Thank you Linden Lab for a good run!
10 years of LL sponsored work has come to an end and I want to thank Brett, Strawberry & Ebbe (RIP) for embracing my very subjective way of telling stories from the SL grid ...
(before you start reading: the livestream accompanying this post where I talk past/present and future of my work and I am asking for your support in going forward as a producer of human/furry/tiny/etc interest stories from Second Life is linked right below 👇👇👇)
When I discovered SL in early 2007 it bugged the shit out of me how the media was constantly repeating really lame take-your-pick-abelist/shaming stereotypes, kind of like (I am condensing a bunch I heard into one) “SL just exists to cheat on your spouse with a virtual lapdancer that in reality is just some old overweight dude eating pizza in his mom’s basement” etc…
Contrary to these tropes the minute I came in-world I experienced SL as a place of creativity, free expression, wonderful people, many of them marginalized in the sense of their sexual orientation, neuro-divergence, ethnic identity etc and so on.
As a former radio news producer, I felt I could counter this prevailing narrative and provide stories which would highlight SL as a space/culture where people were free to “run amok” (with all that this phrase implies) with their intrinsic motivation to play, create and very often foster very inviting communities of interest, calling themselves “residents” and all that within an interesting power dynamic (absolutely NOT friction free!) with the Linden Lab “administration”.
My reporter avatar started running around on the grid in February 2007 and basically never took a break. At times I produced 3 stories in a week, more than I had done as a news director at Pacific Grove NPR station KAZU back in my early radio days …
Fast forward to 2014, when a dynamic new CEO was hired by Linden Lab: the great late Ebbe Altberg, who IMHO was the best that ever happened to SL (short of of course the actual founding of LL by Philip and Cory back in the day).
Ebbe immediately contacted the most prominent media makers of SL, including me, and on a warm April day I met him in Santa Cruz, California.
We had a great conversation and Ebbe quickly offered to sponsor my YouTube series “The Drax Files: World Makers” with no editorial strings attached! A dream come true for me. We spent the rest of the day with some other Lindens around town and I (as well as Ebbe who had NOT met any of the local staff down in SC yet) got to know deep insights into the workings of ….. hush hush hush …. coder secret but just to state the obvious: the L$ economy is NOT a crypto scam! No Linden will share a sell with SBF anytime soon I AM POSITIVE !
In early 2019 I proposed a retainer type contract to LL leadership, basically meaning that on a yearly basis I would get a certain amount of $$$ in exchange for a number of videos that were either short fly-through eye candy or more involved reportage type pieces. And LL accepted this proposal. A win-win: I retained not only final cut but with very few exceptions I had complete agency over choosing the subject matter that I wanted to pursue.
So for the occasion of this contract coming to an end this month I am going to post my FAVORITE video for each of the 10 years of my formal sponsorship/contracting relationship with Linden.
A tough task as I made well over 100 vids per year these last few years ….
But here it goes:
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2014: SL GO ad
Yes, SL mobile was a thing almost 10 years ago and I shot this fun ad for a product that worked super well but was too expensive to develop further ….
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2015: What Second Life means to me = Strawberry Singh
I honestly forgot if I came up with this concept or Strawberry and I together or she alone but alas: a really cool project that resulted in many SL residents producing their own videos, photos, audio messages, blog posts etc. I made this one for my good friend Berry, featuring music by yours truly as well (ja ja ja, the only tune I ALWAYS use I guess hehehehe)
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2016: TDF World Makers episode 40 = Bernhard Dörries
Famous German filmmaker lives with his wife, cats, art and his films in a virtual world, never letting go of his creative urge despite physical limitations at his age of 88.
My rating? ❤️❤️❤️
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2017: Sansar Creator Profile = Loz Hyde
Yes I know: NOT AN SL VIDEO (my contract included Sansar stuff too!) sorry sorry sorry …. not sorry actually, coz I totally drank the Kool Aid at the time and I am not ashamed to admit it! Sansar was superior than many of its “next gen virtual world” competitors and the people who pioneered world building in there - many of them from SL but not exclusively - were/are fantastic and talented folks!
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2018: HoverDerby Players = Agent M83
I can not believe it: I completely forgot about these little vignettes we made back in the day to promote HoverDerby which was a really cool fast-paced team sport concept for Sansar. Yes, a bit cringe my weird accent is, I guess I tried to to do kind of a Borat impression, but still: funny yes? LOL or ROFL? Or no?
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2019: Games Made in Second Life
The year I started producing for the official SL social channels saw the premiere of the Made in Second Life series (logo by the great Marianne McCann!) and it was a hard choice to pick my fave of 2019 but here we go: ChuuAkamine is awesome!
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2020: Asiza’s Islands of Love
What can I say: meeting Asiza aka Toni Harper in SL, then a year later jamming with her IRL in the flesh at her home in Palm Springs, California, trying not to faint coz yes of course Toni: I am NOT OSCAR PETERSON PLEASE FORGIVE ME ….
What an inspiration she was! And still is !!! 🤍🎵🎤
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2021: David Rumsey Maps
I made over 100 videos in 2021, a lot of elaborate narrative pieces in the Made in SL series, on art, health, music, team sports etc but I want to highlight this short one about David’s historic map collection. Been around forever and still an amazing “use case” for SL!
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2022: Wrestling Made in Second Life
Someone once asked me in the dog park what I do for a living and I said “I make documentaries about furries who run a wrestling federation in a virtual world.” 😌
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2023: KuLani Beach
Is Second Life just a distraction from what is REALLY going on in the world? A way to close your eyes to corruption, war, injustice, numb yourself, become complacent, escape from your responsibilities as a parent, citizen, human being?
Well, IMHO, it sure can be, just like the TV or a 12-pack of Bud Light every morning before breakfast but this beach community is a great example of how stereotypes can be flipped on their head because inclusive community that transcends borders is I think always a net positive for world peace!
And mind you: I identify as a revolutionary communist, so there! Let’s walk and chew gum at the same time, shall we?
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2024: Creations Park Made in Second Life - Carlyle Chaparral - Savoy Ballroom
One of my last videos was a labor of love as were the others: highlighting the fact that in SL age does not matter. This is the second part of my 2-part series about “Creations Park” which was founded by Barbie Alchemi when her 82-year old mother Fran Seranade suggested to enter the virtual realm to raise funds for the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
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Ok so that is it!
10 years working with the best team ever (again THANK YOU BERRY, BRETT and EBBE and all the other good Lindens and Moles).
What is YOUR favorite video of the last ten years? Please post in comments below!
There is MORE (did I mention the podcast?) where this came from and of course there is the in-world event/live-stream on March 16th where I will announce my plans going forward.
Would you like me to continue producing these stories as a freelance dude?
If so please do pledge your support and I will see you in-world!
Just wanted to say a quick and BIG THANK YOU to everyone for a wonderful event yesterday and OMG I am humbled by the expression of gratitude for the work by y'all!
We shall continue - lots of folks pledged their support and we are getting to the goal - and I also got some great new ideas yesterday while streaming for additional events besides the more elaborate reportage/documentary stuff! Little roundtable talks anyone? Quick eye-candy here and there, and then every 6 weeks a bigger story? Stay tuned :)
A fascinating story Drax, those 10 years probably felt much longer and you got to meet and know people from so many different walks of life, young, old, creators and people who just wanted to tell their story. Quite fascinating and even though things are changing, I hope you still find time and effort to continue documenting SL in some way, because you became an integral part of telling the world about us and the worlds and stories we create.
Don't be a stranger now!