The Bloom TV Series: The Back Story
Today, more of the back story…
HOW WE NEARLY SIGNED A TV DEAL & WHAT WE LEARNED WE NEED TO SUCCEED
If you’ve checked out the website, you’ve seen that we are pursuing a TV series. In fact, we nearly signed a deal for $6-million (USD) a couple years ago to do just that: produce a new, 12-episode version of The Bloom for Television.
The deal would have given us a budget for a dedicated team of over 80 film professionals (who would also be festival veterans, whenever possible) over the course of the production. We would achieve a scope not possible in the webseries—following 24 stories and filming 20 of the most iconic transformational festivals—with the end product a culmination of these combined talents and effort.
Watch the trailer that almost got us the deal… We’ve released it as a Concept Trailer
In the end, we balked from signing the deal because we didn’t feel confident we could guarantee the integrity of the story. There are many examples of “underground” phenomena being co-opted by the mainstream and ruined. The worst outcome that could happen would be to take this powerful and authentic story and turn it into “television” in the bad sense of the word. This would be the biggest loss and is a real danger.
Although the deal didn’t work out, we learned A LOT from the process which lasted six months. Besides all the planning work, we also worked in close collaboration with very successful people in the entertainment industry. Coming from a countercultural background, it’s a steep learning curve and this tutelage was crucial.
The experience affirmed that we have something very special on our hands. And that, in today’s media landscape, preserving the full integrity of our story is entirely possible. We were just missing a few key pieces. We’re here now to put those pieces into place, so we can produce the definitive version and fulfill the promise of this story.
In a way, this was always the ultimate destination of this project. It’s the only way to give proper treatment to this important story. For several key reasons, the time is right for such a television series now, where it wasn’t before.
Is the world ready for our story? Join our journey to bring this story to the world through a major streaming or TV channel
When we started, Netflix had just released its first original show and was still making its money from renting DVDs through the mail. Since then, streaming platforms have upended television. They’ve created space and budgets for distinctive voices. Where television used to stick to lowest-common-denominator formulas for success, now it’s the medium for original, boundary-pushing creators. Television has gone from being mostly lame to pretty f**king awesome!
The original Bloom webseries was the no-budget, small-team rookie version of our story—the necessarily humble origins of an epic journey. As someone coming from deep within the story, I’ve reflected a great deal on the shortcomings and subsequent improvements to the story-telling needed from our original run.
Once our series is ultimately broadcast, anchored in improved story-telling, millions around the world will get to see and be moved by the life-affirming stories of our global tribe. We are pioneering a new formula—an alchemy—for entertainment that touches people’s lives and inspires them to positive outcomes. Through the power of film, we will share the transformation that takes place in the best of festival culture. With the state of the planet as it is, this is our contribution as artists and creatives to the great puzzle humanity is struggling with.
So what are the missing pieces needed to succeed?
Later this week, I’ll share the full back story—from the circumstances which brought the webseries to a premature end—to the subsequent journey with its many challenges and huge evolution. I’ll explain all the mistakes and growth along the way, which have brought us here NOW with all the necessary lessons to fulfill this promise.
The first no-longer-missing piece is our new website, which re-frames our story and embodies our upgrade in sophistication, which, hopefully, should be evident at a glance 😜 This is the platform from which we are hosting our campaign.
The second piece we need to succeed comes from you if you should be so inspired! Many people are not going to understand this story initially—assuming it’s a niche subculture, nothing more than the latest set of hippies. Not to over-generalize who you might be, but it’s likely if you’re reading this that you know it’s much more than that. That, in these free spaces of experimentation and expression, there are answers and real ideas to inspire our individual and community lives.
By commenting on the website, you are providing social proof for our story. This will be seen by a variety of ultimate decision-makers for our TV series. (More about this shortly.) Sharing to your social networks is still great to spread the word, but these posts disappear quickly, while the website will stand as a record of what this story—and the culture it’s about—means to people. Your story can make a difference in whether this show ultimately gets green-lit.
You’re a part of this story and we need your help!
This leads to the third crucial piece of the puzzle: our search to find the right Showrunner for the series. For those unfamiliar, the Showrunner is the lead Executive Producer and the head of the Creative team in relation to the Network. They are the ones with the relationships and reputation in the industry to make a call, get a meeting and be taken seriously from the get-go.
Going in under the wing of an established Showrunner improves our chance of success exponentially. (We largely want to avoid pitching until then.) As the head of our team negotiating with the networks, they are also best-positioned to protect the integrity of the series, so the Showrunner we are looking for will have both a track record of successful shows AND is someone who authentically understands our story (ie. goes to Burning Man or other transformational festivals) and will be committed to ensuring the real story gets made.
We know our Showrunner is out there waiting for us (even if they don’t know it yet 😉). Our campaign is aimed at finding them and making the potential of our story as obvious and undeniable as possible. We’ll still be a darkhorse, coming from within the story, not the industry, but from the experience of the other deal, we have full confidence that the right people are going find us and immediately see our potential to bring something truly fresh and excitingly original to the world. The world needs it now more than ever!
Tell us what you think about our new series? With TV shows about pawnshop operators, “real” housewives and ice truckers, is the world ready for a true experience of inspiration through the medium of Transformational Festivals? From Burning Man to Boom, are we ready to share the gifts we’ve been given? Will it help people awaken to their own potential? What do you think???
Please add your thoughts to the website… A message to us is seen by a few, a comment on the website will be seen by many, including decision-makers on our ultimate success… Thank you!