The 2 year anniversary of this campaign is coming up. The idea was born in Birmingham,England the first weekend in June at a panel featuring Ben Browder. He was very serious in his sentiments. A couple of fellow Scapers said he was looking at you, he wants you to do something. I laughed, they persisted. I made my way over to where he was speaking to a few fans and asked him point blank. Someone (I think @sarascaper?) posted the moment on Twitter . ^^CORRECTION^^ The photo is from fan Myra in the UK who also sent me this second one!!! Many thanks!
Later I emailed him and asked if he was serious. He was and thought a grassroots campaign would be the most effective, like the Save Farscape one. After I returned home, I had not stopped thinking of this all weekend. I contacted two friends who had a lot of years in TV/film marketing and ran the idea by them. Avenging Angel, who was the brains behind benbrowder.net ‘s ads gave me a few dos and don’ts in today’s industry. I registered this website though I knew the “boards” of old were pretty much gone. Many of the new Farscape fans found their way to the show years after the show ended via streaming. I personally had many reservations and many qualms about my favorite characters being tarnished. I did however take to heart Ben’s belief that Brian Henson and Rockne O’Bannon were on board to tell more stories. Not a reboot. Many large groups of fans are listed on Facebook with more joining groups every day. Many on Reddit. Many on tumblr. Sadly these get minimal attention via a metrics measuring. Twitter is used as a real time “pulse”. The Farscape presence has always been there though you have to “look” for it. Many Scapers prefer the comfort of Facebook. The general Farscape conversations on Twitter continue to grow. Last summer at Dragon Con Brian Henson did a panel that made me far more confident. He made it fairly clear “when” he does more Farscape it will be a limited series so they can tell the story the way they want. There was not the usual talk of “if” they can get funding but the distribution platform. This past March marked the 20th Anniversary of Farscape. Brian Henson did a Q&A on the official Farscape Facebook page . The official page has also adopted the #FarscapeNow hashtag. In Denver last month Ben Browder addressed the question again .
A Farscape Reunion will happen at Winter Con in NYC in November. Rockne O’Bannon is attending (schedule permitting). Brian Henson is returning to Dragon Con in August. They are happy to see the interest and like Ben Browder feel Farscape would find a warm welcome today. So if you want more #farscapenow follow @farscapenow on Twitter and use your hashtags!! #Farscape #FarscapeNow !!! If not, your choice but you might want to unfollow @farscapenow and skip arguing why. Share your favorite moments from the show instead!
I want to thank all those who joined the Twitter party for the Farscape 20th Anniversary. The fact that Henson is now using #FarscapeNow shows they have heard us. However this doesn’t mean sit back!! It means keep Tweeting, Instagramming and tumblring !!! While you enjoy the remastered HD episodes streaming on Amazon Prime make a few posts! As the mom of two twenty somethings I know you younger fans can multitask as you get ready for your day or night so get some messages out!! Twitter’s app allows scheduling as well. Follow fellow Scapers @plvanover88 or @vinegardog1 to join in convos or retweet. Farscape’s own Chiana @GigiEdgely and Ricky Manning @froonium are also fun and interesting to follow. Henson has activated @Farscape as well as @hensoncompany. The main thing is keep talking Farscape!! On Facebook the public groups are best for showing up in any metrics that marketing and other industry people maybe collecting so even on those use hashtags like #farscapenow or #Farscape. It is our move again!!
I am seeing more names on Twitter which is great!! If you are truly interested in more Farscape please invest a few minutes each week. If you tweet from your phone/iPad/tablet you can schedule ahead! Unique users/IP addresses are the metric the fan interest is gauged by. So many ask me why not a Kickstarter? Many reasons including I don’t own Farscape 😀 Personally I think the Twitter metric not necessarily reflective of a fandom’s desire for more of a show but alas I am not in charge of deciding what the next revival will be. Each show that is announced as coming back causes a bit of steam. This fandom is large, tech savvy and creative and if we harnessed some of that Hollywood would take notice. Our targets need to be (in no particular order) : @hensoncompany , @EW, @nerdist, @Deadline, @IGN. Some of these blogs have been friendly to Farscape in the past others need to discover it. Investors and producers follow them. Fans follow them. I am in this for the long haul. It is frustrating that we hear zero from those we would love to hear from but I suspect we are being heard however faint our cry is now. If you have a public account on Instagram or tumblr also use the hashtag #farscapenow as many metric programs include those as well! FrellU’s graphic continues to reflect my stance!! Fans it is your move.
I know it has been awhile but real life happens :p It has been almost a year since we started this campaign. My frustrations are many but the dedication of our small but ever growing group validates the effort to me. I don’t feel we can rely on our fellow fans to step up without confirmation from Henson or other powers. I have noticed however that each time an article appears on SYFYwire or tor or anywhere else people are reminded of their love for Farscape. These are not people who search hashtags or necessarily join Facebook groups. They do follow genre media sites. These sites can generate the buzz we need to attract interested studios who can approach Henson. It will also show Henson we are here and interested in the next chapter.
Soooo we have to become annoying 😀 If you don’t already follow some genre or even mainstream sites start. I suggest SYFYwire, tor, and Deadline. Tweet your interest in a Farscape story or tie it to Guardians which is popular. Keep up your regular tweeting so if they do a hashtag search they will see that people do talk Farscape still.
Secondly next year is Farscape’s 20th anniversary. Mention that in tweets. Tweet your favorite conventions reminding them of the fact. Creationent should be our focus as they hosted the original cons, but Fedcon, SDCC, and any others are worth a shot. SDCC did a 10 year panel but surprisingly they had only a fan panel for SG1‘s 20th which really surprised me. Most cons have a place to email/message them with guest suggestions.
@tordotcom
@SyfyWire
@DEADLINE
@CreationEnt
@FedCon
@Comic_Con
It has been a good week for the campaign despite the silence from key players. Our normal Twitter activity using the hashtag is a couple of dozen. During the anniversary Tweet fest it rose to over 400 different users from 4 continents ( shout out to Madagascar!). Anniversary week brought a couple of well viewed blog posts from @syfywire which were in turn picked up by tor.com. Getting the campaign media attention is important as that gets investor attention. Henson pretty quiet as usual but a sweet mention from writer Ricky Manning that was seconded by Anthony Simcoe. This is grassroots and I think we have to assume there is still interest in Farscape by those who can make it happen. It looks better for it to be fans motivated and coming together as we did in 2002 rather than fans being directed to tweet . I hope those who recently joined social media to participate will continue to tweet when they have time using the hashtag #farscapenow. Artistic types consider Instagram posts with the hashtag tumblr folks are pretty amazing and creative so check it out if you want ideas!
Remember to share who you are!! Checkout the graphics page or make your own!!
The Ides of March are upon us. We prepare for a special day, Farscape’s 19th Anniversary next Monday March 19th. Tweet your thanks, photo from favorite ep or a GIF that shows something you associate with Farscape. New to Twitter? it is easy and great GIFs can be found by clicking GIF and Farscape in the search bar in your Tweet bubble. Giphy.com also a great source! Retweet after putting Farscape or farscapenow in the Twitter search bar. Whether you want new Farscape adventures or not add the #farscapenow hashtag to let your Scaper love be tracked on Twitter. Also we are doing the retro #IAMFARSCAPE tweets to show we are not stereotypes!! Name/Handle, job, #IAMFARSCAPE. SpriteLady made some great graphics which can be found here for you to d/l. We can make a ripple in the social media world 😀 Do not fear remember SciFi Channel’s Bonnie Hammer once mocked us saying fans don’t want to do homework as a reason they cancelled Farscape. We are a smart and discerning fandom!!
Monday March 19th Duration 1 arn so get your fellip nectar and food cubes ready!!
US/North and South America 8 pm ET
UK – 8pm GMT
Deutschland/France – 8pm CET
Australia 8pm AEDT
Scaper SpriteLady has created some beautiful #IAMFARSCAPE photos to use and 2 GIFS!! Check them out here !
Farscape’s 19th Anniversary is March 19th which is a Monday. We are planning a Tweetfest to celebrate on Sunday March 18th. Times are 7 PM ET for North, Central and South America and 1900 GMT for UK and Europe. Other countries can pick one of these or Tweet out a time for your areas. Use the hashtag #farscapenow even if you just want it to return to streaming services —say that and tag your favorite streaming outlet. Tag @hensoncompany to thank them for Farscape be sure and use the #farscapenow. Tag #BrianHenson with #IAMFARSCAPE and your name/handle, occupation,location if you want — second hashtag #farscapenow as well. Use one of Sprite’s graphics are GIFs to attract scrollers 😉
I get Twitter and social media are not for everyone but it is simple. Far simpler than what we had to do for Save Farscape. Many of you missed that campaign and have wished you could have been there. This is your chance!
I expressed my disappointment to Ben Browder and this was his reply:
I remain hopeful… but frustrated…
Scapers it is your move
Been awhile. We grow slowly and there is little interest as Scapers feel there is no reason to fight without Henson making a statement or they do not want more adventures. It baffles me as a couple years ago when Brian Henson asked a crowd of approximately 650 if they wanted more Farscape almost every hand went up. Last June Ben Browder asked a crowd of 200 or so with the same response. In fact Farscape actors draw big crowds when they appear. Where are Scapers? Stargate has 10,000 Twitter followers for their “stargatenow” campaign. Yes it does sound familiar doesn’t it? Farscape groups on Facebook total in the thousands. It has been a while and lots of mentions on Twitter, tumblr , Instagram and reddit but we are a quiet fandom. Sadly in these days of instant communication that spells apathy. I continue to remind people the original Save Farscape we went a year hearing nothing then the announcement of the mini series.
So for those of you who want more Farscape :
Follow @farscapenow on Twitter, Instagram
        benbrowder.net on tumblr
       Reddit people keep discussing!
Facebook people you may have to venture out though we have a farscapenow page –Like us!!
Just wanted to thank all of you who participate. I know many of you are frustrated and I understand so take a break and re-watch some Farscape 😀
These projects take time. I wish we had a nod from Henson that they are pleased with our work or just a Hi Scapers! I know in the past we never knew how close we were to getting more Farscape until in 2010 Ben mentioned it at a Farscape Con breakfast. It was Sunday and the actors had been told the previous week to have their agents ready as soon as the funds were transferred. They were to get the money at noon on the Friday. The time came and went. The investors changed their minds at the last minute. No news may truly mean no news or it may not. Ben wants more Farscape and feels the time is right. He says Brian Henson also wants more. I tend to trust them. The way series work these days provide many more opportunities for projects and they can also be more complicated to get started. Both Ben Browder and Brian Henson have been in the industry for 3 decades and are quite savvy despite anything you may read on Facebook groups. So until I hear from either the project is dead with no hope of resuscitation I will keep it up. Do what you can when you can! Public groups/sites may get looked at on things like Facebook or Reddit but those making and breaking shows are on Twitter —- Deadline Hollywood for example has gained quite a voice the last few years so give them a shout asking about Farscape. Go to the streaming services and ask them to add Farscape back to their menus.
Sunday nights 7 pm ET/ 1900 London time is the weekly surge.
Recent Comments