Critical Role Productions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Critical Role Productions, LLC
IndustryWeb series production
Tabletop games
Founded2015
Founders
Headquarters
Los Angeles, California
,
United States
Key people
  • Travis Willingham (CEO)
  • Matthew Mercer (CCO)
  • Marisha Ray (creative director)
  • Ed Lopez (COO)
  • Rachel Romero (SVP of marketing)
  • Ben Van Der Fluit (VP of business development)
SubsidiariesDarrington Press
Websitecritrole.com
darringtonpress.com

Critical Role Productions, LLC is a multimedia production company incorporated in 2015 by the members of the creator-owned streaming show Critical Role. The first two shows from the company, Critical Role and Talks Machina, originally premiered on Geek & Sundry. The company moved to their own studio space in 2018, and began putting out new shows on their own Twitch and YouTube channels. A split from Legendary Digital Networks was completed in early 2019, at which point Critical Role Productions took over production responsibility for the Critical Role and Talks Machina shows.

History[]

Critical Role Productions was founded by the members of the creator-owned streaming show Critical Role in 2015.[1][2] After Felicia Day heard about the group's private tabletop role-playing game from Ashley Johnson, she approached the group about playing it in a live-streamed format for Geek & Sundry.[3][4][5] In order to streamline gameplay for the show, the game's characters were converted from Pathfinder to Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition before the web series began airing on March 12, 2015.[6][7] The company's first show, Critical Role, was a huge success.[8][9] The company's second show, Talks Machina, then premiered on Geek & Sundry and Alpha, Legendary Digital Networks' subscription streaming service, in 2016.[10][11]

In June 2018, Critical Role launched its own Twitch and YouTube channels, with cast member Marisha Ray being announced as the creative director of the franchise. Critical Role then started to self-produce new shows and content which did not air on Geek & Sundry's channels.[12][13][14] The sets for Critical Role and Talks Machina moved from Legendary Digital Network's studios to Critical Role's own studios in July 2018.[15]

As of 2019, Travis Willingham serves as chief executive officer, Matthew Mercer as chief creative officer,[16] Marisha Ray as creative director,[17] Ed Lopez as chief operating officer, Rachel Romero as senior vice president of marketing, and Ben Van Der Fluit as vice president of business development.[16]

Critical Role's split from Geek & Sundry and Legendary Digital Networks completed in February 2019. From this point Critical Role took over production responsibility of the Critical Role and Talks Machina shows, with live broadcasts of their shows and VODs now airing exclusively on Critical Role's own channels.[18][19] Some "legacy episodes" (currently the entirety of Campaign 1, the first 19 episodes of Campaign 2, as well as the corresponding episodes of official discussion show Talks Machina) remain available in Geek & Sundry's archives on YouTube and Twitch.[20] Since December 2019, some older episodes of Critical Role and Talks Machina have been deleted from the Geek and Sundry channels and re-uploaded to the official Critical Role channels, beginning an ongoing migration of older content to the creator-owned channels.[21]:0:45

On March 4, 2019, Critical Role launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a 22-minute animation called Critical Role: The Legend of Vox Machina Animated Special.[22][23] The final total raised by the Kickstarter when it closed on April 19, 2019, was $11.3M turning the intended animated special into a ten episodes animated series.[24][25] When the campaign closed, it was one of the most quickly funded in Kickstarter history, and was the most funded Kickstarter for TV and film projects.[26][27] In November 2019, Amazon Prime Video announced that they had acquired the streaming rights to The Legend of Vox Machina, and had commissioned 14 additional episodes (two additional episodes for season 1 and a second season of 12 episodes).[25] The project was originally slated for release in late 2020, however in June 2020, it was announced that the debut would be missed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a new release date has yet to be announced.[28][29][30]

In September 2019, Critical Role announced it had "entered into licensing agreements with Funko, McFarlane Toys, Penguin Random House, and Ripple Junction" to produce merchandise such as apparel and collectibles.[31][32]

Critical Role aired a sponsored one-shot using the Feast of Legends RPG system—developed by fast-food chain Wendy's—on October 3, 2019.[33][34][35] Following a strong negative response from some Critical Role fans to the partnership with Wendy's;[36][37] the Critical Role team removed the VOD,[33][37] and announced via Twitter that they had donated their profits from the sponsorship.[36][38]

In the first half of 2020, a claim was made online that Critical Role had retained the services of a sensitivity reader but had not paid the individual.[38] As a result the company called in an outside counsel to investigate the claims. Whilst the investigation concluded the claims in Critical Role's favor; the person who made the original claim tweeted that they had not been contacted during the investigation.[38]

Darrington Press, a "new board and card game publishing brand", was announced by Critical Role in October 2020.[39] In August 2021, Brian W. Foster, host of Talks Machina and other shows, left the company to pursue other "creative endeavors".[40]

Productions[]

The company produces and broadcasts the following shows from its Burbank Studio location:

Current programming[]

  • Critical Role and podcast[41][42] – the series is broadcast on Thursdays at 19:00 PT on the Critical Role Twitch and YouTube channels, with the video on demand (VOD) being available to Twitch subscribers immediately after the broadcast. The VODs are made available for the public via the YouTube channel on the Monday after the live stream.[43] As part of social distancing requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic the show has switched to a pre-recorded format.[44]
  • Talks Machina and podcast – an aftershow hosted by Brian W. Foster that aired live on Critical Role's Twitch channel at 18:45 PT on the Tuesday following each new Critical Role episode.[45][41][42] In March 2020, the show went on a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic; in September 2020, the show returned in a pre-recorded format filmed from-home airing every other week.[46][47] "YouTube views tend to hover around 130-190,000 – or roughly 25 percent of the views of the [Critical Role] VOD itself".[48]:199
    • Foster and a few cast members discuss the most recent installment of Critical Role. Cast members answer questions submitted by fans, allowing the fans to gain some more insight on in-game events, decisions, or character development. Talks Machina also runs weekly competitions for fan content with prizes for the winners, such as "fan art of the week" and "cosplay of the week".[47][48]:201 The winners are announced in special segments that act as interludes during the show. Originally, the first 100 episodes of Talks Machina were broadcast on Geek & Sundry's channels. Beginning in February 2019, as part of Critical Role's split from Geek & Sundry, new episodes began airing on the Critical Role Twitch channel. The VODs are available to Twitch subscribers immediately after the initial broadcast, and are also uploaded to YouTube on the following Thursday. Beginning in December 2019, as part of the migration of older content to the Critical Role channels, some episodes of Talks Machina were deleted from Geek & Sundry's channels and re-uploaded to the official Critical Role channels.[21]:0:45
  • Crit Recap Animated – an animated spinoff of Critical Recap hosted by Dani Carr. It is co-written by Carr, Kyle Shire and Marisha Ray with animation by Offworld Studios. The show retells Campaign 2 story arcs in short 5-10 minute episodes. Episode 1 premiered in December 2020 and introduced the main characters of the Mighty Nein.[49][50] New episodes have been released in 2021 on an irregular schedule.[51]
  • Critter Hug – a to-camera show starring Mica Burton and Matt Mercer. The hosts introduce and talk around topics relevant to the "Critter" community. Only the first episode of the show was aired before California's COVID-19 pandemic lockdown measures began. In February 2021, the show returned with an intermittent release.[52][53][54]
  • #EverythingIsContent – a show of no fixed format. Several of the episodes have had sponsored content. The show can be something of a testbed for the studio too; with Pub Draw and MAME Drop originally piloted as episodes of #EverythingIsContent.[55]
  • Narrative Telephone – the Critical Role cast and guests[56] play a socially distanced version of Telephone using pre-recorded video messages.[52]
  • Mighty Vibes – a playlist of songs curated to the aesthetic of one, or more, of the members of the Mighty Nein. Songs play over a looped animation featuring said member. Sound clips taken from Critical Role are interspersed throughout the playlist.[52]
  • Exandria Unlimited – an eight episode limited series which premiered on June 24, 2021, featuring a canon Critical Role story set in the city of Emon on the continent of Tal'Dorei 30 years after Campaign One and 10 years after Campaign Two.[57][58] The show features Aabria Iyengar as the game master and stars Aimee Carrero, Robbie Daymond, Ashley Johnson, Matthew Mercer, Liam O’Brien and Anjali Bhimani as players.[59][60][61]

Future programming[]

  • The Legend of Vox Machina – the animated series based on events in campaign one. The first ten episodes of season one were financed through a Kickstarter campaign, with Amazon picking up distribution and green-lighting an additional 14 episodes (two additional episodes for the first season and a 12 episode second season).[13][62] The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the release schedule from Fall 2020 to a date yet to be announced.[28]

On hiatus[]

  • All Work No Play and podcast – Liam O'Brien and Sam Riegel catch up over a drink and try a new activity each episode. The show was developed from Liam and Sam's original AWNP podcast (2012–2017), which predates the home game that would become Critical Role. Season one aired in 2018 and season two aired in 2020.[63][64][65][66] Season three is scheduled to premiere on September 28, 2021.[67]
  • MAME Drop – Taliesin Jaffe and guest(s) play old-school arcade games on the studio's MAME cabinet.[68][48][69]
  • Mini Primetime – A show hosted by Will Friedle on how to improve painting techniques, specifically for Dungeons and Dragons miniatures.[70][71] Season one aired in 2019.
  • Pub Draw – Marisha Ray is taught how to improve her drawing by comic book artist, and Critter, Babs Tarr.[72][73] Seasons one and two aired in 2019.[55]

The following shows are currently on un-planned hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic:[74]

  • Between the Sheets – Brian W. Foster interviews a different guest each episode. Non-Critical Role guests have included Logic and Amanda Palmer.[55] Season one aired in 2018 and season two aired in 2019. Season 3 was scheduled to premiere on August 5, 2020.[75][76]
  • Travis Willingham's Yeehaw Game Ranch – Travis Willingham and Brian W. Foster play video games.[55][73]

Former programming[]

  • AWNP: Unplugged – Sam Riegel and Liam O'Brien catch-up via video chat during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each episode after the first has also featured another Critical Role cast member, or a friend of the cast, as a guest (also joining via video chat).[52] Andy Wilson, for Bleeding Cool, highlighted the show as "a Zoom chat between friends, mostly about their dogs, their kids, and how they were dealing with the lockdown, and how much they missed each other. It was an exercise in human connection, and it was so beautifully simple. It also garnered hundreds of thousands of views every week".[77]
  • Critical Recap – A look back on previous episodes of Critical Role hosted by Dani Carr, production coordinator for Critical Role. Starting with Episode 11 of Campaign two, Critical Recap aired on the Geek & Sundry Twitch channel before the Critical Role live stream on Thursdays.[78] After Critical Role's split from Geek & Sundry, new episodes of Critical Recap premiered on Critical Role's YouTube channel every Tuesday, while a rebroadcast aired on the Critical Role Twitch channel immediately before the Critical Role live stream on Thursdays. On YouTube, "as a standalone stream", the show had "roughly 20-50,000 views per recap".[48]:197 The video format for Critical Recap was last used for episode 88 of Campaign two. Beginning 2020, the show was replaced by a written recap made available on the Critical Role website.[79] An animated version of the show was launched in December 2020.
  • Handbooker Helper – A series of introductory to-camera videos on the different elements of Dungeons and Dragons hosted by different members of the Critical Role cast. The show's name is a parody of Hamburger Helper and a reference to the Player's Handbook. Though not a requirement to watch, the Critical Role campaigns are often alluded to through inside jokes and other meta-references.[80][65] A total of 42 episodes of Handbooker Helper were released before the series concluded in June 2019.[68] In preparation for a Valentine's Day one-shot, an episode of Handbooker Helper explaining the basics of the Monsterhearts 2 role-playing game was released February 6, 2020.[81]
  • UnDeadwood – A four-part limited series in which Brian W. Foster GMs a game based on the HBO series Deadwood, using the Deadlands RPG system.[82][73]
  • Yee-Haw Off the Ranch – an at home version of Travis Willingham's Yeehaw Game Ranch starring Ashley Johnson and Brian W. Foster during the COVID-19 pandemic.[52]

Broadcast[]

Critical Role Productions primarily broadcasts on the Critical Role Twitch and YouTube channels. This includes both livestreaming and video on demand (VOD).[14][48][83]

Podcasts[]

The Critical Role podcast was announced during the 100th episode of the first campaign. It is an audio version of the game sessions.[84][85] As well as the Critical Role website, the podcast is available on iTunes, Google Play Music,[86] and Spotify.

The first campaign's podcast episodes were released in batches of 10–15, between June 8, 2017[84] and January 8, 2018.[87] "Listened to at 1.5X speed, total listening time of the first campaign would be reduced to a little over 298 hours – at 2X speed, under 224 hours".[48]:197 The podcast episodes for the second campaign have been released on the Thursday after the episode streamed on Twitch.[88] "Fans often recommend that a listener supplement their experience with strategic viewing of notable visual moments".[48]:197

Talks Machina has been available in a podcast format since episode 101. Like the podcast version of Critical Role; there is a week's delay between the broadcast of Talks Machina on Twitch, and the corresponding podcast episode's release.[89]

Licensed works and related products[]

Main article: Critical Role–related products

Critical Role's commercial success has led to many other related products, including a prequel comic series,[90][91] art books,[92][93] two campaign setting books (Critical Role: Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting and Explorer's Guide to Wildemount),[94][95] and an upcoming animated series.[23][25] Hobby and toy stores sell miniatures and other collectibles related to Critical Role.[96][97]

Reception[]

In March 2020, CNBC reported that "since amicably parting ways with Geek & Sundry in 2018, Critical Role has become its own media company, with hundreds of thousands of subscribers across several social media platforms, and more than 120 million views on YouTube. [...] Critical Role has offered a diverse line-up of D&D games. There’s the long-form fantasy campaign that the whole group participates in weekly and then there are shorter-form series like 'Undeadwood,' a western themed game, that may interest the same fan base, or entice new viewers who are more interested in that genre".[14]

As of January 2021, Critical Role has 44,000 paid subscribers on Twitch, and 220 million views across the channel.[83] The first episode of campaign one has been watched 15 million times on YouTube.[83] During the last 10 months of Campaign Two, between August 2020 and May 2021, Twitch subscriptions averaged around 27,000 paid subscribers.[98]

Emily Friedman, in the book Roleplaying Games in the Digital Age: Essays on Transmedia Storytelling, Tabletop RPGs and Fandom (2021), highlighted that "while Talks Machina offers the potential for additional narrative details, its chief appeal is how it creates an informal, even chaotic space for the players within the social frame, and is a mediated space where fans are names and their labor showcased through the intermediaries of Foster and Carr, who are not players but viewers of the show, and who have become beloved in their own right. Other livestreams (Game Ranch, MAME Drop) have subsequently leaned into this parasocial pleasure, allowing for more time 'with' the cast".[48]:202

Accolades[]

The Critical Role channel has won the following awards:

Year Award Category Result Ref
2019 Webby Awards Video Series & Channels – Games Won (Webby Award & People's Voice) [99]
2019 Shorty Awards Games Won (Finalist & Audience Honor) [100]

Charity involvement[]

Critical Role Productions and Stephen Colbert teamed up for Red Nose Day for a special one-on-one adventure with Matthew Mercer as Dungeon Master that aired on May 23, 2019. Fans were able to donate to the cause and vote for elements of the adventure such as Colbert's companion, his class, his legendary weapon, and the villain. In the one-shot campaign, Colbert played a half-elf bard named Capo, and had a bee named Eric as a companion. The event raised $117,176.20 for the charity.[101][102][103][104][105]

Critical Role Foundation[]

The official logo.

Critical Role Productions launched a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Critical Role Foundation,[106] in September 2020 with the mission statement: "to leave the world better than we found it". Ashley Johnson has been named President of the organization with Matthew Mercer, Eduardo Lopez, Rachel Romero, and Mark Koro as officers and board members.[107] Critical Role Foundation states that 85% of donation funds will go to partner non-profits, 10% will be allocated into an emergency fund, and 5% will be allocated to administrative fees and operating expenses. The emergency fund will allow the foundation "to donate funds in the event of natural disasters and other unforeseen events that require immediate humanitarian assistance".[108] CBR reported that "Critical Role Foundation will partner with other organizations in the nonprofit sector that share the same values as Critical Role and its community, in addition to raising emergency relief funds to be put toward immediate humanitarian aid as needed. Its inaugural partnership will be with First Nations Development Institute, which seeks to strengthen Native American economies and communities. CRF aims to raise $50 thousand for First Nations, which will fund the Native Youth & Culture Fund for two initiatives over the course of one year".[107]

In an interview, Johnson said "We’ve worked with a handful of nonprofits over the years that focus on causes that Critical Role and the community care most about. These charities include 826LA, Red Nose Day, OSD, Pablove and OutRight International, and since we began streaming in 2015, the Critical Role community has raised well over half a million dollars for these organizations. [...] We wanted to go the 501(c)(3) route so that donors are able to do tax-deductible donations. [...] CRF is definitely going to have a presence within the wider Critical Role world, but it’s going to act as a separate entity tied to the main one".[109]

Beginning on April 15, 2021, Critical Role Foundation partnered with 826LA to raise money for creating a Writers Room at Venice High School, hoping to get donations totaling $150,000[110]

Reference section[]

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