Everything, By Everyone is a film about the Internet. In large part, it’s the story of a website called Newgrounds and the online cultural trends it helped create and drive over the last decade or so. It's also the story of how the web became fun as well as functional and a tool for creative people of all kinds.
Newgrounds is the web’s largest collection of Flash animation and largest collective of Flash animators and its story is very much analogous to the story of the internet. A computer-savvy kid in a basement doing stuff for fun leads to a popular site with millions of visitors, which eventually leads to a successful business and an internet institution. Newgrounds predates YouTube, MySpace and Google. It has existed long enough to have been part of some historically critical years in evolution of a now ubiquitous internet and it’s still going strong. It is the rare example of a website that neither vanished in the dot-com implosion nor was swallowed up by a large corporate interest. Perhaps most importantly, Newgrounds was an early driving force behind the idea that regular people could use the Internet purely as a source of entertainment programing. This idea is now universal. A look at the history and evolution of Newgrounds is an opportunity for the discussion of:
• The evolution of online entertainment from basic HTML to streaming HD video • The evolution of Flash animation as an artistic medium • The evolution of online gaming and downloadable content • The increasing number of creative people who are able to use the tools of the web to make a living doing what they love • The rise of “user-generated content” sites which provide a forum for people to share things to watch and read and listen to • The increasing impact of online content on traditional media • The importance of all forms of independent media
The film will be comprised of interviews and footage of artists, authors, animators, gamers and persons of interest. These interviews have thus far included: • Tom Fulp - animator, game developer and founder and CEO of Newgrounds.com, co-creator of "Castle Crashers" • Joe Cartoon – pioneer of web animation and programming • Ryan Davis – veteran game reviewer for GiantBomb.com • Happy Harry – animator behind Saturday Morning Watchmen and many other shorts • Tim Hwang – Berkman Institute for Internet and Society, Harvard and founder of ROFLcon • John K – animation legend behind Ren & Stimpy and The Goddamn George Liquor Program • Lloyd Kaufman – independent filmmaker and President of Troma Entertainment • Edmund McMillen – award-winning game developer behind Gish and Meat Boy • Kevin Pereira – host and producer, Attack Of the Show on G4 • Adam Phillips – animator and creator of Brackenwood • Mike Reiss – longtime writer for The Simpsons and creator of The Critic and Queer Duck • Jason Scott – Digital Historian, archivist, filmmaker • Aaron Simpson – animation producer, Flash Expert and proprietor of ColdHardFlash.com • Jesse Thorn – professional podcaster, NPR host and “America’s Radio Sweetheart” • Nina Paley – animator/director of Sita Sings the Blues, cartoonist and copyright reform advocate
For a (more) complete listing of folks I've spoken to, visit http://everything-by-everyone.com/interviews.html
Their insights will be interspersed with and illustrated by original animation from online collaborators as well as old favorites from the history of flash and the web. The intent is to create a fun and informative film that is equal parts History Channel and Cartoon Network.
The Next Step
My current goal is simple. Right now I have about a hundred hours of fantastic interviews with interesting and insightful people as well as lots of other footage from various events along the way. I also have lots of notes and charts and ideas about how these pieces can all fit together. I need to focus on editing, coordinating with a small army of animators and musicians, licensing any content I need to licensee and getting the last handful of interviews in the can.
12K later I will have: • picked up the last handful of interviews • completed transcription/annotation of over 100 hours of interviews and footage • completed a rough cut of interview track/structure • completed recruiting and coordinating animators, assigning/compiling segments • begun (possibly finished) soundtrack selection • completed (at least) a rough cut of the film
I've done a lot of things to raise money for this film so far. I've sewn and sold plush toys, moved boxes around in a warehouse, counted americans for the census and done a fair amount of freelance design work. For this next step I really need some help. Thanks so much for your support.
If I should surpass my funding goal those funds will be rolled over into future expenses such as film festival submission fees. I'll want to get the finished film in front of as many eyes as I can both for my sake and to showcase the talents of my amazing collaborators.
YouTube version of the trailer:
Questions about this project? Check out the FAQ