Recursor.TV and The Fantasy Network Announce Launch of Strategic Partnership
Science fiction fans gain more online SVOD access to indie sci-fi entertainment
Get rewarded for investing more into The Fantasy Network:
Our Story
Combining the business and creative expertise of Arrowstorm Entertainment (The Outpost), Zombie Orpheus Entertainment (JourneyQuest), The Forge (The Rangers), and Recursor.TV (Nina_Unlocked), The Fantasy Network throws out the broken streaming video playbook to create a new kind of network that serves creators and fans, empowering both to produce and support their favorite stories from development to distribution.
It is a funding and distribution network owned and operated by fans and creators, where the community helps bring new stories to life. Best of all, it’s made for everyone who loves fantasy film and television!
The Problem
Content creation continues to be dominated by fewer and larger tech and media giants which control distribution resulting in a walled garden effect. Independent filmmakers face major challenges in the current media landscape:
Independent creators and audiences who want to see independently created programming have limited options.
The Solution
By combining the best features of Netflix, Kickstarter, Patreon, and online marketplaces, then adding free content and open accessibility, TFN makes it easy for a new viewer to join the network at any level of commitment, from...
...and even to creating their own licensed fan fiction and derivative works or submitting new projects for funding consideration by the community.
Your Class B shares entitle you to partial ownership in The Fantasy Network, along with unique investor perks, like an invite to our annual meeting and party in Indianapolis (during Gen Con weekend!), reading new scripts, and even beta access to new features.
EARLY BIRD INVESTOR PERKS
First 48 Hours – Friends & Family Early Birds | 15% Bonus Shares
Next Five Days – Early Bird Bonus | 10% Bonus Shares
*All perks occur after the offering is completed.
Our Traction
The affiliated companies of TFN have spent years developing an engaged community of fans through a vibrant online presence. Each of the founders interacts with fans through active websites, Facebook pages and groups, social media and YouTube. TFN estimates this group at over 600,000 followers and believes this group will continue to embrace TFN's content creation, crowdfunding support and other community building activities.
Not only have the studios that make up TFN exceeded $21M in total film sales, they have built their model around in mobilizing a crowd. One of TFN’s partners has raised over $2.5M in the crowdfunding space. TFN starts with the known fan reach (Subs in Network) with the capture of 10%, we magnify that by known numbers of crowdfunding backers giving us a Crowdfunding reach of over $4 mil.
We took our combined subscribers from Youtube and Facebook to be our baseline reach (though we also have Instagram, email lists and others) = 624,563. We took 10% of capturing that subscriber base that may convert = 62,456. Then we used our combines crowdfunding average giving as a multiplier = $4.1mil.
*represents combined sales of prior studios
The Fantasy Network combines the clout of some of the industry-leading independent fantasy entertainment companies, who bring with them decades of experience.
The TFN owner companies have made over $20 mil in sales from films and series, with strong ongoing IP that can premiere on TFN. With the original network created in-house, plus partnerships with independent content producers around the world, TFN is positioned to distribute dozens of new films and series annually, even without additional growth.
What We Do
The Fantasy Network is a digital platform designed to support sustainable storytelling in film and television, via the following services and features:
Free and Subscription Streaming Video On-Demand
Single Storefront for crowdfunding, subscriptions, sales, and digital/physical merch
Digital/physical fulfillment
Crowdfunding support for partner producers
Open World Wiki
Social Platform and Connection
Global Distribution and Syndication to third parties
Live Streaming
Identity Management and SSO Server
We’ve already unified many of these services and features to work with a single login across our entire ecosystem, from mobile apps to television to browser.
The Fantasy Network operates as an independent entity with a clear mission, serving producers of fantasy and science fiction content with a streaming, fulfillment, and distribution platform.
As content producers themselves, TFN’s parent companies are motivated to run a corporation that grows the audience for independent fantasy, deals ethically with content producers, and frees creators to focus on content.
ZOMBIE ORPHEUS ENTERTAINMENT (ZOE)
Creators of four ongoing series – JourneyQuest, The Gamers, Strowlers, and Demon Hunters – plus a number of feature films, shorts, and several weekly live streamed shows, ZOE has crowdfunded millions of dollars for their shows, produced content around the world, and is sustained by a passionate global fandom.
ARROWSTORM ENTERTAINMENT
Arrowstorm Entertainment is a rapidly expanding film production studio, headquartered in Utah, south of Salt Lake City. With over 20 internationally distributed feature films in the science fiction and fantasy genres, Arrowstorm is a powerhouse of creativity, giving life to undiscovered worlds that aim to capture the imagination of audiences worldwide.
THE FORGE STUDIOS
The Forge Studios is a Washington, DC area based production company that primarily focuses on the fantasy and sci-fi genres. The Forge looks towards stories of light and hope like their family friendly film, The Fellows Hip: Rise of the Gamers, or their epic fantasy The Rangers. They also hosted the VIP Film & TV Summit bringing industry professionals to the DC market.
RECURSOR.TV
Recursor.TV (owned by Iota Capital LLC) is a Webby Award winning site featuring science fiction content most of which has been independently produced. The founder of Recursor.TV produced Nina_Unlocked, winner of the Boston Sci Fi Film Festival 2017 Best Series and is currently in post production on Mayfield’s Game starring Sean Astin and Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino.
The Market
TFN’s position in the streaming and crowdfunding industry is unique. As streaming platforms have proliferated and the market has fragmented, generations of streaming companies have come and gone. Most platforms are reactive: they see Netflix’s success and want to replicate a market demand that’s already being met, rather than asking what comes next and how to plan for that future demand today.
According to REDEF, the industry also suffers from Walled Garden Syndrome, or a “Build it and they will come” mentality. This expects viewers to subscribe to a service in order to access any of its content, putting stories into a locked silo. The problem is that silos inhibit discovery, forcing potential viewers to spend money before they’ve made an emotional commitment to a story. Meanwhile, market fragmentation creates consumer frustration, with complaints about the total cost of subscriptions to multiple streaming services a constant refrain on social media.
That means shifting our core success metrics from the number of units sold to building a sustaining and loyal audience. With multiple revenue streams and the ability to pivot based on market demand and interest, TFN reduces reliance on any single model and allows the community’s experience and input to help direct our attention.
In a market where companies and equity are looking for a fast exit and large profits, our focus on long-term sustainable growth makes TFN even more unusual. Because we are primarily creators with stories to tell, pursuing a buy-out from a larger corporation or equity investment firm is antithetical to our goals. That clear, public commitment in turn motivates long-term brand loyalty from the TFN audience.
How We Are Different
TFN makes most content on the platform free-to-view and shareable. Thanks to nine years of detailed market data and experience from parent company Zombie Orpheus, we’ve developed our business with the motto “You can’t pirate the future.” By making access to quality content free, easy, and painless, we empower viewers to act and renew their favorite shows. If enough people pledge to renew a show, it is funded and a new season is greenlit. We also make it easy to support producers and individual creators via Patreon-style monthly subscriptions (scheduled to launch in Q3 2020).
The unified system makes it easy to offer and fulfill not only standard crowdfunding rewards, but for each campaign to offer bonus subscriptions to TFN Premium, our umbrella subscription service that provides first access to new titles. Those premium subscriptions make it easier to cross-promote network content and introduce viewers to new titles.
Original Content by Unique Voices - By combining forces with independent content producers from around the world, we can all leverage our collective strength to reach markets and build partnerships that are typically only open to larger studios or aggregators.
Shared Cinematic Universe License Agreement (SCULA) - A unique and optional copyright alternative, inspired by the Open Culture movement and Creative Commons licenses. Shows that opt-in to the terms of the SCULA allow third-party creation of licensed commercial derivatives, from fan fiction to entire spin-off series. Example licenses are available at http://scu.la. Strowlers, Fartherall, and Demon Hunters, our test cases, have been using the SCULA successfully for two years.
A Healthy Community - By explicitly disallowing hate speech on the platform, it’s become a place where diverse and global audiences can coexist peacefully, without negative financial impact on operations and growth. TFN is committed to supporting marginalized voices, the telling of their stories, and building a common culture of acceptance and respect.
The Business Model
Because we begin with content, our existing reach extends to the global audiences for independent successes that include JourneyQuest, Mythica, The Gamers, AFK, One Hit Die, Ren: The Girl With The Mark, Strowlers, The Rangers and many more shows. The combined fan base has been thrilled to offer support to these creators with crowdfunding campaigns worth millions of dollars. Even without additional growth, TFN is already delighting these audiences with our focus on sustainable storytelling and creator-focused operations.
TFN is designed to appeal explicitly to fandom, an umbrella that encompasses viewers who are actively and passionately engaged with the content that they love. From the freedom to create offered by SCULA shows, to the ability to renew their favorites directly, within TFN fandom is empowered do so what they do best: turn the love of good stories into communities that support those stories.
TFN relies on six distinct revenue sources to support its ecosystem:
Subscriptions
Crowdfunding platform fees & campaign management
Profits from funding and producing original content
Digital/physical merch sales and distribution
Direct contributions to creators (tip jar & SCULA profit-sharing)
Aggregation and distribution to third-party services and platforms
Unlike streaming-only services, this diversification allows streaming revenues to flux with demand and interest, with the majority of ongoing revenue and growth coming from the other five sources. This keeps the platform from relying on endless private equity raises to produce original content, beyond the size or capacity of the subscribing audience.
The Vision
We first built the core proprietary systems that enable platform independence, including SSO and identity management server that connects our back-end services and front-end experience seamlessly.
Our most recent achievement has unlocked the ability to integrate video-on-demand streaming, pre-funding, crowdfunding, sales, wiki editing, and subscriptions into a unified, single-page experience. With this technical milestone due to begin a phased release to the public in February, we hope to move to our next phase of development by Q3.
Upon achieving sufficient capitalization, we’ll enter a long process of executing new milestones that open up the potential of our new platform, including a unique video player that makes our integrated system shareable and embeddable, plugins to enable creators to use our technology on their own sites, improving our crowdfunding dashboard for creators, and reducing interface friction for viewers and subscribers.
TFN is preparing a slate of content crowdfunding campaigns for partner producers in 2020, beginning with season two of Ren: The Girl with the Mark and season three of AFK. We continue to license content from third-party creators and our parent companies all have numerous projects in the crowdfunding and production queue for 2020, including new seasons of JourneyQuest, The Rangers, and Strowlers.
We are also pursuing partnerships with distribution companies who can offer pre-sale agreements for TFN content, as well as more opportunities to license our library on other platforms.
Because the film industry is in constant flux and because most deals never reach production, it’s important to note that while we have many additional projects and partnerships in development, it’s safer to assume that they don’t exist unless and until contracts are signed and funding is released.
To date our marketing has been entirely based on word-of-mouth and email outreach from our parent companies. A successful raise on Start Engine will allow us to retain dedicated marketing services to begin formal campaigns and outreach as the platform and our content library mature.
We are booked to exhibit in 2020 at Gen Con Indy, where we hope to again sponsor their film festival (as we did in 2019).
A successful raise on StartEngine will enable us to move from incubation to independence, hiring new staff across key areas, including individual management of our technology, marketing, distribution, production, community-building, and crowdfunding initiatives.
Our Team
The best technology means nothing without content that people want to watch.
With decades of combined experience, dozens of successful shows and movies, and multiple passionate global fan bases, our team knows how to deliver content, engage audiences, and maintain lean, efficient businesses.
As Zombie Orpheus, Arrowstorm, The Forge, and Recursor, we have collectively raised millions of crowdfunding dollars, distributed and sold film and television projects for millions more, and maintained a creative focus on original storytelling. Audiences return to us for more, again and again, because we understand that a compelling story with relatable characters is fundamental.
A great company also calls for a great team!
We've assembled an experienced board of advisors from a variety of professional backgrounds, but with one common factor: everyone involved with creating The Fantasy Network is an accomplished storyteller who believes in the power of fantasy and science fiction to say something true about our own world. We tell stories that are true to our hearts, stories that matter to us and to our communities, and that passion drives every decision that we make. The Fantasy Network is not only a business, it's a labor of love from storytellers who care about the future.
Why Invest
Because TFN is focused on empowering a global community of fans and creators, we are funding on StartEngine so that fans and creators can become stakeholders in our mission and company.
If you want to own a studio that will fund films by and for Hollywood celebrities, you’re in the wrong place.
If you want to own part of a community-focused studio that empowers YOUR voice to watch, create, fund, and distribute independent fantasy film and television, this project is for you!
Science fiction fans gain more online SVOD access to indie sci-fi entertainment
Company | : | The Fantasy Network Corporation |
Corporate Address | : | 4152 Meridian St. Suite 105 #65, Bellingham, WA 98226 |
Offering Minimum | : | $10,000.00 |
Offering Maximum | : | $1,070,000.00 |
Minimum Investment Amount(per investor) | : | $100.00 |
Offering Type | : | Equity |
Security Name | : | Class B Non-Voting Common Stock |
Minimum Number of Shares Offered | : | 2,000 |
Maximum Number of Shares Offered | : | 21,400 |
Price per Share | : | $5.00 |
Pre-Money Valuation | : | $8,300,000.00 |
*Maximum Number of Shares Offered subject to adjustment for bonus shares. See Bonus info below.
Company Perks*
EARLY BIRD INVESTOR PERKS
First 48 Hours – Friends & Family Early Birds | 15% Bonus Shares
Next Five Days – Early Bird Bonus | 10% Bonus Shares
Volume-based
$100+ one year subscription, invite to the annual meeting and party, access to private investors Facebook group.
$250+ Lifetime subscription, Early cast/crew announcements, invite to private hangouts Livestream.
$500+ Be the first to read and share new input on projects, vote on content to develop.
$1,000+ Access to private development channel on discord, VIP invites to TFN events
$5,000+ Beta access for new features and milestones
$10,000+ Semi-annual Livestream HNI meeting, 5% bonus shares
$20,000+ One site visit per year on TFN films / series - 10% bonus shares
$50,000+ executive producer credit on a Fantasy Network project
*All perks occur when the offering is completed.
The 10% Bonus for StartEngine Shareholders
The Fantasy Network Corporation will offer 10% additional bonus shares for all investments that are committed by investors that are eligible for the StartEngine Crowdfunding Inc. OWNer's bonus.
This means eligible StartEngine shareholders will receive a 10% bonus for any shares they purchase in this offering. For example, if you buy 100 shares of Class B Non-Voting Common Stock at $5/ share, you will receive 110 Class B Non-Voting Common Stock, meaning you'll own 110 shares for $500. Fractional shares will not be distributed and share bonuses will be determined by rounding down to the nearest whole share.
This 10% Bonus is only valid during the investors eligibility period. Investors eligible for this bonus will also have priority if they are on a waitlist to invest and the company surpasses its maximum funding goal. They will have the first opportunity to invest should room in the offering become available if prior investments are cancelled or fail.
Investors will only receive a single bonus, which will be the highest bonus rate they are eligible for.
A crowdfunding investment involves risk. You should not invest any funds in this offering unless you can afford to lose your entire investment. In making an investment decision, investors must rely on their own examination of the issuer and the terms of the offering, including the merits and risks involved. These securities have not been recommended or approved by any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority. Furthermore, these authorities have not passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this document. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not pass upon the merits of any securities offered or the terms of the offering, nor does it pass upon the accuracy or completeness of any offering document or literature. These securities are offered under an exemption from registration; however, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has not made an independent determination that these securities are exempt from registration.
Just a quick note of thanks from our TFN Family to yours! We so appreciate that WE all have a group like TFN to find other like-minded fantasy and sci-fi storytellers just as passionate as us.
Who would have thought that launching something in 2020 would be so hard for so many? During these holidays, it's a time of reflection and introspection but also a time for hope and dreams. A time of focus and resolution.
TFN exists because of YOU. Take hope in that. Take pride in that. Our stories have never mattered more.
“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” ― Neil Gaiman, Coraline
May these holidays bring you respite, because we're coming out swinging in 2021!
Greetings!
We just sent out an investors' newsletter, so if you are not getting these, please do reach out and let us know so we can get you in the know!
We salute all of our veterans out there who fought in the name of freedom.
Thank you for being part of The Fantasy Network!
We're privileged to have you as friends, collaborators, customers, supporters, and investors.
We're also thrilled to announce that our new store is now live! It includes discs, digital downloads, art, t-shirts, merch, and so much more. Plus, because we built it through Gumroad, your account from prior purchases or signups is ready to go.
https://store.thefantasy.network/?sort=newest
We're launching with over one hundred products, including films from The Fantasy Network and more. Plus, we're adding dozens of more products over the next month!
You can find DVDs, Blu-rays, DRM-free digital downloads, museum-quality art prints, t-shirts, mugs, pins, collectible books, PDFs, roleplaying games, and more!
The Fantasy Network store is designed to make sure that the creators you love make as much money as possible from every sale, so they can focus on creating more content. When you purchase from us, you help creators remain independent!
[The following is an automated notice from the StartEngine team].
Hello! Recently, a change was made to the The Fantasy Network offering. Here's an excerpt describing the specifics of the change:
The Fantasy Network extended their campaign for 60 days.
When live offerings undergo changes like these on StartEngine, the SEC requires that certain investments be reconfirmed. If your investment requires reconfirmation, you will be contacted by StartEngine via email with further instructions.
[The following is an automated notice from the StartEngine team].
Hello!
As you might know, The Fantasy Network has exceeded its minimum funding goal. When a company reaches its minimum on StartEngine, it's about to begin withdrawing funds. If you invested in The Fantasy Network be on the lookout for an email that describes more about the disbursement process.
This campaign will continue to accept investments until its indicated closing date.
Thanks for funding the future.
-StartEngine
[The following is an automated notice from the StartEngine team].
Hello! Recently, a change was made to the The Fantasy Network offering. Here's an excerpt describing the specifics of the change:
Extended length of campaign.
When live offerings undergo changes like these on StartEngine, the SEC requires that certain investments be reconfirmed. If your investment requires reconfirmation, you will be contacted by StartEngine via email with further instructions.
Hey everyone –
Ben here. I apologize, I didn't vet a communication that went out regarding investor onboarding for subscriptions and Discord access and there's been some confusion about how to access your rewards. This update will hopefully help clarify the process and help you through any pain points.
First, onboarding happens on a rolling basis. We have to wait for your investment to close and for StartEngine to provide us with your email address. I have received email addresses through June of 2020. If you invested later, please be patient. We'll add you as we receive new closed investor reports from StartEngine.
When I receive your email address I import it into our system. Whatever email you used for StartEngine is what is tied to your subscriber access. That email address will let you sync your account at https://watch.thefantasy.network/get-started
There are two ways to access your account: by creating a password and logging in that way OR by logging in with Discord. If you wish to access Discord perks, you will need to use the second method. And (here's the fun part) your Discord email MUST match your StartEngine investor email. If you use one email for StartEngine, log in manually, then click over to the Discord server using a non-matching account, your email addresses will not sync and you will not receive the Discord roles. To use Discord, you must login to TFN with Discord.
Using matching email addresses for fully closed investments should solve access issues. If you find that you're still having problems, there's a detailed troubleshooting page to help you walk through potential problems, which includes a link to our contact form if you need direct assistance. It's available at https://watch.thefantasy.network/login-unsuccessful/.
Discord in particular can be finicky if you have multiple personal Discord accounts, so please look carefully at the troubleshooting steps. If you're not able to resolve your issues on that page, don't hesitate to reach out! You can do so via our contact form or, if you made it to the Discord, by opening a support ticket there. I'll help you directly in either location.
Thanks!
Ben
CTO & President of the Board, The Fantasy Network
Hello everyone!
We have some epic news.
The TFN team has successfully put the system in place to give everyone their subscriptions! Follow the link below, and you should be able to activate your TFN account: https://watch.thefantasy.network/get-started/
NOTE: You must use the same email address you registered with StartEngine with. This will also give you access to our TFN Discord.
I know that you all have been excited to start watching the many shows we have on TFN, and now that time has finally come! I hope you enjoy it!
As always, feel free to email If you have any trouble getting into your accounts, in fact, any bug you find, please let us know as well!
Our TFN CLOSED Investors Only group is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/901022187040948/
PS. Have you found this gem yet, "ConLanging"
[The following is an automated notice from the StartEngine team].
Hello!
As you might know, The Fantasy Network has exceeded its minimum funding goal. When a company reaches its minimum on StartEngine, it's about to begin withdrawing funds. If you invested in The Fantasy Network be on the lookout for an email that describes more about the disbursement process.
This campaign will continue to accept investments until its indicated closing date.
Thanks for funding the future.
-StartEngine
[The following is an automated notice from the StartEngine team].
Hello! Recently, a change was made to the The Fantasy Network offering. Here's an excerpt describing the specifics of the change:
Extended length of campaign.
When live offerings undergo changes like these on StartEngine, the SEC requires that certain investments be reconfirmed. If your investment requires reconfirmation, you will be contacted by StartEngine via email with further instructions.
[The following is an automated notice from the StartEngine team].
Hello!
As you might know, The Fantasy Network has exceeded its minimum funding goal. When a company reaches its minimum on StartEngine, it's about to begin withdrawing funds. If you invested in The Fantasy Network be on the lookout for an email that describes more about the disbursement process.
This campaign will continue to accept investments until its indicated closing date.
Thanks for funding the future.
-StartEngine
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