Now, the real work begins. Update time! (Patreon)

Greetings Patrons and non Patrons alike! This is a long one, but I'd appreciate your time if you could read it!With the release of "Sonic in JAWS: The Finale Retold", all previous obligations have been completed and now begins the long road to completing "Sonic in Scared Stupid: The Final Chapter".While I am pleased with how JAWS came out, of course it was hit with "Made for Kids" and had to be re-uploaded with more vulgarity to hope it wouldn't be flagged again. For now, it seems to have worked but it's no guarantee. This just continues to prove my message that we (all of us, you) cannot rely on YouTube anymore. Now, more than ever it is important to support the Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/c/balenaproductions/membershipThe truth is I do not make videos for money. Anyone who knows me or how I operate should know this by now. I turn down every sponsorship I receive, I ended "Sonic Zombies" which was my most popular and easy to make series, and I live just at my means. I do however need money to make these videos. When I started this, I was 17 living at home with no responsibilities. It was just GMod screenshots. Now, I am 35 with my own home and responsibilities and using Blender to create fully animated videos. Models cost money, time cost money, and my landlord doesn't accept Sonic videos as rent. This job is a choice that I could leave tomorrow and be just fine on my own, but I really don't want to. I love what I do, I love making animations that spark joy and imagination, I love connecting to other people who love the same things I do, making friends, meeting folks at conventions, this job is a dream job but most of the time it can be a nightmare all because of how animation is treated by the mass and YouTube.It shouldn't come to a surprise to anyone that animation takes a ton of time. Just a few seconds of animation can take weeks to finish, and in the age of short attention spans, audiences being used to YouTubers "grinding" out "content" every week, people getting used to AI generated content, my channel is a relic. I refuse to cave to anyone, or anything. I am here for the art of it. I am here to expand minds, not shrink them. Unfortunately, it's a losing battle. I get comments all the time, every day, asking for "daily uploads", "When's the next Sonic Zombies", "Please remake Sonic Zombies", "Bro is still alive?", "I thought you were dead". It's incredibly disheartening, and it makes what I do a lot harder. Thankfully, a majority of my audience understands that these things take time, and I couldn't be more grateful.I will be transparent with you, right now the future isn't looking so great. Between the "Made for Kids" issues, low revenue from YouTube, general disinterest in my niche from audiences, I don't know what lies ahead after "Scared Stupid". The entire point of this Patreon was to make enough revenue a month that I wouldn't need to even worry about YouTube anymore. In a perfect world I wouldn't even need to upload there anymore. I could publish here for all to see while it being paid for my the viewers. It is very hard to convince anyone to pledge to a channel that only uploads once or twice a year, so it's a big uphill battle. YouTube is only going to get worse. They have no competition, so they can do whatever they please, and unfortunately my channel is exactly the kind they hate. Someone who won't conform to their rules, or lower their standards. I would sooner die than change my videos to appease them. YouTube is just a platform, not who I am. I never have, and never will be on "the grind" to be a "YouTuber". I am an entertainer. If I have to make shadow puppets on the wall while living in a box then so be it. I still have a lot left in me, years worth, but if things don't change I can't see it happening.All of this anguish could be extinguished if this Patreon can succeed in it's goal. To create a safety net from YouTube, to stand up for animation, and prove that these corporations cannot kill art. I am considered to be a "classic" YouTuber, and if you want to see me continue to do things as I always have, it's very important you consider pledging, or sharing this Patreon with your friends/community.So as for "Sonic in Scared Stupid: The Final Chapter", things are about to really kick in to high gear.When I announced the project in 2021, I had fully intended to finish it within the normal time frame. Right as I got to work, the forced "Made for Kids" policies took place and the channel was hit with nearly a dozen videos marked as such. This completely killed all the momentum of the project, and was extremely depressing. I was also going through a lot of personal issues in my life and I just had to put it aside for the time as I battled against YouTube. I got as far as a call with one of their top "Child Safety Experts" and it was worthless even when presented with undisputable fact that animation is not just for kids, and Sonic was a franchise enjoyed by all ages. This person actually told me the best option was to "Lawyer up". They would rather be sued than just fix such an obviously broken system. Thankfully, through all kinds of exhausting means I was able to get all of the flags removed, but even with new animations it's still happening. This could mean that "Scared Stupid" could be hit with MFK. I cannot justify spending months, if not possibly over a year animating myself to exhaustion just for the video to be hit. I have spent the past few years learning Blender, making shorter animations that have taught me a lot. Now, the "movie" (it's going to be around 35-40 minutes long) will look better than it could have looked when I announced it. I have no release date, and I will not even give you a guess. It will most likely not be finished by this Halloween, but I will not wait for a Halloween to release it. If it's done on a valentines day, st. Patricks day, 4th of July, whatever, it will be released when it's finished.This movie is going to be the pinnacle of my channel. The story is solid, and it's going to be a ton of fun that I can promise you will be worth waiting for. The reaction to Mel has been overwhelmingly positive. The team loves all of the fan art, and gushing over her. She is going to be a staple in the line of Balena Productions original characters.For Patrons, there are going to be a lot of updates in the coming months. This is going to be a long road, and all I can ask for is your patience. If you have already pledged, it is vital you continue to support the channel if you wish to see this project done. I understand financial situations can change, and of course you must always look out for yourself over me. There are many better things you can do with your money. I'm making Sonic animations, not curing cancer, but for those who can, it is most appreciated. If you aren't a patron, please consider joining. It's simply a $1.00 a month. That's 3 pennies a day. For $5.00 and $10.00 patrons, you'll be seeing a lot of behind the scenes as the project moves along.For my current Patrons, right now I am recovering from finishing JAWS. I am taking a small break as the team works on assets. There won't be updates for a few weeks, but I promise when we're back to work there will be a lot. If you haven't, please join the Discord by connecting your Patreon so you can see a lot more!If you made it this far, thank you for caring. I really appreciate everything you all do for me, and you deserve so much more than I can give. If things were perfect, I'd be making animations until I die. I don't want to quit, but one man can only take so much. I'm optimistic, but I also like to be real. So, for now please continue to be patient and you will be rewarded with something truly worth your time. Thank you so much,-Steve