Channel Awesome Was Not So Awesome

[Tara]

For those who haven't seen, the complaints document has been updated to include testimonies from Iron Liz and Leslie Rice.  Iron Liz's are the more severe of the two, so focusing on her, the big highlights are-

• During Suburban Knights, she was not compensated for her work, despite essentially being forced to help them.  She was not contracted to do anything.
• She was denied food because she was not part of the "talent" (which is kind of horrible in its own right), despite the fact that she did play a character in the film.  She goes into detail about days where she would not be allowed to eat nearly anything for the entire day.
• Complaints regarding temperature were also common, with the cast and crew being forced to work in near sub-zero temperatures with nothing to combat the cold.
• The crew essentially broke into a closed part of the park to film.
• She was not invited to the Wrap Party, again despite all the work she did behind the scenes.
• During the filming of Suburban Knights, she sustained a knee injury.  She was denied ice to help mend the knee until she signed a contract stating that Channel Awesome was not liable for it (even though they kind of were).  Even after signing, she was forced to work her way up a flight of stairs to get some ice on her knee.

Christ.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

2 hours ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

They did, but had to cancel it given the controversy.

Not that it would've been any good, that said.

 God help them if that was the canned pirate one they were going to originally do been during the third/fourth ones (would've been better than To Boldly Flee, that's for freaking sure).

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Just now, Jovahexeon Omega-Sapphire said:

 God help them if that was the canned pirate one they were going to originally do been during the third/fourth ones (would've been better than To Boldly Flee, that's for freaking sure).

What? You didn't like an anniversary movie with terrible sub-plots, terrible humor and stroking Doug's ego for 4 hours?

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

3 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

What? You didn't like an anniversary movie with terrible sub-plots, terrible humor and stroking Doug's ego for 4 hours?

 Oh you mean the one where the actors were kept up in a hot attic, in costume,  neglected catering and fucking water at first, and had shoe-horned bouts of people being assholes or having to suffer for the sake of "comedy"?

Of course!

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Just now, Jovahexeon Omega-Sapphire said:

 Oh you mean the one where the actors were kept up in a hot attic, in costume,  neglected catering and fucking water at first, and had shoe-horned bouts of people being assholes or having to suffer for the sake of "comedy"?

Of course!

The very same!

boy am i glad i disliked tbf to begin with

[Tara]

I was honestly very forgiving of the anniversary films (including To Boldly Flee), because the way they presented themselves was as amateur filmmakers with very little budget.  So I just took them for what I believed they were.  Just a bunch of dorks messing around in front of a camera.  The first-year anniversary brawl and Kickassia in particular were released during a period of time when online entertainment was mostly "internet funny" more than actually funny.  That is to say, it would never have passed for mainstream entertainment, but it was niche and on the internet, so it was charming in the same way a lot of early flash animations from the likes of Albino Black Sheep were charming.  Now that the internet is mainstream entertainment, they can't really fall back on that anymore.

Regardless, I was not aware of not only just how much money they were raking in (not to say they were making a killing, but a lot more than the production values would have you believe), but they were also denying it to the people that were responsible for making these crossovers possible in the first place on top of the abuse and mismanagement.  Now that I know, I can't really hold them by the mid-to-late 2000's internet standards, either.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

I think the thing that really disgusts me is forcing these people to be apart of a production they clearly didn't want to do at least twice in a row, and then having the guts to tell them that they have to make crossovers to cover the expenses.

[Tara]

1 minute ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

I think the thing that really disgusts me is forcing these people to be apart of a production they clearly didn't want to do at least twice in a row, and then having the guts to tell them that they have to make crossovers to cover the expenses.

And then brag about it as though they were the kind ones.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

GuruLarry although not having said anything about leaving did post this.

Also, while I can't show it here since it's not a Twitter thread - looking on the ChannelAwesome subreddit reveals Brad is not planning to leave CA and wishes to be left alone. 

Edit: And Larry confirmed that he was on the site for 10 years but doesn't get acknowledged and has NEVER been invited to any of the anniversary movies.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

2 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

 

GuruLarry although not having said anything about leaving did post this.

Ride ain't near to over yet it seems.

[Tornado]

I didn't even know he was part of that channel.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Just now, Tornado said:

I didn't even know he was part of that channel.

That's the general reaction everyone is having. Goes a long way to show how much "exposure" is worth at this site.

[Tara]

I remember that Ashens was technically part of That Guy with the Glasses before it moved to the Channel Awesome domain.  But you'd be forgiven for not knowing that because he went years without uploading new content but was never booted off.  He probably didn't feel the need to because he was making good money off his YouTube account already and didn't really need to rely on CA for ad revenue.

Still, it makes me wonder why they were so lenient with him but not producers who were consistent and loyal.  One of the people in the document even notes that the site veterans who were always posting on time and meeting their quotas were the ones treated with the most hostility while the newer members could do virtually anything they wanted and nobody would notice.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Y'know, I get that according to "The Review Must Go On", Doug brought back the Nostalgia Critic without the cut off rule due to supposed fan demand, but knowing what we know now especially regarding Mike owning NC, anyone else getting the feeling that it may have been business mandated?

Would certainly explain his obvious bitter moments *cough* ChristmasWithTheKranks*cough*

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Here we go again...

[Balding Spider]

Black Tux just dropped Channel Awesome like a bad habit

Spoiler

 

 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Good lord, it's amazing just how much of a disaster this is. Also, Tamara and Malcolm have said some stuff.

 

[Harkofthewaa]

So how long do you think it'll take CA to implode entirely and close up shop? Because I doubt they're gonna recover from this.

[MightyRay]

And Angry Joe is out of CA.

 

[Tara]

My GOD what an absolute farce of a response.  "Evidence" that does little to actually address the claims let alone debunk them, and essentially calling former contributors malicious liars while attempting to 'one-up' them like a 14-year-old that's insecure about his sexuality.  Not even a hint of a genuine apology for the things they admit to doing wrong.  It's amazing just how strangely antisocial one person can be.  I'm not sure what I expected, but somehow they still manage to impress me.  I particularly like their "Some women like us?  See, not sexism!" response like... lol really love this really far-reaching excuse.

Thank you, Lindsay.  You're great.

On a related note, Linkara gave his own rebuttal in a Twitter thread.  Give it a read.

 

Absolutely done with this channel.  At this point, even if they did manage to make a sincere, well-thought statement that addressed the concerns of the community and former contributors, I'd still have no respect for them.  I'd still have zero respect for them.  All that stuff they did, it's horrible, but it's in the past.  I believe people can be given (though are not entitled to) second, third, and even 65th chances if you're feeling particularly generous.  I do believe that people and by extension businesses can change for the better.  But the fact is that they're acting like asshats now.  And they, particular Mike, are showing absolutely no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Unbe-freaking-lievable.

 

 

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

8 hours ago, MightyRay said:

And Angry Joe is out of CA.

 

And there goes another one of the CA giants.

I'd been waiting to hear from him on that.

In other news:

Dang, that's quite a drop off!

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

On 4/10/2018 at 12:54 PM, Ryannumber1gamer said:

GuruLarry although not having said anything about leaving did post this.

Also, while I can't show it here since it's not a Twitter thread - looking on the ChannelAwesome subreddit reveals Brad is not planning to leave CA and wishes to be left alone. 

Edit: And Larry confirmed that he was on the site for 10 years but doesn't get acknowledged and has NEVER been invited to any of the anniversary movies.

 

On 4/10/2018 at 12:57 PM, Jovahexeon Omega-Sapphire said:

Ride ain't near to over yet it seems.

And speak of the devil! A new update!

MasakoX of Team 4Star fame has left the building now too. Sage now seems to be listed as their only comics and anime big name review left!

[Ryannumber1gamer]

5 minutes ago, Jovahexeon Omega-Sapphire said:

 

And speak of the devil! A new update!

MasakoX of Team 4Star fame has left the building now too. Sage now seems to be listed as their only comics and anime big name review left!

Called it. If there's some good thing to take from it, considering how long GuruLarry, MasakoX, and others lasted despite their irregular upload schedule, it's certainly a case of CA needing them for their large fan bases as opposed to the other way around where they needed CA for exposure. In other words, it's unlikely they held much power over them and now their leaving screws over CA further.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

25 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Called it. If there's some good thing to take from it, considering how long GuruLarry, MasakoX, and others lasted despite their irregular upload schedule, it's certainly a case of CA needing them for their large fan bases as opposed to the other way around where they needed CA for exposure. In other words, it's unlikely they held much power over them and now their leaving screws over CA further.

 

54 minutes ago, Jovahexeon Omega-Sapphire said:

And there goes another one of the CA giants.

I'd been waiting to hear from him on that.

In other news:

Dang, that's quite a drop off!

It's a chain reaction that allows elements to pile onto one another. Jontron's well-earned fall from grace was one thing (satisfying as that was for how he was). This fall from grace has multiple layers to it.

First off, exodus because of the terribad news. That's going to guarantee not many people want to support Channel Awesome. Even those who are still interested in Nostalgia Critic are even taking their stand (some resorting to viewing his videos via third parties, e.g. fellow youtubers on the re-upload, so as not to support CA and give them revenue).

Then comes the layers from those attached to the site because of producers now leaving CA.

Third comes those put off by CA's attempts to "respond" to the news.

Fourth, comes from support lost of fellow producers.

It'll go on, and while sure, they'll still make some money, considering how much Youtube seems to have been making them income as their bread and butter lately, hard times are ahead for them if they don't shape up their act.

[Dr. Detective]

"Since the posting of the “Not So Awesome” document on Monday, April 2, 2018, we have been exploring all of our options of how to address the lies that have been alleged by multiple disgruntled individuals with vindictive intentions."

This kind of made me laugh. It sounds like something AoSth Robotnik would say when addressing his detractors on a televised broadcast.