let's face it, even when Digitiser was on Teletext you could see that we were always straining at the leash to write about anything but video games.
I love games, I still play them, but so much of the discourse around them is so intense and serious. I don't relate to that, plus I no longer feel I have the depth of knowledge about them that I once did. And certainly not the all-consuming passion. I do feel a bit out of my depth in that world, and very much on the fringes of the retro gaming community, but mostly I just don't have the enthusiasm to write about them exclusively.
I think it's important to stay true and be honest in what I'm making, and if I were to write more about games, or make more videos about games, than I currently do, I'd be faking it.
I'VE GOT AN IDEA FOR...
Let me stop you there. In the early days, this site sometimes featured articles from other writers, but - no offence to them - they often needed so much rewriting that it wasn't worth my time to feature their work. Also, Digi is my thing, and I think people come to this site expecting Mr Biffo. The only people who get to write on here other than me are those who I trust to fit organically into the 'house style' (ie; Super Bad Advice).
Also, no you can't be a guest on the YouTube show. Sorry. It's filmed at my house, and I only really want to invite people in who I know well. If we want you, we'll ask you. Unless you're a massive celebrity or YouTuber who'd like to appear. In which case - get in touch! We'd like to steal your audience.
We will continue to plug smaller channels - we featured a bunch of our favourites in our Christmas special - as and when it feels appropriate.
SO WHY CALL EVERYTHING 'DIGITISER' IF IT'S NOT ABOUT GAMES?
For me, Digi became a style of presenting content about games, rather than something that needed to always be about games. Many times we begged our bosses to let us write about other geeky stuff. For me, whatever I do will always be consistently 'Digi-like' in its style and humour, regardless of what it's about. We're geeks and we'll always gravitate to geeky topics, so it's just a case of applying that to other subjects or mediums (such as YouTube).
I think we'll always default back towards gaming eventually - especially given Digi's origins - but it's an umbrella name for a whole variety of content.
AREN'T YOU PISSING OFF YOUR OLD AUDIENCE?
I don't intend to - it's no slight against anyone - but I'm resigned that we will, and already have, lost some people along the way. Some only want content about video games, and presumably must've just tolerated all the sillier and more puerile stuff that came with Digi. It's something I accept as the price for staying true to my muse!
I only want people watching or reading who'll enjoy what I'm making without having to compromise it. I'd rather have a smaller, deeply passionate and engaged audience that's on board with whatever I want to do, than a big, take-it-or-leave-it, one.
For me, as said, I never saw Digi - ever - as a gaming brand exclusively. That's what it was on Teletext, because that's what they wanted, but if we'd had our way we would've branched out decades ago! Digi is a spirit, a sense of humour, a style. And, at the risk of sounding like a complete megalomaniac, if I'm involved then it's inevitably going to be Digitiser-esque, because Digi is whatever I say it is!
WHY ISN'T THERE MORE LARRY, GAMEPLAY JENNY AND OCTAV1US ON THE DIGI CHANNEL?
It's partly down to their association with gaming, and my desire to step away from the gaming stuff, but also... they've got their own stuff going on.
More significantly, it's really important to me to separate the Digi Channel from being all about Digitiser The Show - let's face it, Digitiser existed long before YouTube, and we even had Found Footage on the channel before Digitiser The Show came along. I needed to reclaim my ownership of Digi, which Digitiser The Show somehow diluted, perhaps because there were so many big characters involved.
Despite only being six episodes, there seemed to be some confusion that the channel was somehow exclusively The Digitiser The Show Channel, when I never saw it that way (see below for other reasons why I'm not keen to go there).
Also, it's about what's the easiest experience in terms of producing the thing. Fortunately, Gannon lives walking distance from my house, Sanja literally lives in my house - there's no need to arrange travel for either of them! If you've ever produced something, you'll know that the fewer personalities involved the less complicated a thing is to put together - and I want the channel to have a long life, and not get so pissed off by something or someone that I throw in the towel prematurely.
Plus, when making Digitiser The Show, I realised that Gannon and I have a unique chemistry together - something that cannot be manufactured - and I want to continue building on that without adding too many extra voices.
As with all things we do, if a decision is taken it's only ever taken for the right reasons.
That said, we've spoken to both Larry and Octav1us and they're keen to do occasional guest appearances. Stay tuned.
WHO OWNS THE DIGITISER BRAND?
I do! I tried twice to buy it from Teletext's owners, and never got a response. When I made moves to trademark the brand two years ago they didn't object. It's mine now. ALL MIIIIINE.
WILL THERE BE ANOTHER SERIES OF DIGITISER THE SHOW?
Maybe. Dunno. In all honesty, it was an incredibly stressful thing to put together, in a variety of unexpected ways. And it's still going on as I fulfil the backer rewards. Also, not everyone involved enjoyed the experience and wouldn't want to do it again anyway.
Given its ambitions, it was a huge machine to launch into action, with a lot of different personalities involved. I was fulfilling the role of producer, director, main host, prop master, and more... and that was a lot to take on. Too much. Every night after a full day of filming I'd be up until the early hours working on the schedule for the next day.
And after it was all shot, I was editing the entire thing single-handedly, for months (while simultaneously learning how to edit) - during which time I couldn't take on paid work.
Additionally, it cost a huge amount of money. We spent far more than we raised in order to achieve the sort of could-be-on-tv look I wanted, and that came out of my own pocket. I can't afford to do that too often.
I'm very proud of what we achieved given our limited resources, but there were many compromises along the way, and I maybe made the mistake of listening to a few too many outside opinions, rather than staying true to my own instincts. It's still turned out pretty great, but the end result - for a myriad of reasons - wasn't entirely what I wanted it to be, and the current Digi Minis are in my eyes closer to the ramshackle spirit of Digitiser.
WILL THERE BE ANOTHER SERIES OF MR BIFFO'S FOUND FOOTAGE?
Well, I loved every minute of making it, and I adore the end result (with a few caveats), so I'd very much like to do something in that sort of style - or a different style that's a similarly bonkers sketch show. The difficulty is, as with Digi the Show, I spent more than we raised. To do it justice I need to be sensible and make sure we have a proper budget.
Unfortunately, given how niche it is, I don't know if there's the appetite there for it. I appreciate that Found Footage had a lot of very passionate fans, but it's very much a cult audience. I'm not sure we'd even raise as much as we did the first time, given how my esoteric sensibilities drove away viewers over the course of the series!
To keep doing all these projects, and do them as well as I want, I need to find a way to fund them properly and not bankrupt myself!
That said, I'm hopeful there'll be something coming later this year that'll be tangentially-related to Found Footage, and the Minis continue to feature FF-y moments.
WHY DON'T YOU APPROACH TV CHANNELS?
Never say never, but I deal with TV channels and producers every day of my life, and the joy of my Mr Biffo/Digi work is that I don't have to. For better or worse, you're mostly getting an unfiltered version of me. Much as I feel lucky to have my day job, the second you involve production companies or broadcasters you're giving up creative control, and that's the main appeal of all this. If only there was some way to do it full time...!
WILL YOU DO ANOTHER KICKSTARTER FOR ANYTHING ELSE?
Maybe, but I don't yet know what for. I find crowdfunding is a blessing and a curse. On the one hand it facilitates projects that I otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to do. On the other there's a misconception with crowdfunding that what you're paying for isn't the project itself but the rewards. Ideally, they should be seen as an incentive, or bonus, not the end result. Especially not when the end result overdelivers, and you've given it your all, as I feel we did with both Digitiser The Show and Found Footage.
Furthermore, when these rewards are physical, they require taking money away from the main project to pay for them - literally thousands of pounds in the case of Digitiser The Show - and those have to be fulfilled... which sort of turns our little two-person operation into a full-fledged merchandise shop. It's not interesting to deal with, and my brain isn't well suited to it. All I want to do is create silly, fun, things.
Plus, in all honesty, there's a small percentage of people who back crowdfunding projects who don't understand the creative process.
Until you're making something you don't know what roadblocks you're going to face, what different paths it might take. It's never going to be exactly what you set out to make. Audience and creator need to surf the surprises - good and bad.
I understand it can be disappointing to support something which doesn't turn out exactly how you want, and everyone is entitled to like and dislike different things, but you're not entitled to be a dick when something isn't tailored exactly to your own specific tastes.
It's profoundly annoying when somebody thinks that, because they've supported a project, they have the right to tell a creator directly what they should or shouldn't be doing. It's incredibly rude, not remotely helpful, and says more about that person than the one they're targeting it at. You're meant to be facilitating a creator, not buying them.
Mercifully, all of my Patreon backers seem to get this. They're a wonderful bunch.
Lastly, much as I'd like to do something again on a big scale, I don't wish to split my focus from the Digi Minis for the time being. Most likely, this year we'll use our Patreon funds and income from live show sales to do a wider variety of content, location filming, and occasional bigger scale episodes.
WILL YOU EVER DO A DIGITISER PODCAST?
Perhaps. I've an idea for a podcast I'd like to do with Sanja, but it's very different to everything else I do - on a more serious subject - and probably won't be done as 'Mr Biffo'. That might happen this year, but it won't necessarily be aimed at my usual audience.
In the meantime, go and listen to Gannon's Cheapshow, on which I'm a semi-regular guest, and I consider to be part of the extended Digiverse!
WILL YOU APPEAR ON MY PODCAST/CHANNEL?
Again, perhaps. You can certainly ask, but I do get a lot of requests, and as a result of all I've got going on - including a demanding day job - I have a tendency to be shockingly flaky. Nothing is meant by it; my plate is just generally so overloaded that I get distracted and forgetful. Apologies in advance! But don't be afraid to ask; it's always flattering, and I'm quite nice, really.
WHY IS MR BIFFO'S WORK ONLY FUNNY WHEN IT'S IN WRITING?
I dunno. Maybe it's all in the eye of the beholder. What I will say is that it has taken me a long time to figure out how to make my writing style work in a completely different medium.
I'm very word-y when I write, but ultimately concluded that I had to stop trying to replicate that in stuff that's on video, because... it doesn't work. It just doesn't at all, for whatever reason.
So I no longer try. It's again more about trying to capture the anarchic, surreal, unexpected, spirit of Digitiser, rather than recreating it vertabim (turning "Moc-Moc-A-Moc" into a game show catchphrase, is one of the more overt examples).
What's more, I've only relatively recently started appearing on camera, and in a live setting - it took a long time to get over my resistance to that - and I feel I've only relatively recently discovered my voice as a performer. Until you've done it a while it's hard to know what that voice will be, because it takes trial and error. I'm doing all my working out in public.
What I do know are two things:
1) With 20-odd years experience of working in TV, I can step outside my own work, and chances are I already know if something isn't as good as it could be. I'll already be working to improve it. I don't want outside advice unless I invite it; I get enough notes in my day job.
2) It's a journey that I hope you'll join me on. I like doing new things that I've never done before, so they'll rarely be perfect, but hopefully they'll always be interesting. There will continue to be a lot of figuring out along the way, but the joy of it is in the discovery!
Either way, I know some people will always prefer my written stuff to my other stuff. And that's fine.
AREN'T YOU A BIT OLD TO BE DOING ALL THIS?
Nah. I mean, my kids are grown-up, I enjoy it. Why shouldn't I while I'm still having fun? Besides, immature middle-aged people who still laugh at toilet humour are painfully under-served on YouTube.
WILL THERE BE ANOTHER DIGITISER LIVE?
Yes! We're going to do one in the summer of 2020, and you can find out all about it (and buy tickets) right here.
CAN I HELP OUT AT THE LIVE SHOW?
Uh... it's too soon to say. We don't even know what the show is yet. If we need help we'll ask for it, but we have a team already who we've worked with extensively, and we'll be asking them first.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THIS YEAR?
Given how burnt out 2019 made me, I'm trying not to take on as much work. That means less paid day job work as well as Digitiser-related things. My primary focus, at least for the next six months, are building on the momentum of the Digitiser Minis on YouTube, and the next live show. I want both to become bigger and better than before. The Minis are a labour of love, I really enjoy working with Gannon, and I want them to continue to look more and more professional - even as the content becomes less professional!
Also, the live show was a great learning experience... yet it still went great. I want to see what we can do now we know what we're doing a little more.
After that... we'll see. I think before I consider anything else I need a solid foundation that'll potentially support another big crowdfunded project, be it a series, a book, or whatever. Building the YouTube channel is key to all of that.
So, it's taking a small, sensible, approach to moving forwards, and not stretch myself too thinly.
HOW CAN I SUPPORT YOU?
Keep watching the videos! Keep spreading the word and sharing and retweeting the videos. Buy tickets to the live show (once they're on sale)! Buy stuff from our merchandise store. All of that will help fund us. Telling us you love us goes a long way to encouraging us to continue. Best of all, support Digitiser on Patreon. It's easily the most direct way of doing all of the above.
Digitiser isn't just me; it's also my wife, Sanja, who deals with most of the emails and whatnot, sends out crowdfunding rewards, organises live events and filming. I'm also paying Gannon a small amount for his work on the Minis. Then there are the items we feature, the technical side of things, and my time editing and organising. None of it is free.
Patreon supporters get early access to videos and occasional personal blog posts. I'm also looking into the possibility other additional content for higher tiers, such as video diaries. Frankly, if we're to continue we need to find a way to make Digitiser financially viable - and currently all the money is ploughed back into it (I spent several hundred quid over the past couple of weeks on new lighting and stuff to look at in the episodes).
If you want to sponsor one of our videos, please get in touch.
ANYTHING ELSE?
The Digi community is lovely. Throw yourself into it. There are some right weirdos - we all are, in fact - but on the whole they're all very welcoming.
This website is Copyright Paul Rose and Digitiser2000 - 2020
