I've been trying to fix my sleep schedule lately, and that's meant a lot of time spent on the couch. I usually put a couple YouTube channels on shuffle, and for the most part it's stuff I've already seen before: I find it really interesting when people have things that they keep coming back to for comfort.
A reminder that my writing can be supported on a per-piece basis on Patreon! I do perks for my patrons including audio/video versions of my articles, my process work, and other personal updates.
I started watching RedLetterMedia in the early 2010s, when I came across their reviews of the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies. Both this series and their work with the Star Wars prequels made their channel explode in a pretty short amount of time, and for good reason; they did the whole "film criticism essay" deal in both a funny and high-quality way.
I've been fascinated with this channel in the years since, because they didn't just look to do the same thing over and over; instead of focusing on these "bad movie reviews" based on a character, Mr. Plinkett, they decided to split their work across a few different series. Half in the Bag reviews modern films, Best of the Worst reviews things from old instructional tapes to exploitation movies, and Re:View takes a look at classics.
The funny thing is, their fanbase clamors for those Mr. Plinkett reviews, and there's almost a bit of resistance from RLM to do them. That's part of why I like them.
In a lot of ways, RedLetterMedia goes against the grain in what people consider to be good community management for modern creators. They keep their community at a distance, and I think that they keep it that way to avoid their fans' expectations from interfering with their work.
All the usual things that you'd expect aren't really present: no Discord, no streams (well, anymore), a barebones shop, and 2/3 of their main cast don't have or use Twitter. There's basically just a main account to use for releasing new videos, and plugging their shop; even their Patreon is still distant, and is firmly a one-way news source. They aren’t looking for feedback, suggestions, or questions to answer on-air.
It's weird, because my gut feeling is to say that they're missing out, but I feel that they can make this work because of the quality of their product. RLM has roots with trained filmmaking, and their videos are shot in a different way than I've seen a lot of other channels of their type.
The focus on mixing scripted and ad-libbed sequences don't come off as one of those terrible "skit-based" review shows, and all of their talent comes off as likeable and authentic. While not a "big YouTube studio" channel, they still construct sets and gimmicks that feel high-quality without screaming "trying too hard."
They even lampoon the type of video these kind of channels would make.
An authentic DIY feeling needs to be bundled with almost a punk mindset: if they were throwing out Lootcrate or Raid: Shadow Legends sponsorships in each video, it would drastically change the quality and enjoyment of them.
In a way, I think part of their success is that they keep their fanbase from interacting with them too much, so the magic doesn't exactly get exposed. While two of their members did do a Twitch stream at one point, they stopped because the product became something they didn't enjoy doing: I find it refreshing seeing creators acknowledge being okay with not milking potential audience.
There's always that platitude of "we wouldn't do it if we didn't like it", but I feel like as creators grow big enough, that gets cast aside. This also happens if they make a large amount of money from crowdfunding like Patreon, because suddenly there's both expectation from the community, and also a desire for long-term stability.
RedLetterMedia are very successful on Patreon, but even the $10,000+ a month isn't going to sustain salaries for 3+ people; the ability to push themselves into products that make sense for them long-term mean that they need to be able to enjoy what they're doing.
I firmly believe that if things stopped being fun, they wouldn't do the channel anymore, and that earns a lot of respect from me. A common thread on their community-run subreddit is how "different" RLM feels compared to other channels of their size, and that "different" can only be a good thing as YouTube gets more saturated.
They build an attachment to their product without stoking a parasocial relationship. It’s almost a crush that plays hard-to-get; you feel rewarded for making your own connections with them, rather than them insisting you do it in a certain way.
It's very much a feeling of “this thing you like” being in a silo, and that silo being somewhat protected from the rest of the world. RedLetterMedia isn't by any means difficult to get into, but there's still that "these are "our guys" feeling that makes things special.
I think that unique is interesting, and it takes a bit of discipline from a person to keep true to their principles for such a long time.
Being able to say "we don't consider you our friends, and we don't want to hang out with you" in a confident, non-malicious way means that they’re comfortable leaving money on the table if it means keeping their sanity. In a way, they're respecting us by being honest; they don't care about our opinions on movies, but they aren't constantly calling them (and us) trash. They just would rather not fake it, and that counts for a lot.
Again, I think the main reason they can do this is the quality of their product. Without the film knowledge and production value, there probably wouldn't be a "can't get this elsewhere" feeling at all.
This newsletter isn't to convert people to the channel, but more to get people thinking about how certain channels garner support without needing to play the metagame of what is successful in content creation.
In some cases (like this), just being strong enough with authenticity and quality will get you there.
Housekeeping
Not much going on from me this week besides working to fix that sleep schedule. I should be writing a couple articles before the end of the year, including one on Cyberpunk 2077, a game I finished today.
See y’all next week! If you want to support my writing, consider sharing this newsletter or becoming my patron on Patreon.