HATM is growing...again
A few months ago we came to a turning point here at Historians At The Movies. Nearing six years in do we allow things to run their course, fold our hand, and call it a day, or we do we double down and really try to make this a thing? I think by now you know that I just don’t know how to quit you.
So what to do? As you know, earlier in the year we partnered with the folks at Primary Source Media to launch the Historians At The Movies YouTube page. Doing so meant broadening our style and reach and bringing you new dimensions of our guests and films.1 This has gone over incredbly well. But bigger things awaited.
Today I’m excited to launch the Historians At The Movies Patreon page.
Folks, for years, you’ve been asking me to let the community help build this thing of ours. I’ve been hesistant to do so. The idea of these always kinda gave me the ick. But if HATM truly is first and foremost a community and a group of people who believe in what we are doing, then it’s time to open the doors and let go of my ego just a bit.2
What we are trying to do here is revolutionize the way people see the intersections of history and pop culture. We also want to change the way people see historians. I’m tired of the ivory tower nonsense. I think you know that one of the things that makes us different is our dedication to making people seem like…people. There are no boundaries here at HATM. Everyone is welcome. In some ways, I want HATM to be more than history. As I’ve said before, HATM is a vibe.
Let me be totally transparent about where we are and what we are going to do. We launched in December 2022. As of 12 seconds ago, we had a total of 70,304 downloads—not bad for a bunch of historians planning on stealing the Declaration of Independence.
Our episodes are doing well. We just had two pods this week top 1,000 downloads.
Further, we are really gaining steam. Yesterday’s release of Raiders of the Lost Ark garnered 416 downloads in less than 16 hours, putting it on track to be the biggest single week’s release we’ve had thus far. Folks, we are climbing.
And we’ve done all of this with no investments whatsoever. Only your enthusiasm for this community.
But in order for HATM to grow, we need to build new audiences. For the last six years, HATM has been self-sustaining, even life affirming, at least for me. But it’s time to build this. To bring it forward. To boldly go where…okay need to let others in on what Charlie Pierce calls “the little miracle of HATM.”
So this Patreon will do two things primarily, both targeted at increasing our visibility. First, we will upgrade the equipment around here. I’ve been funding this whole show with stuff I could scrounge around on the internet. It’s worked, but in order for us to increase our audience, we need to make it look and sound professional. Folks buy in on that. So Patreon funds will allow me to upgrade mics, cameras, and even have a dedicated space that looks like HATM is big time. Because this community deserves that. Second, we will use Patreon funds to advertise on YouTube and podcast providers to open up this audience beyond our following on Blusky, Twitter, and Instagram. HATM—this community—deserves to be known. It is time for our light to shine. This is the way.
However, investing in HATM is not charity. You do get real, tangible stuff in return for your support. First and foremost, pledging support for HATM will give you access to subscriber-only podcasts and previews, including the Nicolas Cage centered podcast available to supporters today. It’ll also allow us to bring you new guests—we’ve already had some filmmakers on the pod—more are coming, and the upgrades around here will allow us to attract even bigger names. But we’ll also have new hosts with their own podcasts. We have a new host of a new podcast lined up already and we will be releasing that information soon. We have HATM swag coming, and you’ll receive discounts on that. Investing in HATM helps us build our thing.
So with that said, if you’d like to pledge $5 or $5,000 (please be the latter), now is the time to help us grow. Together, we are going to make HATM into the very center of history, pop culture, and everything in between. And we are going to do it as we always have—as a community.
Thank you,
Jason
If you’d like to check it out, do so right here: https://www.patreon.com/historiansatthemovies
And you get to watch us drink.
Not all the way.
Congratulations