Glitch Productions

Last updated

Glitch Productions Pty. Ltd.
Glitch Productions
FormerlyGlitchy Boy (2017–2018)
Company type Private
Industry Animation
Founded24 May 2017;7 years ago (2017-05-24)
Founders
  • Kevin Lerdwichagul
  • Luke Lerdwichagul
Headquarters
Sydney, New South Wales
,
Australia
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Kevin Lerdwichagul (CEO)
  • Luke Lerdwichagul (CCO)
  • Jasmine Yang (COO)
Products
Services Computer animation
Web series
Subsidiaries FinalFinal_Project
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2020–present
Subscribers12 million [1]
Total views1.316 billion [1]
YouTube Silver Play Button 2.svg100,000 subscribers2020
YouTube Gold Play Button 2.svg1,000,000 subscribers2022
YouTube Diamond Play Button.svg10,000,000 subscribers2024
Last updated: 7 July 2024
Website glitchprod.com

Glitch Productions Pty. Ltd. (also known as Glitch, and formerly Glitchy Boy or Glitchy Boy Productions) is an Australian indie animation studio based in Sydney, New South Wales. The studio was founded in 2017 by producer Kevin Lerdwichagul and animator Luke Lerdwichagul, who is known for being the creator of the machinima sketch comedy web series SMG4.

Contents

Glitch is known for independently producing and funding animated web series such as Meta Runner , Sunset Paradise, Murder Drones, and The Amazing Digital Circus. The company was featured in Forbes' 30 Under 30 list for Media, Marketing, and Advertising in 2023. [2]

History

Background

Co-founder Luke Lerdwichagul started making videos in 2009. On 7 May 2011, at the age of 11, Luke created his first web series; a Super Mario 64 -based machinima later to be known as SMG4 (an acronym of his YouTube channel name, "SuperMarioGlitchy4"). [3] Produced using footage from an emulated version of Super Mario 64, the series originally focused Mario and other characters from the greater Mario franchise going on adventures that often involve parodies of internet memes and pop culture. [4] Overtime, the series would begin using Garry's Mod as a base, and featured a more prominent cast of original characters.

Around 2016, Luke's older brother, Kevin Lerdwichagul, had observed the channel and its wide audience. He saw the potential to form a business around the channel, later joining SMG4 as a full-time writer and producer. Luke took on a directing role, as well as voicing his titular author surrogate character. [5] In interviews, the brothers have acknowledged their use of copyrighted characters from Nintendo and other third-parties in their videos. However, they were always careful to never place such characters in hateful or defamatory context. [4] [6]

Formation

Logo used from 2018 to 2023 Glitch Productions Logo.jpeg
Logo used from 2018 to 2023

On 24 May 2017, Luke uploaded a fan mail video to the SMG4 channel, where he briefly mentioned that he founded a company, dubbed Glitchy Boy, to represent the SMG4, Hobo Bros., and "TheAwesomeMario" YouTube channels. [‡ 1] On 5 September 2018, a more formal announcement video was uploaded called "SMG4 Direct (HUGE CHANNEL UPDATE)", where Luke and Kevin fully explained the concept of their company, now rebranded as Glitch Productions. During the video, they also unveiled Hitbox, a live-action series starring Kevin and Luke acting as various Nintendo characters. [‡ 2]

On 5 December 2018, following multiple teasers on the SMG4 channel, Glitch released the trailer for Meta Runner , and the first series premiered on 25 July 2019. [7] The series was funded by Screen Australia, and became the top-performing online investment from the company, racking up 10 million+ viewers across its first season. Meta Runner was later posted on Glitch Productions. [8] The first season was also financed with support from Crunchyroll and AMD, [9] and financed in association with Epic Games. [9] [10] On 20 April 2020, Screen Australia announced that they would be funding a second season of Meta Runner. [11]

2020–present

On 27 August 2020, Glitch officially separated the SMG4 channel from Glitch, and created the GLITCH channel to focus on its Non-SMG4 projects. Its first videos released that day would be an announcement video and the first season of Meta Runner remade in Movie format. [‡ 3] They would soon after release the pilot to Ultra Jump Mania (a spin-off of Meta Runner that would later be cancelled) and season 2 of Meta Runner.

On 12 March 2021, Glitch unveiled an SMG4 spin-off centered on the character Meggy Spletzer called Sunset Paradise. The pilot would be released on 26 March 2021. [‡ 4] On 12 May 2021, Sunset Paradise received online production funding from Screen Australia. [12]

On 9 October 2021, it was announced that Glitch would be releasing a pilot titled Murder Drones on 29 October, created, written, and directed by Liam Vickers. While earlier Glitch projects were essentially created on a monetary loss, Murder Drones greatly outperformed expectations and received millions of views per episode. [13] [14]

On 1 September 2023, Glitch announced that they would be hosting an livestreaming event called "Glitch X" on 9 November 2023; where they would announce their upcoming show, The Gaslight District, in collaboration with animator Nick Szopko. [15]

On 13 October 2023, the pilot for The Amazing Digital Circus was released, a series created in collaboration with Gooseworx. The pilot would garner 100 million views in its first month, becoming the most popular indie animation video. The Amazing Digital Circus would also increase Glitch's notoriety, garnering news coverage, as well as their YouTube channel eventually reaching 10 million subscribers and 1 billion total views. [16] [17]

On 3 November 2023, Glitch uploaded a new version of its YouTube channel trailer titled WELCOME TO GLITCH, wherein the Lerdwichagul brothers state the goals of the company in a slight comedic manner, with Luke stating that the main goal is "to make unique animated shows and tell stories that could never have existed in the Western world without independently-funded animation". [‡ 5]

On 7 June 2024, the company would also launch a subscription service to help fund their programming called "Glitch Inn".

On 5 July 2024, Glitch launched 'FinalFinal_Project', a merchandise company that helps funding with other shows, with Iron Circus Animation, the producers of the Lackadaisy animated adaptation, being their first partners. [18]

On 4 October 2024, following prior rumours, Glitch officially announced the debut of The Amazing Digital Circus to Netflix. It is the first Glitch production to be available on the platform. Glitch has stated that Netflix will have no creative control over the series, and new episodes would continue to premiere on YouTube first. [19]

Controversy and criticism

In March 2024, Glitch was accused of firing the voice actress for Tari from Meta Runner and SMG4, Celeste Notley-Smith, in a callous manner, and recasting her with Lottie Bourne, which led to allegations against the studio and confusion among fans. Notley-Smith wrote on Twitter that she was not notified of her role being recast. Several days later, she released a statement in which she explained that after discovering she had been recast, she reached out to the Lerdwichaguls, asking why she was removed from her role without contact from the team. It was later stated by general manager Jasmine Yang that it was down to a communication error on her (Yang's) part. Despite this, Robyn Barry-Cotter, the voice actress for Theo from Meta Runner, left Glitch Productions due to the controversy, which also left the SMG4 character SMG2 without a voice. [20]

The studio was additionally alleged of longer work hours, blacklisting of ex-employees, and harassment, largely from Kevin Lerdwichagul; however, these allegations have since been labelled as dubious. On 4 March 2024, Kevin released a statement via Glitch's social media outlets addressing the controversies, doubling as an apology to workers who had negative experience with the company. Kevin additionally claimed the studio had faced prior issues due to being short-staffed, but had largely resolved worker conditions by 2023. The response was accepted by the majority of Glitch's employees and fans, though some were still concerned that Notley-Smith's firing was never addressed. [21]

Filmography

Current

TitleCreator(s)Premiere dateCurrent seasonNote(s)Ref(s)
SMG4Luke Lerdwichagul8 May 201114Known as SM64 Bloopers until April 2017. [5]
The Amazing Digital Circus Gooseworx13 October 20231Second series not created by Kevin and Luke Lerdwichagul [22]

Upcoming

TitleCreator(s)Premiere dateRef(s)
The Gaslight DistrictNick SzopkoTBA1

[‡ 6]

Former

TitleCreator(s)Premiere dateFinale dateNote(s)
TheAwesomeMario [23] Kevin Lerdwichagul
Luke Lerdwichagul		14 July 201331 December 2017YouTube channel featuring SMG4-related shorts and other content. The channel was created on 12 July 2013, two days prior to the release of the super mario 64 bloopers: youtube mario? episode, and was originally run by Mario in-universe. [‡ 7]
Hobo Bros.3 December 20161 January 2021 (On indefinite hiatus)YouTube channel involving Let's Play and reactions
Hitbox21 September 201820 December 2019Live action series
Meta Runner 25 July 201910 September 2022The first season was uploaded on the SMG4 channel, with two subsequent seasons uploaded on the GLITCH channel
Sunset Paradise26 March 202131 July 2021Spin-off of SMG4
Murder Drones Liam Vickers29 October 202123 August 2024First series not created by Kevin and Luke Lerdwichagul

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney Television Animation</span> American animation studio

Disney Television Animation (DTVA) is an American animation production company that serves as the television animation production arm of Disney Branded Television, a division of Disney General Entertainment Content, which is a division of Disney Entertainment, which is one of the three main divisions of The Walt Disney Company. The studio was originally established in 1984, by Gary Krisel during the reorganization and subsequent re-incorporation of Disney following the arrival of then CEO Michael Eisner that year.

<i>Super Mario World</i> (TV series) Television series

Super Mario World is an animated television series based on the video game of the same name by Nintendo. It is the third series based on the Mario video game series. Thirteen episodes of the show were aired as part of a block with Captain N: The Game Master, called Captain N and the New Super Mario World, on NBC. The animation was provided by Pacific Rim Productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KevJumba</span> American blogger, American online personality

Kevin Wu is a retired American YouTuber best known under his former username KevJumba. The San Francisco Chronicle's Jeff Yang has noted that Wu is not a comedian in the conventional sense but that by "just talking [he] is, well, pretty hilarious" due to his deadpan vocal delivery, animated facial expressions and tendency toward unexpected digressions.

Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced by East Asian media, including Japanese anime, and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with a Japanese branch located in Shibuya, Tokyo.

<i>The Amazing World of Gumball</i> Animated sitcom

The Amazing World of Gumball is an animated sitcom created by Ben Bocquelet for Cartoon Network. The series follows the lives of 12-year-old Gumball Watterson, an anthropomorphic blue cat, and his adoptive goldfish brother Darwin, who attend middle school in the fictional city of Elmore. They often find themselves in various shenanigans around the city, during which they interact with fellow family members—younger sister Anais, mother Nicole, and father Richard—along with an extended supporting cast of characters.

<i>Killer Bean Forever</i> 2008 American animated film by Jeff Lew

Killer Bean Forever is a 2008 American animated action film written, produced, and directed by Jeff Lew, starring Vegas E. Trip, Bryan Session, David Guilmette, Matthew Tyler and Jeff Lew. It is part of a larger Killer Bean media franchise and was preceded by two web shorts: Killer Bean: The Interrogation in 1996, and Killer Bean 2: The Party in 2000. Taking place in a world of anthropomorphic coffee beans, the film's plot follows a bean assassin named Jack "Killer" Bean, who is sent to hunt down a crime boss, while he himself is hunted by mercenaries and the police.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Sugg</span> English YouTuber

Joseph Graham Sugg is an English YouTuber and actor. In 2012, he began posting videos on the YouTube channel ThatcherJoe, currently at over 7 million subscribers. In 2018, he was a finalist on the sixteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing, and in 2019, he portrayed Ogie Anhorn in the West End production of Waitress. He is the younger brother of fellow YouTuber Zoe Sugg.

Scott Buchanan, known online as Pannenkoek2012, pannenkoek2012, pannenkoek or pannen, is a YouTube personality who specializes in highly in-depth and technical Super Mario 64 videos. He is best known for his "A-button challenge" videos, in which he attempts to play Super Mario 64 while pressing the A-button as few times as possible. The A-button is the "jump" button, and a normal playthrough of Super Mario 64 can be expected to take thousands of A-presses.

Silvergate Media Limited, operating as Sony Pictures Television – Kids, is a television production and brand licensing company based in New York City and London. The company was founded in 2011 by Waheed Alli, Elizabeth Dampier and William Astor and was acquired by Sony Pictures Television in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TheOdd1sOut</span> American YouTuber and animator (born 1996)

Robert James Rallison, known online as TheOdd1sOut, is an American YouTuber, cartoonist, animator, author, and voice actor. He is known for producing storytime animations on his YouTube channel and co-creating, starring in, and executive producing the Netflix animated series Oddballs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alpharad</span> American YouTuber and esports personality (born 1995)

Jacob Rabon IV, better known by his online name Alpharad, is an American YouTuber, Twitch streamer, Esports personality, and musician. He is known for his gaming videos, especially on the Super Smash Bros. series along with his participation in the fighting game community as an announcer/commentator. He is also known for his "Nuzlocke" content, a variation on the game Pokémon to make it more difficult. Currently, he focuses on creating variety content, commonly with his friends.

<i>Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur</i> American animated television series

Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is an American animated television series developed by Steve Loter, Jeffrey M. Howard, and Kate Kondell for Disney Channel. Based on the characters of the same names by Marvel Comics, the series follows Lunella Lafayette and her dinosaur companion "Devil Dinosaur".

Meta Runner is an Australian independent-animated web series created by Kevin and Luke Lerdwichagul. Produced by Glitch Productions, with funding support from Screen Australia, Crunchyroll, AMD, and Epic Games, it premiered on YouTube on July 25, 2019, with season 2 premiering on the channel GLITCH on October 16, 2020. The third and final season premiered on July 22, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WillNE</span> British internet personality

William Jonathan Lenney, better known as WillNE, is an English YouTuber and internet personality based in Newcastle. Lenney's content is noted for both his videos focusing around internet culture and his practical jokes, such as getting a variety of YouTubers to collaboratively sing the song "All Star" without their knowledge, and fooling several media organisations into thinking he was a contestant on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. Lenney's style of content was described by Vice Media in 2018 as designed for "teenagers hyper-literate on internet culture." In January 2024, Lenney became a co-owner of Quadrant Esports, a content creation and apparel brand founded by Lando Norris.

Murder Drones is an Australian independent-animated web series created, written, and directed by Liam Vickers and produced by Glitch Productions.

Elizabeth Rose Freeman is an American voice actress from Oklahoma City. She is known for providing the English voices of Trish Una in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind, Chizuru Mizuhara in Rent-A-Girlfriend, Chisato Nishikigi in Lycoris Recoil, and the voice of Pomni in The Amazing Digital Circus. In addition, she is a former voice actress for the character Meggy Spletzer in the SMG4 franchise.

<i>The Amazing Digital Circus</i> Australian adult independent-animated web series

The Amazing Digital Circus is an Australian adult independent-animated web series created, written, and directed by Gooseworx and produced by Glitch Productions. The series follows a group of humans trapped inside a circus-themed virtual reality game, where they are overseen by an erratic artificial intelligence while coping with personal traumas and psychological tendencies. Gooseworx pitched the series to Glitch, inspired by 1990s computer-generated imagery and the short story "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" by American writer Harlan Ellison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liam Vickers</span> American animator

Liam Vickers is an American storyboard artist, animator, writer, director, composer, and voice actor best known as the creator and showrunner of the animated web series Murder Drones. He is also the creator of CliffSide and Internecion Cube, as well as his discontinued creepypasta channel Scary Story Time With Liam. He has also worked as a production assistant at Nickelodeon and Netflix, and a storyboard artist and revisionist at ShadowMachine and Titmouse, Inc.

References

  1. 1 2 "About GLITCH". YouTube.
  2. ↑ "Forbes 30 Under 30 2023: Media, Marketing, and Advertising". Forbes. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  3. ↑ "SMG4". YouTube. Archived from the original on 19 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  4. 1 2 Asarch, Steven (26 January 2022). "The trippiest gamer on YouTube reveals the one line he'll never cross". Inverse. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  5. 1 2 Walker, Alex (26 July 2019). "Inside The Mario House That SMG4 Built". Kotaku . Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  6. ↑ "SMG4". Glitch Productions. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  7. ↑ "Youtubers Kevin, Luke Lerdwichagul release Meta Runner online animated series". Daily Telegraph. 16 July 2019. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  8. ↑ Hennessy, James (21 February 2020). "The world of film and TV is changing rapidly. Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason explains how the funding body keeps up". Business Insider Australia. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020.
  9. 1 2 Wright, Steve (25 June 2019). "Meta Runner is an anime funded by Screen Australia, Epic, AMD". Stevivor. Archived from the original on 27 November 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  10. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (18 March 2019). "Epic Games awards $500,000 in final Unreal Dev Grants". VentureBeat . Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  11. ↑ Leah Williams (20 April 2020). "Screen Australia Funds Second Series For Aussie Esports Drama Meta Runner". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  12. ↑ Sean Slatter (12 May 2021). "Screen Australia announces $1.3 million in online production funding across five projects". IF Magazine. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  13. ↑ Rouse, Lauren (26 October 2021). "This Aussie Animation Studio Has Made a New Horror Comedy About Murder Drones". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on 23 January 2024. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  14. ↑ John Schwarz (9 October 2021). "Glitch Productions Reveals Murder Drones Complete With New Teaser". BubbleBlabber. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  15. ↑ Jamie Lang (7 November 2023). "Glitch Expo Will Live Stream Conversations With Indie Animation's Hottest Creators This Thursday". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on 18 November 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  16. ↑ Schwarz, John (27 January 2023). "GLITCH PRODUCTIONS DATES MURDER DRONES EPISODE THREE ; ANNOUNCES NEW SERIES". BubbleBlabber. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  17. ↑ Valens, Ana (25 October 2023). "Where and How To Watch 'The Amazing Digital Circus'". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  18. ↑ @glitch_prod (5 July 2024). "80% of the funding of our shows comes from the merch we sell. It's wholeheartedly what makes this all possible. And that's why we decided to not only do our own merch, but also help other indie creators with their merch too! Introducing FinalFinal_Project, our new merch company, with our first partners being @LackadaisyCats" (Tweet). Retrieved 23 September 2024– via Twitter.
  19. ↑ Glitch Productions [@glitch_prod] (22 September 2024). "BIG NEWS GUYS!!! - From October 4th, The Amazing Digital Circus is also coming to Netflix with Episodes 1-3 available to stream both there AND on YouTube! And to be clear; We're still independently funding everything, we still get full control of the show, and episodes will continue to ALWAYS come out on YouTube first. Honestly feel that this is a HUGE step for indie animation and we couldn't have done it without you all ❤️ SEE YOU WHEN EPISODE 3 RELEASES 👀" (Tweet). Retrieved 22 September 2024– via Twitter.
  20. ↑ Ulatowski, Rachel (12 March 2024). "Breaking Down the Toxic Work Environment Allegations Against Glitch Productions". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on 30 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  21. ↑ Schwarz, John (6 March 2024). "Glitch Productions CEO Releases Statement Following Allegations". Bubbleblabber. Archived from the original on 30 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  22. ↑ Valens, Ana (25 October 2023). "Where and How To Watch 'The Amazing Digital Circus'". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on 12 November 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  23. ↑ "TheAwesomeMario YouTube channel". YouTube. Archived from the original on 19 May 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.

Primary sources

  1. ↑ "Big Things Are Happening (AND TONS OF AWESOME FAN ART!) - SMG4 Mail Time #10". YouTube. 24 May 2017. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  2. ↑ "SMG4 Direct (HUGE CHANNEL UPDATE)". YouTube. 5 September 2018. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  3. ↑ Glitch Productions (27 August 2020). "WELCOME TO GLITCH!". YouTube. Archived from the original on 23 November 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  4. ↑ "Sunset Paradise (Official Trailer)". YouTube. 12 March 2021. Archived from the original on 23 November 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  5. ↑ Kevin Lerdwichagul, Luke Lerdwichagul (3 November 2023). WELCOME TO GLITCH. Glitch Productions.
  6. ↑ "GLITCHX 2023". YouTube. 9 November 2023. Archived from the original on 31 January 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  7. ↑ "super mario 64 bloopers: youtube mario?". YouTube. 14 July 2017. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.