U.S. 1980s series: Documentary and other news

[jayrath]

There is an Australian documentary about our work in pre-production. I'll keep you posted. A few of us in the 1980s cast have also started our own F@cebook page for friends, fans and -- well, for ourselves. It is "Astro Boy 1980s." Brilliant title, right? Come visit and feel free to ask questions.

I am thinking of starting an OnlyFans or Patreon page to share goodies from my files, including chapters from the book I'm working on about the show. It would include voice-acting advice and information about all my other credits. Is this something people might be interested in? I could make individual audio clips? For the first time I'm being asked for autographs. There seems to be new interest, and all I can think is that our first viewers have grown up and are reaching out. (I'm still waiting to grow up, myself.)

Finally, with documentary research going on, I've unpacked all my scripts and cast lists. These contemporary materials are helping me correct errors to memory. Nothing big -- but I do feel bad. Anyway, lots of new information is coming!

As always, we thank all of the fans! I hope everyone is taking precautions and staying healthy.

[Shiyonasan]

I think there would be a sizable number of people who would enjoy seeing you start up a Patreon to share that behind-the-scenes stuff from the US dub of the 1980 series. I have an Astro Boy blog where I could put out the word on you sharing that kind of stuff.

[DrFrag]

Sounds great!

Have you considered making photocopies/scans of all your materials and storing them off-site? They seem kind of irreplacable and it would be a tragedy to lose that piece of history like the music lost in the Universal Studios fire.

[Dizrythmia]

Hi all. I'm the one working on the documentary.

Jay has been great in helping me work out a timeline and narrative, but the Japanese side of the story is proving to be a brick wall. I have had some success, but also a lot of ignored emails.

Due to my work, I don't have a lot of time to do this during the day, but I have been working hard on various bits and pieces in my evenings. It's been a lot of fun, but it's also a lot of work. As well as trying to put together a story, I am trying to find a distributor for the project when it is done. I could put it on YouTube or setup a podcast for it, but I would prefer to have a mainstream outlet for the initial release. Perhaps, if everyone involved agrees, I could create a website that contains the documentary, uncut interviews and other materials after the project is released.

So, it's a slow process, there are still more people to track down and more planning to do, but it will get there.

[AstroAllies]

Good luck on the documentary!

[_n0iro_]

Sounds Awesome, thank you for putting so much work into it!
If there is anything we can do to help you please tell us

[Kirben]

Why not try a Digital and DVD release through Madman Entertainment? they have released the 1980s series locally, and released documentaries based off popular comics/cartoons before (i.e. Tintin and I).

[Dizrythmia]

Why not try a Digital and DVD release through Madman Entertainment? they have released the 1980s series locally, and released documentaries based off popular comics/cartoons before (i.e. Tintin and I).

I have been in contact with Madman regarding their initial Astroboy release, but they are taking a very long time to get back to me. Not sure what they can offer as far as distribution.

At the moment I want to make sure I have something to show potential 3rd party distributors. I have written a 12 page narrative, and have even managed to source pressing answers that fans have had about the series for decades from Japanese contacts. At the moment I still have a few more people to track down (still no word back from Nippon TV yet), and I need to finalise the 'storyline' that will be used in a documentary. That is where the project stands at this point in time.

After that I will need to start planning interview questions for individual parties and scripting narrative parts. There's a lot more work to go!

At the end of the day, I just want to create the project and get it out there. I am not aiming to make any money on it. Before this project came along I was actually planning to undertake a PhD, but due to some admin errors from the university I missed my chance last year. I am using this project as something I can learn from. There is a lot of research, reaching out to people, reconciling conflicting information, constructing a narrative using that information and persistence! These are all skills and attributes someone needs to undertake research at university. I consider this a precursor to what I will be doing in my academic research

[jeffbert]

Interesting; thanks for sharing!