REport: December 20th

HeyJ, team. Some of you are probably annoyed with us tonight, especially if you were set to see FIRST NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S on the 13th and are now changing plans.

You guys see a glimpse behind the scenes, but far from everything, and almost always sanitized (yeah, kinda scary when that sinks in!) One such conversation happened two nights ago, which ended with two of us crying in the kitchen — not because the work was too hard or that we didn’t think it’d be ready by the 13th, but because *we’ve been dreading what will happen to this movie.*

I’ve put my heart and soul, and an unhealthy amount of my very identity, into this series. And watching each episode underperform catastrophically has had a pretty severe impact on all three of us (but… most of all, me.)

Realizing YouTube is already primed with the perfect executioner for my biggest, most beloved pet project left me in a very bad spot. Bad enough that we had real discussions about me not being present to see its launch, or its inevitable failure in YouTube’s system.

I don’t think changing its date will magically make it succeed. But I do have a sense of hope for it, now that it won’t directly face one of the most dominating channels of the entire platform. Call me a coward, a shrewd businessman, or anything you like really — I flinched, and I feel BETTER.

We like RE to be a place of enjoyment and escape, so bringing these things up — even to you folks — feels out of place, and a little like betraying our brand. But this is also our livelihood, and sometimes even our health, intertwined into a happy-go-lucky product. Thank you for generously supporting us on so many levels, and allowing us some capacity to layer in our fears and struggles, too.

We look forward to striking a balance with you in discussing this project once it’s out, in a way that’s both brutally honest but also emphatically celebratory. ☺️

Beard Salute!

~AJ