Pioneer One - First TV series funded via donations and released for free

by MartinMond • 16 years ago

41 22 16 years ago

danohuiginn3• 16 years ago

Hey -- I'm one of the people involved in vodo; would love to hear questions/comments from HN!

GavinB2• 16 years ago

Why does Pioneer One have a video blog on Vimeo, and yet the only way to view the actual episode is through a torrent for a 1.1 gig file? Why do I have to wait an hour or more when videos on Vimeo start immediately? Even platforms like Hulu with ads (and legal, big budget films) start within a minute.

VODO seems overly focused on distribution, which is a solved problem. The hard part is promotion.

MikeCapone2• 16 years ago

> yet the only way to view the actual episode is through a torrent for a 1.1 gig file?

You can download a 350 meg Xvid version from the site.

Your point still stands, though. It would be nice to be able to watch a nice 480p version on Vimeo or some other streaming site.

macemoneta• 16 years ago

I think this is a great. The traditional television networks have outlived their usefulness. I've been waiting years for a production company to bypass the network and sell their product directly to audiences. There are so many great productions that many people never get to see, because they are not 'picked up'. Likewise, the production of many programs have lost their way, concentrating more on limos, assistants to the assistants, expensive catering and massages than actual production of creative content.

I was hopeful when The Guild became popular enough to get funded by Microsoft. Then again when Joss Whedon, a major producer/director/writer, created Doctor Horrible (and it became profitable). Now, with an actual 'television' series perhaps we're finally going to see the beginning of the transition to online distribution?

Fingers crossed.

MikeCapone2• 16 years ago

What could make this concept really take off, IMHO, is if a big established player jumped on board (kind of like what Radiohead did with In Rainbows and the whole "online first/donationware" thing).

For example, if David Chase or David Simon decided to produce a series of 10 episodes and make it available online exclusively at first (either via torrents & donations, or paid iTunes/Amazon/etc downloads), and if if it was a success, that would make others pay attention.

krisneuharth• 16 years ago

I just finished the first episode. It's pretty good. I'm looking forward to seeing where they take it. It feels like an episode of the X-Files for anyone that is curious if it is worth the download.

makmanalp• 16 years ago

Nothing has gotten my money faster.

sabat2• 16 years ago

Care to elucidate?

mkramlich3• 16 years ago

I just finished the 1st episode. Imagine like an indie/pro-am reinvention of The X-Files. A touch of sci-fi. A beautiful smart blonde woman instead of Scully. Nice theme music. Opening voiceover. Not saying it's exactly like that, but stylistically has similarities to it. Anyway, I liked it. Want moar. :)

samratjp• 16 years ago

I do hope that there will be a Y combinator for tv shows and maybe even movies. Of course, there are some things like Campus Movie Fest that help find good budding talent and then that could be used as an application even to get funded.

RevRal• 16 years ago

Sometimes I have to wait at least a year before I can legally watch some movies that I read about on the internet, that are already available in parts of the world. With today's technology, this is utterly painful for movie fans.

I will support this because it's a very good model for movie distribution and we will learn a lot from it. I see this catching on really fast.

Here is another interesting take on distribution through torrent: http://www.thetunnelmovie.net . People get to purchase "frames" of the movie, and one lucky frame picker will receive 1% of the movie's profits.

mieses• 16 years ago

i watched this a few days ago. clever story.

jonafato• 16 years ago

I think this is a fantastic model for a tv show. I feel much better about paying for a show online if it hasn't already made a bunch of money through networks. People will more likely pay for art when they believe the money goes to the artists. It sort of reminds me of Dr. Horrible, where all the contributors worked for a share of the profits. Does anyone know if this is the case here? The site says that people worked for free on this project, but doesn't explain how the future money gets divided up.

mkramlich3• 16 years ago

Love it! Bravo. Can't wait to see the next episode. Fans of The X-Files or SF in general may want to check it out. Has an indie feel to it, but still pretty slick.

mkramlich3• 16 years ago

Just donated. I like this "vote with your wallet" method of financing shows. Reduces upfront financial risk for new ones with possibly niche audiences, I imagine.

hackermom• 16 years ago

Just watched the pilot. The story really caught me for a number of reasons, one being its plausibility. I would not be surprised to see Hollywood steal or buy this.

thebigshane• 16 years ago

Like the distribution/production idea (quite a gamble). Like the plot. Like the indie look and feel.

I hope we don't have to wait too long for them to get the funding they need to continue making episodes.

Pioneer One - First TV series funded via donations and released for free

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