13 Killer Stop-Mo Flicks - Part 09: Killing It On Kickstarter 'Mad God'
How did stop motion filmmaking benefit in the new age of streaming? By the mid 2010s, brand new means of financing and distributing film had established themselves, accelerating over the COVID years (2020 - 2022) as streamers quite literally had captive audiences, whilst box offices felt the impact. Inspired by the spooky season and conversation with film and animation professionals on LinkedIn, I've been reflecting on feature-length stop motion films made in the 21st century that sit in the horror genre... And why stop motion animation - like the archetypal killer in a slasher flick - keeps rising back up to entertain us again and again.
MAD GOD (2021) is rather like a family-sized chocolate torte - rich, dark, dense, difficult to complete in one sitting, and yet oh so moreish! The story follows the journey of a figure known as "The Assassin" who descends into the hell mouth of a dystopian universe of monsters, nightmares and terror.
Stop motion you say... Is it horror?
MAD GOD is not just a horror, but all shades of horror.? Conceived from the mind of VFX maestro Phil Tippett, perhaps it's better to consider MAD GOD as a collection of fever-dream vignettes, each exploring different aspects of the horror genre from supernatural to sci-fi. Crafted mostly in stop motion with some pixilation and live action, is a complex adult horror movie that is much a reflection of Tippett's incredible career in VFX, as it is a deep dive into a cacotopian chronicle.
OK, how was it financed?
If you thought that by the 2020s crowdfunded filmmaking was now the reserve of starving artists and start-up eccentrics, think again.??
MAD GOD took 30 years and it seems the project, which was conceived in the 90's, only went back into full production around late 2020/early 2021 (probably when the studio was quiet due to the impact of COVID on live action filmmaking.) The Devil makes work for idle hands, as they say, or rather back burner projects get dusted off and reignited.? As explained in the Kickstarter campaign:
"MAD GOD began with several minutes of stop motion animation in 1990, before the explosion of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) for movies. But as his studio blossomed into a powerhouse of computer-assisted visual effects and animation, the MAD GOD project fell on the back burner... In short, your money will finance the supplies needed to bring the film to life. Your contributions will ensure (it) gets completed, and you will have a front row seat to the making of this spectacle."
The team raised a modest sum and the widely reported $150,000 production budget seems to relate to the finance raised via the three phase Kickstarter campaign once costs are taken into account.
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What was its impact?
MAD GOD was highly critically acclaimed with 7 wins and 16 nominations on the international film festival circuit, including winning 'Best Visual Effects' at?Sitges Catalonian International Film Festival, 'Most Groundbreaking Film' at Fantasia Film Festival and two nominations at the Annie Awards.
Commercially MAD GOD was also successful.? If you take the box office returns at face value, then grossing $329,009 worldwide on release in 2022 isn't an outstanding return, especially as it seems an additional $100K was put in by Phil Tippet, who sold items from his own personal collections and historic film artifacts to invest into the project.
However, this figure relates to a very limited theatrical release, and when estimated domestic Blu-ray sales of $881,046 are considered, a different picture starts to emerge.
Further, MAD GOD was released into a very different world from most of the other films discussed so far in this series.? By 2015, the affect of streaming services on the box office was highly significant, with 52% of US households subscribed to at least one streaming service. By the time of its release in 2022, this figure had risen to?83%.
Niche horror streaming service Shudder, acquired its distribution rights, planning that limited release in theatres and on AMC+ in June 2022. The nature of that deal is of course undisclosed.? As many streamers operate on a subscription-based model, viewing figures per film aren't released (or even subscriber figures in the case of Shudder, as?AMC Networks who own the service now only release data on the aggregate number of subscribers across their branded services.) So films seemingly drop into a dark, murky hole once streaming distribution is agreed... Rather like the protagonist in MAD GOD.
Sounds like a scream! Where can I watch?
MAD GOD is available to watch in the UK on Amazon Prime, and is available to purchase on Blu-ray.
"13 Killer Stop-Mo Flicks" is a series of short articles published in the run up to Halloween 2024 that look at 13 stop motion feature-length films made in the 21st century - how they were financed, what impact they had, and why I think, despite all odds, stop motion will keep coming back to thrill audiences.