100 Million Views and Counting: ‘Don’t Hug Me, I’m Scared’ producer shares Kickstarter success story
Don’t Hug Me, I’m Scared is a YouTube phenomenon. Created in the vein of innocent children’s programming, over the course of each short episode, the action always descends into mind-bending, hilarious terror. The nightmarish combination of puppets, sing-along tunes and raw meat has helped them notch up 100 million views and 900,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Our guest on Crowd Scene today is Ben Lole, a London-based creative producer who is part of the core team behind Don’t Hug Me, I’m Scared. Ben’s here to explain how on earth this ever got made…
In 2014, after making two episodes on their own, the team turned to Kickstarter in order to raise enough money to create four more. In 29 days they raised £105,000 – that’s about $150,000 for you Americans – from 3,500 backers.
In the news we also talk about ARKYD – a $1.5m Kickstarter campaign that just refunded its 17,000 backers three years after raising enough money to put a telescope in space.
Campaign stats
Raised
Links and things relevant to this episode
Don’t hug me, I’m scared – Kickstarter campaign page
@Bloler – Benjamin Lole on Twitter
@BeckyBocka – Becky Sloan on Twitter
@japelling – Joseph Pelling on Twitter
beckyandjoes.com – Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared film producers
Youtube Channel – Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
Joan Cornellà Animation Project – Kickstarter campaign (guest pick)
Ben Lole – IMDB page
@thisisblink – Blinkink on Twitter
Clapham Road Studios – where Don’t hug me… is made.
Words to live by
What’s for you will not pass you by.
The Crowd Scene theme music is by Kim Boekbinder. Special thanks also to Jim Fowler. Additional music by Jukedeck – create your own at jukedeck.com
