0:03

We're Alive listeners. As many

0:05

of you know, We're Alive started 15

0:08

years ago with our flagship

0:11

show, We're Alive, a story

0:13

of survival. It

0:15

was one of the first zombie audio dramas

0:17

of its kind and pioneered the

0:20

genre. 15

0:22

years and seven seasons later, We're Alive

0:24

is coming to a fateful and epic

0:26

conclusion, and we're so excited to

0:28

show you what we have in store for

0:30

our final two seasons of Descendence. But

0:33

to get there, we'll need your help. And

0:35

that's why we've launched a Kickstarter to help

0:37

fund our final chapters. Your

0:40

support will help us gather our

0:42

immensely talented cast, as well as

0:44

our tireless award-winning sound designers and

0:46

production crew who bring the groundbreaking

0:48

world of We're Alive to life.

0:51

Additionally, we have exclusive

0:53

merchandise, rewards, content, and

0:55

experiences available for our

0:57

generous donors. The

1:00

closer we get to our various stretch

1:02

goals and tiers, the closer we get

1:04

to being able to finish the epic

1:06

story of We're Alive. To

1:08

Kickstarter is live, and you

1:10

can visit by searching for

1:12

We're Alive on Kickstarter or

1:15

going to our website at

1:17

weylandproductions.com or We're alive.com for

1:19

more information. Hello

1:25

everyone, Casey Weyland here. I have some

1:27

exciting things to share with you about

1:29

the next iterations of our series, We're

1:31

Alive. How about we start

1:34

with a sneak peek of our next

1:36

installment, We're Alive, Scouts

1:38

Honor. Weyland

1:41

Productions presents. The

1:43

last ferry to Catalina will be leaving

1:46

in 10 minutes. First

1:48

time? Yeah. This

1:50

is going to be a big summer for you. Just

1:52

think of it as a rite of passage. Scouts,

1:55

venture home! Woo-ha-ha!

2:00

Something's going on in Avalon. It's not

2:02

just a drill. You need to get

2:04

everyone ready. Can you hear that?

2:07

Everyone go! We

2:09

got it! It's

2:11

an outbreak. A sticker is hacking you.

2:15

Please don't run! He

2:17

did what he had to do. We're doing what we have to do

2:19

now. What we really need is to

2:21

get off this island. We got

2:23

rules on the test. We'll never see the

2:25

sky for a heart. We're going to head

2:27

into the river! Go! Go! Go! Go! You're

2:30

going to have to put me in one! We're

2:33

alive. Scouts Honor.

2:36

Coming soon to all

2:38

podcast champions. Scouts

2:42

Honor will be released once we

2:45

hit our goal during our Kickstarter

2:47

campaign to fund the next and

2:49

final two seasons of We're Alive

2:51

Descendants. We've created an amazing

2:53

video for our Kickstarter page that explains

2:55

all about the release with

2:58

an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at our

3:00

productions over the last 15 years

3:03

and a sneak peek on what's to

3:05

come. This is our audio version for

3:07

you. So, to see

3:10

even more, be sure to

3:12

head to our Kickstarter page.

3:14

Just search We're Alive on

3:16

kickstarter.com or visit

3:18

weylandproductions.com. And

3:20

with that, here we go. As

3:26

I recall, the months leading up to when this

3:28

all began weren't much to remember. It

3:30

all happened so fast. I told you,

3:32

man, they're zombies. Yeah, some of them

3:34

are smart. You've got to be careful about that. I

3:37

didn't fear death or what might be on the other

3:39

side if today was my last day. What

3:42

did you say? It was then. It's over.

3:45

And this is now. Something's

3:47

left. The wall! There's

3:49

got to be something about the infected that we've

3:51

been missing. Those two were close to me. They

3:54

were family. I'm gonna fight

3:56

off the fucking family now! I told you I

3:58

was gonna bury you. You think the

4:00

families are gone? The gold, it's

4:03

real. Now we're about to

4:05

extend it. They think infected are

4:07

the next stage of us. Those things

4:10

will always be out there. We are

4:12

strong together. Stay alert, stay

4:15

alive. Hello,

4:19

my name is Casey Whalen. I'm the writer,

4:21

director, producer and creator of We're Alive. It's

4:23

an audio drama series that's been going on

4:25

since 2009. We're Alive is

4:27

a serial radio drama. And we

4:29

have a Kickstarter campaign to bring

4:31

you. Stand by for recording. So We're Alive

4:34

began way back when, when I

4:36

was going to college. Then I joined the military, went

4:38

to Iraq, and a lot of the things that you

4:40

actually see that happen in the story kind

4:43

of are inspired by some of the things I

4:45

may have seen overseas. Marines are mopping up the

4:47

mess made by the army. So when I came

4:49

up with this idea back in 2009, I wanted

4:51

to create the first survival zombie

4:54

show for television. And I

4:56

didn't have the resources to do it, and so I

4:58

thought, oh hey, why don't I make it as an

5:00

audio drama first? But there are limitless possibilities in the

5:02

audio world. The

5:06

original series was four seasons. We actually

5:08

call it the story of survival. But there was still

5:10

more to tell after that. There is lockdown, there's gold

5:12

rush. There's

5:15

also Scouts Honor, which we'll talk about that in

5:17

a minute. We're Alive descendants is a continuation

5:19

of the original series. And also all the individual

5:21

stories that we've been telling on the side for

5:23

many years. That was way. It's

5:27

all been building up to this. These are the

5:29

kids of the survivors. I want

5:31

us to go back in there. Are you

5:33

insane? Not only that, but they're also the next

5:35

generation of infected. Why don't you just let out

5:37

all the infected? You know, make them all pay.

5:40

The first season of Descendants, which we've already created,

5:42

is sort of the start of that journey. There

5:45

is no way. And seasons

5:47

two and three get to explore even more of

5:49

that world. You did everything you could in that

5:51

arena. We're going to

5:53

finally get into some of the deep pieces of the

5:56

lore of the world that we've been dying to tell

5:58

you about. And this

6:00

is the last full series, multiple seasons,

6:02

that will ultimately take us to the

6:05

final conclusion that is We're Alive. We're

6:09

doing a Kickstarter to fund these last two seasons,

6:11

because frankly we need money. When

6:13

we first started out doing We're Alive back

6:15

in 2009, we really didn't pay the actors

6:17

a lot. We kind of just

6:20

gave them pizza and some travel stipends. And a

6:22

lot of commitment has gone to the show through

6:24

the volunteer hours of those who've been committed to,

6:26

you know, this amazing story. I mean, I can't

6:29

tell you how many times I've pulled in a

6:31

neighbor or my sister was one of

6:33

the people who did No Place I'd Rather Be.

6:36

Honey, please, I spent my last time on

6:38

the degree in humanities. Even now I've

6:41

gotten my son involved with, you know, making some

6:43

of this audio. Oh no, the bus! Oh

6:45

no, the bus! Stop! Stop! To

6:48

produce something like this is

6:50

not as easy as maybe some

6:52

people think. We have to write incredibly

6:55

long scripts, directly tailored for audio. We

6:57

have all these actors come from all

6:59

over the place and we are

7:02

very proud of how we're able to get everyone

7:04

within the same space to be able to interact.

7:06

How the hell is that possible? Because if you

7:08

don't believe what's happening in the scene, then it

7:11

all falls apart. And then from

7:13

there we have to take all the performances,

7:15

make sure that we are choosing the right

7:17

takes, make sure that the pacing is there,

7:19

that all the aspects of what is being

7:21

said is clear. And then we

7:23

go through the even longer part of production,

7:26

which is to accompany those voices with sound

7:28

effects. We

7:32

want to make sure that everything that you're hearing sounds

7:35

as authentic as possible. Our editors

7:37

are bar none some of the best

7:39

in the world. Jino Jang and Victoria

7:41

Chang, Jana Nishioka,

7:44

Michael Keene. We also

7:46

do custom scores and music. Our

7:48

composer Robert Mai, Danny Birkoff

7:51

Hopkins. It's a very high

7:53

quality show and it's high quality because

7:55

we care about all the little details.

8:00

this they're putting

8:02

their hands literally in the

8:04

muck sometimes to bring you

8:06

this story. Many people

8:08

have to work tirelessly to make

8:11

sure it's perfect every single week.

8:13

And this Kickstarter campaign not only

8:15

helps us bring the

8:17

audio to life but also in a way that

8:19

we can pay them for their time and effort.

8:22

We also want to be able to bring in

8:24

the caliber of talent that we

8:26

want for these additional characters. We want to be

8:29

able to do things with sound that take a

8:31

lot of time to do. Once

8:36

we hit our goal for part of

8:38

the Kickstarter campaign we're going to start

8:40

the release of Scouts Honor during

8:43

the Kickstarter campaign. Scouts Honor

8:45

is our last stand-alone story. It involves

8:47

a group of scouts on the island

8:49

of Catalina and the outbreak

8:51

happens and they have to work together to

8:53

get off the island. Sort of the coming

8:55

of age story of Lord of the Flies

8:58

meets the werelife world. And

9:00

it's really a lot of fun. It's

9:03

an amazing adventure probably one of the greatest

9:06

things we've ever made and I'm so excited

9:08

to bring it to you. One

9:11

of the reasons why I continue to

9:13

want to bring this caliber of

9:16

editing and production is essentially for

9:19

the fans. For you, for

9:21

the listeners who have been with us through all

9:23

these years. Our little family.

9:25

And honestly it's one of the things that

9:27

keeps me going. I really enjoy our fan

9:29

base because they're amazing

9:32

people who love entertainment, they love

9:34

following good stories, I love the

9:36

interaction, the theories, the camaraderie that

9:38

they build. We've had fans who've

9:40

gotten married, had children. There have

9:42

been many many great moments involving

9:44

fans over the years. We've had

9:46

so many different public live

9:49

events where the fans have come out. Some

9:51

of them from all over the world and

9:53

with these kickstarter stretch goals we can do

9:55

some special live events, make some online games,

9:57

maybe bring something that's got a little song

9:59

and dance. to it. I don't know. There's

10:01

a lot of possibilities that we could do.

10:03

All you got to do is hit

10:05

that button over there or maybe it's

10:07

there. I don't really know where I

10:10

am right now. I could be on

10:12

your phone. You can have your name

10:14

on a supporting wall. There will be

10:16

digital art packs and wallpaper, digital scripts,

10:18

physical scripts with signatures, musical soundtracks, ad-free

10:20

downloads of Scouts Honor. There'll be personalized

10:22

messages. There'll be Zoom sessions where we

10:24

can chat. There will be audio dedications

10:26

at the beginning of an episode and

10:28

there also are even executive producer credits.

10:30

We also have some exclusive add-ons like

10:33

t-shirts and dice and playing cards.

10:35

We had a fingernail tear but we

10:37

didn't think it was going to be very popular.

10:39

Even if you're not able to back us on

10:41

Kickstarter, just sharing the word about the show, sharing

10:44

your love of the series with other people because

10:47

once we are able to make this, it's going to be able to

10:49

live on forever and you get to

10:51

be a part of that. To a wonderful experience,

10:53

a wonderful set of people and what a time

10:55

in life, right? We've been very fortunate with We're

10:57

Alive being able to achieve

11:00

some awards and get some accolades

11:02

and recognition like being up for an

11:04

audio award or recognized by the BBC or

11:06

in the audio fiction World Cup. We're

11:09

approaching 300 million downloads which is

11:11

unfathomable to see how much this

11:13

has been accepted and

11:15

listened to over the years. We've had

11:17

a lot of really great support from

11:20

outside partnerships. Rusty Quill helps handle a

11:22

lot of our advertisements and is also

11:25

helping us bring this Kickstarter to life

11:27

and making sure we can create the

11:29

ultimate series conclusion that we want to.

11:31

We're going to need your help. But

11:34

your support, your spreading of the words

11:36

and the infection of this audio entertainment

11:38

to other people has really helped us

11:41

keep going. There's been good times and

11:43

hard times and many, many obstacles I

11:45

personally have had to overcome to be able to

11:47

continue to do this. For those of you who

11:49

have been with us since the very beginning, I

11:51

have to give you a very

11:54

hearty thank you and I

11:56

want you to be with us to the end.

12:00

I promise you. So that's our

12:02

Kickstarter campaign. Thank you so much

12:04

for those of you who are able to

12:06

back us financially in this crazy endeavor that

12:08

will bring about the end of We're Alive.

12:10

I know it's sad to say but the

12:12

reality is with this campaign we're

12:14

finally going to be able to complete the story

12:17

that we started fifteen years ago. Thank you everybody.

12:19

I'm very grateful for all the support you've been

12:21

able to give us over the years. And

12:24

I'm excited to finally be able to finish

12:26

this journey with you. Stay

12:28

alert, stay alive everyone.