I found out this week that two of my long time collaborators are (independently) moving across the country.
I'm relieved to hear that they'll be landing in the same city. Being somewhere new is much easier with a friend.
Ultimately, I suspect that this move will be positive for everyone involved, and I'm hopeful and excited for them!
But it also means some readjustments in my life, personally and professionally.
This thread will mostly be about those readjustments.
One of the folks that's leaving is the good Doctor Deathray.
I suppose that puts an end to the implements of destruction as a live band.
Violet has also been instrumental in running Analog Revolution over the last three years, and she was the driving force behind Cassettes for Me.
That means I'm going to have to figure out if and how I'm going to continue to do Analog in the coming years.
(Ryan, the original cofounder of analog, has a bit of free time these days.) Maybe I can get @CaptainUnderpants involved.
The other person who is leaving (and who's departure came as a bigger surprise, if I'm being honest) is @connor_dylan
Connor, for the last several years, has been the face of New Ellijay Television. He's been our primary on camera talent, one of our main writers, and our primary video editor.
Losing him will be a pretty big blow to our political and news coverage and it will mean having to skill up someone new to replace the work that he's currently doing.
On the plus side, I think Connor is going to continue to produce the shows he's already started. I suspect he's going to spin off his video production into its own joint (I seem to recall mention of the name Sticks and Carrots) and after doing that I expect we'll continue to syndicate his material.
(That being said, if you currently support NETV for the hastening, coconut trees, etc I will highly recommend that you go follow @connor_dylan who should be posting about a new blog and Patreon this month. He'll need the funding more than I do.)
So now I have to figure out what this means for #AnalogRevolution and #newellijaytelevision
I expect both to continue on. Analog might be a little quiet for a while, maybe with a renewed focus on print, our magazines, and journalism.
We have 4 LPs planned for release next year and I don't expect that to change. We'll probably not add any live shows, which is disappointing. I was hoping to do 12 - 24 live shows in 26, but both of my audio engineers are leaving.
New Ellijay Television won't change much.
Connor's work will keep happening, and will syndicate. He'll have an easier time funding his work himself than I've had funding it for him (because he will be able to leverage platforms and resources that provide funding opportunities that I have intentionally avoided for various logistical and ideological reasons.)
His current wages will go to a new person who can produce more local focused content, which means we'll continue to have his political commentary and analysis, while also being able to fund more fiction and direct locally focused content.
Ultimately, this is the best case scenario for NETV.
But I'm going to miss Connor and Violet a lot, and a lot of things are going to be different or much harder without them.
I have lots of Big Picture choices to make, and some little picture choices to make in the meantime.
But those are problems for December Andrew.
September Andrew has two short stories and the first quarter of a novel to write.
In the meantime, if you know creative types (writers, editors, musicians, etc) who live in or near north central Georgia (or who have a good reason to spend a few seasons in the area) put us in touch!
I'm going to be looking for folks to fill the roles Connor was filling, including music composition and production, writing, editing, and social media management.
Andrew (Television Executive)
Doctor Deathray
DJ Sundog from the *new* toot-lab
aschmitz