Email:neill@outloudculture.com
Socials: @neillfrazer
Joey is a vlogger and content creator who rose to fame for his unique content on his YouTube channel. With a variety of entertaining content from vlogs, lifestyle tips, social experiments and content catered for everyone Joey has grown a large following online that transcends over to all of his social media accounts.
Now the viral content creator is using his storytelling skills to launch a campaign for a film project that will begin after the crowdfunding comes to an end. No stranger to TV and vlog projects, Joey is most known for creating, producing and hosting the reality television series Escape The Night which also sparked a Kickstarter campaign for the launch of a board game based on the series.
Hi Joey welcome to OLC! Can you tell us more about your background and how you transitioned from being a vlogger to a content creator involved in TV projects like Escape The Night?
Well even as a kid I was making home movies on my family camcorder. So it’s been a part of me a long time. I just love telling stories. I blame my parents for forcing me to play outside which allowed me to build my imagination muscle. So getting to expand past YouTube content creating and into developing bigger ideas has been a dream come true.
The Escape The Night series has been quite successful. How did the concept for the show originate, and what challenges did you face in bringing it to life?
The story of it is kinda lucky really. I had a pitch meeting with YouTube to develop a show with them and they asked me to bring in 4 concepts. I went through all of them and my last one was one I went there just for fun. And that was to escape the night. It started with the idea of just setting up cameras around a mansion in la and having a classic murder mystery dinner take place and record the whole thing. They loved that idea specifically and asked if I could develop it more. I had recently been in a show called fight of the living dead that was an immersive zombie survival show and I was like hmmm I wonder if I could create a murder mystery immersive experience for this show. And so escape the night was born.
What inspired you to initiate a crowdfunding campaign for your film project, and how do you plan to involve your audience in the creation process?
In 2013 I raised 100k to fund my first series storytellers. The process was so fast from ideation to delivering 6 episode series. After ETN stopped at season 4 and learning how slow Hollywood can move. After years of waiting to get season 4 made I decided to try a crowdfunding campaign again to give fans more escape the night.
Could you elaborate on the storyline of your upcoming film project, “Escape the Night: The Crimson Manor”? What themes and elements can viewers expect?
It’s going to be similar to the vibe of the show. With the challenges and clue solving and the characters having to vote against each other to be put into death challenges. But having it scripted will allow us to make it more theatrical and give the creators more insight into a character that they can fully commit to and perform. Also the action can be more intense and we can really elevate the death scenes.
Given that you have a substantial online following, how do you leverage your social media presence to engage with your audience and promote the crowdfunding campaign effectively?
It’s been really fun coming up with ways to engage with the audience that loves the series. I’ve been live-streaming, re-watching the show and creating content with past alumni.
The board game based on Escape The Night adds an interesting dimension. How did the idea for the board game emerge, and what has been the response from fans?
I’m a huge board game fan. I have game nights a couple nights a month with my friends so when the idea was presented to me to make one I jumped in head first. It was a perfect way to bring the Escape the Night experience into peoples homes.
What sets you apart in the world of content creation, and how do you maintain the interest of your diverse audience with a range of content, from vlogs to social experiments?
It’s a blessing and a curse but I’m really bad at sticking to one thing. I kinda try a bit of everything. Which keeps me going after 16 years of doing this but also can be a no no with pleasing the almighty algorithm.
With the crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, what specific goals and milestones do you hope to achieve for his film project, and how can supporters get involved beyond financial contributions?
Honestly, I hope if anything this crowdfunding campaign can reignite our chances of getting investors or platforms interested in partnering on this project.
The film is set in 1953 with a unique storyline. How do you approach storytelling, and what cinematic influences might be reflected in this particular project?
For this particular project I’d say it will be a mix of Escape Room and Saw. I love how cinematic the escape room was but I like some aspects of the situations that occurred in saw. But less gory.
As a content creator with a substantial online presence, how do you see the future of storytelling in the digital age, and what advice would he give to aspiring creators looking to make a mark in the industry?
Still figuring this one out. Digital is just so fast and I’m so trained to have an idea and execute it. In traditional it can take years of pitching and then getting approvals in development by the time all is said and done it’s too late. But I think timing is everything and I’ll never stop fighting for my projects to be bigger and better.
