The Oz campaign has to end. There are two realities driving the decision.
First, were facing a challenge with the Alice film rights. Since working to remove it from the Oz campaign we've been unable to launch it as a separate campaign here on Kickstarter the submission has been rejected multiple times and our appeals have failed (multiple campaigns are not allowed). To launch a campaign for the Alice films rights means we must first shut down the Oz campaign.
Second, we wouldn't consider shutting down the Oz campaign if it were trending towards success. As it is, we've reached 15% of our goal with 20 days left in the campaign. Projections suggest well hit 30% of our goal by campaign end. I've been telling myself to remain optimistic and see this thing through but when the reality of our funding trend is combined with the pressure of the Alice film rights situation...
For Oz, we can always launch another campaign in the future. On the other hand, the Alice film rights are only within reach during a rapidly closing window of opportunity. Well sacrifice Oz today in order to have a real chance with Alice.
For the record, we did also consider (and put work towards) an Alice campaign on IndieGoGo, but decided against this for two main reasons. The first is that were concerned about the amount of awareness we can generate on IndieGoGo, since we've never run a campaign there. Here on Kickstarter we have followers (youre reading this). The other issue is we dont want to be accused of creating confusion or deal with any other negative interpretation that might come out of running two campaigns at the same time.
Ultimately, the route were taking is cleaner, faster and would seem to have a higher chance of success.
I sincerely appreciate all of the support and feedback you've provided us via the Oz campaign. Its been an interesting ride and one that has taught me a multitude of valuable lessons. While were ending it early, were certainly not walking away empty handed. When Oz makes a return you can expect it to be better and stronger.
Now we turn our attention to Alice. Securing these film rights would be nothing short of a major coup. Wed control a significant portion of Alices future. Being able to produce animations, feature films and related merchandise means keeping Alices world fresh, no matter what else might happen with the game portion of the property. I hope youll join us in making this a reality. If you want to learn more, please visit:
facebook.com/AliceOtherlands
From the End of the Rainbow,
-American
