Always on
This project successfully funded on 1st April 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
WiRED WE!RD: Film | Theatre | Music | Community
United Kingdom
Aim
We wanna build a community that lets creatives run riot and do what they do best, and give them an audience to take along for the ride too!
First and foremost, Wired Weird is a media company, but it is also a creative collective.
We will connect artists from the worlds of film, theatre and music to help them both expand their networks through collaboration and showcase their talents via our multimedia platform. Our key aim is to support low income artists and eventually be able to offer financial support, resources and industry-specific education to all creatives with whom we collaborate.
- By producing bold and boundary-pushing projects with a range of filmmakers, musicians and theatre players, we will nurture new talent and a creative community that can thrive across both the digital and physical worlds.
- The three primary branches - audio, video and theatre - will mostly operate independently, but with access to a common pool of talent and resources.
- We will support our artists by bringing these separate fields together under one umbrella, boosting their access to professional level services and debuting them to a pre-established audience.
CREATIVES
We will offer a tailored boutique service for any artist working with us, that features fair profit sharing deals, high quality supplementary art (i.e. album covers, posters, trailers, props, original costumes etc.) and eventually access to The Weirdo Fund (more on that later). Once we have an established audience, we will also be debuting artists’ work to an existing fanbase, so they hit the ground running with visibility.
Down the line, we would like to build relationships with professional venues and training facilities to offer our artists easier access to education and resources through these partners too!
COMMUNITY
Through regular unique and high quality releases, we intend to build a devoted audience who are involved in the creation of the art they consume.
By using interactive platforms like YouTube and Patreon, small-scale sustainability is possible through crowdfunding, investing our audience personally in the art and letting us know what they do/do not want to see from us. Our audience can also meet their favourite artists at our live events, and network with other likeminded individuals, bringing these digital communities together in a physical space.
With our focus on cross-pollination between creative industries, we will highlight projects that uplift and promote a combination of artistic approaches, eg:
- Filmed theatre performances incorporating live music.
- Visuals (artwork, ads and videos) as a key component in musical promotion.
- Podcasts discussing a variety of art forms.
- Films starring talented theatre players and featuring original scores.
- A consistent release schedule to aid visibility and instil a sense of reliability.
- WEEKLY Podcasts. We will be producing two podcasts from the get-go: Everything Is Everything and Rock & Roll On Action. The former features philosophy, street interviews, original songs and...well, a little bit of everything! Rock & Roll On Action has a weekly show for paid subscribers discussing the top of the film and album charts that week, plus a longer free fortnightly show where we pick a classic film and album to discuss and laugh about in depth. If sufficient funds are met, we have several more concepts that can be developed, plus audio dramas and licensing existing shows becomes more possible.
- MONTHLY Short Film. We will host a monthly filmmaking challenge where we provide an invited filmmaker with £500 to make a microbudget short film, plus a BTS featurette for paid subscribers. Anyone can apply to be considered and we look forward to showcasing a range of genres from filmmakers from every walk of life.
- QUARTERLY Live Event. A tentpole multimedia event held 3-4 times per year that showcases local talent by centring an evening around a quarterly theme, featuring live music, theatre and short films. A perfect networking opportunity, but mainly a great night of entertainment, and each event held in a different grassroots or non-traditional venue around the country.
- BIANNUAL Music Release. To start, we are aiming for two major music releases per year, i.e. EPs and albums (plus more regular single drops and demos and bonus tracks for paid subscribers). First year of releases already lined up, pending funds for promotion.
- ANNUAL Larger Scale Film. Whether it be a more elaborate short, or a low-budget feature, we aim to be able to create larger scale film projects once an audience and team of collaborators is well-established, letting our artists spread their wings outside the budgetary constraints of the £500 challenge.
- ANNUAL Round-up BluRay. No it's not just old fashioned! It's an opportunity for us to provide non-subscribers access to our catalogue, as well as being an actual physical product our audience can buy that supports artists they love and gives them something to show for it too.
- ...and this is just the start! Once we have a consistent viewer base and collaborators in place, we can start producing serialised productions and more frequent more ambitious projects.
*we aim to hit this schedule consistently within 24 months of full launch, preferably within 12.
- Episode 1 of Rock & Roll On Action. Also available on Spotify.
- Episode 2 of Rock & Roll On Action. Also available on Spotify.
A key aspect of Wired Weird’s model and something that has thus far made us attractive to potential creatives is The Weirdo Fund:
- A pot of £10,000 that creatives can apply to dip into for developing a project, e.g. if they need to finish a script but can’t afford the time off work, they can apply to have their week’s salary paid out of the fund.
- In return, creatives give us first refusal on helping them take their project to the next level. This will help to build a community that works together, rather than standard grant models that have no further involvement with a project. Our model is about nurturing rather than simply providing.
The main financial aim of our first two years will simply be making enough to establish this fund. It's key to what we want to achieve and how we want to support the community so every contribution helps and long term support will always be appreciated beyond description.
WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP!
The whole project will take more than £100,000 to bring to fruition, but we are asking for your help with £45,000 of our budget. This will contribute to our first two years of development and outreach, helping our artists reach the right audience instead of screaming into the digital void!
- £18,000 covers six live events (costed at £3,000 each).
- £12,000 covers two years of our monthly £500 short film challenge.
- £10,000 covers marketing costs for 2-3 music releases.
- £5,000 covers marketing for the podcasts/videos and general initial outreach push.
But we don't just want to stop there! Any more we can make from your contributions will strengthen our cause immensely and make our artists' work more visible to more people. Beyond £45k...
- £10,000 covers the start up of the Weirdo Fund.
- £3,000 covers the cost of design and shop build for the Wired Weird website.
- £1,000 covers two years of subscription costs for Distrokid (music distribution), Filmhub (film distribution), Dropbox (file sharing/management) and web hosting/domain services.
- And when these costs are covered, we can then spend more on marketing and raising awareness, as well as hiring permanent staff, paying freelancers more, developing more ambitious projects and beyond...!
We aren't in this to make ourselves rich; we're in this to make the artistic landscape rich (and to help our artists keep doing what they do best!).
How do we aim to reach financial sustainability in the long term?
What we're attempting to forge is a relatively untrodden path; we're trying to do things differently in a landscape resistant to change, trying to make things better, but it's going to be rocky at first. Hence needing your help! What's positive however is that all our income streams have infinite headroom for growth, so it may be hard soil to sow, but once the seeds are planted, the sky's the limit.
- We will aim for small scale self-sustainability in our first two years through three primary sources: event ticket sales/bar profits, Google AdSense revenue from YouTube views and Patreon subscriptions. After five years or so, there is the possibility to move to our own separate streaming platform to gain full financial and creative freedom.
- By working with local authorities and businesses, we can set up our live events in non-traditional venues around the country that open a potential new revenue stream for involved businesses, supporting local business owners and attracting local talent, while keeping production costs lower. By running a bar, we can also increase the profitability of these events. Our hope is that balancing this approach with hosting events at existing grassroots music venues will keep things financially sustainable for both us and them.
- The variety afforded by our multimedia approach should attract a wider range of audience members, some of whom may come primarily for music, others for theatre and others for the films, while some may just wish to engage in its community spirit.
- Discounting sponsorships and focusing purely on views-based income, if we can reach 1 million views annually, YouTube’s ad revenue will account for approximately £3,500 in earnings. With steady releases and strong marketing, we should break past 1 million annual views quickly and increase earnings from there. While these numbers may sound daunting, it is possible with the right marketing team...which we have!
- Patreon provides multiple levels of subscription tiers, but if we assume a conservative reach within one year of 100 paying subscribers at the minimum £5 per month each, we would have a yearly income of £4,750 after Patreon’s fee is deducted. Patreon also has a built-in digital shopfront for selling downloadable versions of our video and music releases.
- As well as these consistent income streams, which all have infinite headroom for growth, the live events and our website offer the opportunity to sell physical releases like CDs, merchandise and DVDs for a further small profit.
- Through project-based private funding and sponsorship deals, we can also fund larger scale individual projects, once we have a proven audience.
Key to our ethos is making sure artists get fair deals, and can make the most possible profit from their art. That's why we have proposed profit sharing deals that balance being able to make just enough money for the business to continue supporting your creative pursuits with putting as much revenue in the hands of artists as we can!
Filmmakers who make a film for the £500 short film challenge are entitled to 50% of profits once Wired Weird’s marketing and production costs have been recouped.
Musicians on the Wired Weird record label are entitled to 25% of profits from their music until the company recoups its costs, at which point the deal switches and the musicians get 70% of profits, while Wired Weird’s cut is reduced to 30%.
Theatre productions shown at our multimedia events will have production costs covered from the live event budget and the creators can split 15% of the multimedia event’s profits between them. Musicians playing live will be paid a one time fee and have the option to sell merch at the events.
Podcasts, should they turn a profit, are to pay 25% to Wired Weird for the access to marketing and visibility, keeping 75% of turnover in the hands of the creators.
While no one has ever done quite what Wired Weird plans to do, there are some places we can look to for reference and inspiration. Think:
Dropout have managed to make financially viable their own boutique streaming service that caters to a dedicated fanbase and supports comedians they believe in. We'd love to do the same with our artists and our audience, building faith in a strong roster of creatives who are free to push boundaries with what they create!
Grouse House is an Australian production company founded by the Aunty Donna comedy group that uses YouTube as a showcase for Aussie films, shows and projects they want to highlight and help bring to life. They are also supported through funding from the Australian government.
The British Horror Studio is an independent production company that support themselves through a dedicated Patreon fanbase. Releasing multiple feature films per year, they prove that it's possible for a small scale British company to find success online with the support of a well-planned Patreon.
Run by Romesh Dodangoda, Control Room is an online paid members only Facebook Group that connects music industry professionals with networking opportunities and exclusive deals. It manages to help over a thousand people get a foot in the door while also turning a profit and creating opportunities for collaboration and community building.
Harnessing a devoted fanbase built up over many years of publicly developing his skills and showcasing his talents on YouTube, Mark has managed to fund his debut feature and get it shown internationally on over 4,000 cinema screens.
JJ ERINGA (@jj_eringa)
Founder/Visual Lead
Visual artist (award-winning short films, 50+ music videos and multiple chart-topping album covers). Has been creating promo material for music and theatre industries since 2017. www.jjeringa.myportfolio.com
CAFFY ST LUCE (@rocklandsartbeat)
Music Advisor
30+ years in Event Management, Creative Artist Development, Alternative Marketing and Consultancy. Grassroots Circuit Documentarian. Previously music publicist/PR.
GAILIE ANDERSON
Theatre Advisor
Founder of Contexture Theatre (est 2013). Having directed, produced and acted on stage for three decades plus, Gailie has valuable contacts, invaluable knowledge and is perfectly suited to an advisory role.
VANESSA BUSSOLETTI (@thesongoftheswan)
Lead Photographer/Visual Consultant/Socials Manager
With a degree in Media & Communications on top of international industry experience in marketing, fine art photography and social media management, Vanessa has built an impressive career with skills that lend themselves perfectly to our vision of combining artistic integrity with commercial success. thesongoftheswan.com
COOL THING (@coolthinghq)
Digital Marketing
Cool Thing have worked closely with founder JJ Eringa for the past five years and have agreed to offer discounted marketing rates to Wired Weird creatives. They have a mighty track record with high profile clientele and will be key to getting Wired Weird off the ground and our projects in front of the right audience. As artists themselves too, they understand both sides! coolthinghq.com
We'll also collaborate with local businesses, charities, artists and curators when organising each of our live events to boost grassroots venues and their surrounding subcultures!
Some examples of our key members' previous projects and the small back catalogue Wired Weird has managed to produce without funding so far...
PRELUDE TO RAPTURE: BIRTH OF NIMBUS
Promotional animated short telling the backstory for key players in Rapture: Nimbus Reborn. A Wired Weird production c.2024.
KILLERSTAR: HOLD ON TIGHT
Documentary short telling the origin story of KillerStar, a band featuring many of David Bowie's closest collaborators. A Wired Weird production in association with High Wire Records c.2024.
RAPTURE: NIMBUS REBORN
Comedy action short film made as an experiment with no budget, no storyboards or shot list and local community members in place of professional actors. A Wired Weird Production c.2024.
MATERIAL GIRL
A very early Wired Weird release, produced under the name Everlong Pictures. Zero budget film directed by JJ Eringa. A Wired Weird production c.2018.
THE SONG OF THE SWANA selection of photos by Vanessa Bussoletti. See more on Instagram or atthesongoftheswan.com
JAMIE WEBSTER'S 10 FOR THE PEOPLE
Album art by JJ Eringa. Reached no. 2 in the UK album charts.
CEILING SPIRITS' THE BLOODWREN
Album art by JJ Eringa. US release.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made