Homestarrunner.net Interview - 21 May 2003
From Homestar Runner Wiki
In 2003, admin "BLINK" of fansite and forum Homestarrunner.net interviewed Matt Chapman. Twenty-two questions about Homestar Runner were answered through an email exchange.
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[edit] Transcript
1. Rumors about a new character have been swirling around the web. Any truth to that? If so, any sketches of him/her? Any successful?
MATT: There's lotsa potential new characters, but nothing actually planned. Like we've said before, if there's a new full character (not an incidental character like Stinkoman or Eh! Steve), it'll probably be another girl. I keep saying Bubs should adopt whoever the new character is and that's how they show up.
2. Strong Bad is a major part of homestarrunner.com. I imagine the Strong Bad Emails did it for him. Any plans for other awesome features staring another favorite character?
MATT: We still want to have other weekly features with other characters for sure. We just didn't realize that when we started doing this full time, there'd be so much other business-type stuff that'd take up our time. It'll definitely happen though, once we get into a nice routine.
3. Last time I talked with you, you said the store was doing quite well. Any plans for add-ons? I believe action figures are coming very soon, as well as a DVD this summer. Anything else to look forward to? Cereal? Plushies?
MATT: The figurines should be arriving in the US any day so hopefully they'll be for sale in the next month or so. The plan is for a CD of music from the site to come out this summer, and then the DVD in the fall. Yes, The Cheat plushies are in the works.
4. Have you ever thought of making the toons follow a certain story line? Maybe have a little mini-series?
MATT: I think they do already, by virtue of the ongoing relationships between the characters. But as far as some big X-Files type story line, no, I don't think it fits.
5. The games on the website are great and the new ones keep getting better and better. Any plans for an RPG? In other words, any ideas for something a little more complex?
MATT: Well, there's only so much you can do with flash, but we do have lots more games in the works. We just love the simplicity of classic arcade games. Maybe one day there'll be interest from console gaming companies and then they can make the super 3D cel-shaded fighter FPS RPG Final Fantasy RTS doodoo game.
6. You guys met with Cartoon Network a while ago when your site was in it's beginning stages. Do you think if you met with them again or maybe another station, they would accept you? Will you ever make an offer?
MATT: We're not actively pursuing getting Homestar on TV and we don't actively want him to be on TV. We're sorta our own little TV network. Except there's no commercials and we're on all the time and you the viewer can decide what you watch when you want. We're making a living doing something we love so why give that up? It just wouldn't be the same if it was on TV.
6. About how many people log onto the website a day? How much has that increased from a year ago?
MATT: I don't know exactly but it's a few million unique users a month. I think the average Monday is around 250,000 unique users. That's probably 100 times more than what it was a year ago. Which is really cool.
7. How would you describe your website to a TV executive?
MATT: We wouldn't bother.
8. Easter eggs can be found in many of your new works. I think it is great that you guys reward fans who listen and watch closely. Do you guys ever go back and add or subtract anything from the old toons?
MATT: Occasionally. If we think of something that we just can't pass up but it's after the fact, we'll go back and sneak it in. And sometimes we'll upload something before we noticed a mistake or that something didn't work how we wanted it to, so we'll change it.
9. Any long-term plans for the website?
MATT: Just keep doing it. Hopefully start making more stuff more frequently. Make more cool stuff for you guys like the toys and DVDs and stuff.
10. Would you feel any different about the site if it were less underground and more mainstream?
MATT: No. As long as we're making a living off it and folks are still diggin it, it doesn't really matter if it's underground or mainstream to me.
11. Are you guys planning on doing any contests? If so, what about? I think it would be awsome!
MATT: Mike was talking about doing a The Arrowed Guy lookalike contest. Where balding businessmen send in pictures of themselves and whoever looks the most like the Arrowed Guy wins and gets some free stuff.
12. Do your friends love homestarrunner.com? If so, don't they ever want to help out with it?
MATT: I hope they like it and aren't sick of it. If we ask for help our friends are always really nice and willing to help. But for the most part, our friends all have creative outlets of their own like playing in bands or doing improv comedy or websites of their own.
13. Do you think living in a large town, Atlanta, effects the website at all?
MATT: No. Considering I lived in New York for a year and we did the site long distance, I don't think it really matters where we live. We've only recently met some Atlanta fans face to face and everybody's real cool here.
14. I just viewed some pictures of you guys from Emotion Eric. Do you think now that people know what you look like, they will stop you when they see you around town?
MATT: I doubt it. Even if someone had seen those pictures, I doubt they'd recognize us on the street. We're fairly plain lookin dudes.
15. What is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you guys relating to the website? Maybe someone freaked out when they met you or something?
MATT: We did this thing at a comic store and this guy (maybe 16-1Cool asked if Homestar would do his outgoing voicemail message. I said sure. He was so excited and turned so red I thought he was gonna faint or maybe pee himself. That was pretty awesome. I didn't realize Homestar could have that kind of effect on somebody. Or their bladder.
16. I believe you both have quit your jobs and devoted your life to the site. Does the site generate enough money for survival?
MATT: Yup. We don't live very extravagant lives anyway but it pays the bills and supports the site.
17. Who are the Unguraits and Homeschool Winner? These characters are featured in one of the files on your server.
MATT: Hey! Stay outta our server!
18. Are there any secrets about any of the characters that we will soon find out?
MATT: Yes.
19. What is the weirdest/coolest/most bizzare fan tribute you have ever seen?
MATT: A Trogdor butt tattoo from this girl in Tallahassee. That rules.
20. When do you usually pick the email of the week? When is the best time to email Strong Bad? and will it be more likely to get picked if we email you or Strong Bad?
MATT: You definitely have to email Strong Bad to be in the running. At this point though, there's really nothing you can do to improve your chances. He's getting over 4,000 a day lately. Mike and I go through them for at least a couple hours a day during the week, setting aside the ones we think have potential, but that really just scratches the surface. So it's kinda like winning the lottery. I will tell you that when we see a buncha emails from one person, especially if it's the same email, we usually don't read em.
21. I think a shirt featuring the whole cast would sell like hotcakes! Some of the pictures I would recommend would be the wallpaper in your downloads section.
MATT: We have thought about that as a possible "shirt of the month" but we haven't decided for sure yet. One of the issues is that it's a whole lotta colors and we need to sharpen the image a bit before putting it on a shirt. But keep watching, you never know what'll turn up in the Store!!
[edit] Fun Facts
[edit] Trivia
- The Club Aquatica interview was also conducted by a Homestarrunner.net user.
- 3D, cel-shaded, fighter, FPS, RPG, Final Fantasy, and RTS are all video gaming terms.
- A homebrew Homestar Runner RPG for the Atari 2600 was in development at this time, though it would not be completed.
[edit] Inside References
- Stinkoman and Eh! Steve are brought up as examples of secondary characters.
- Homestarrunner.net was created by a fan inspired by a scene from First Time Here? where Homestar Runner misstates the homestarrunner.com web address.
- The forum was shut down later in 2003. As of 2008, the URL redirects to the Homestar Runner Wiki.
- The Arrow'd Guy is mentioned.
- The Unguraits and Homeschool Winner are Rejected Characters. The file on the server is Character Cards.
[edit] Real-World References
- The TV show The X-Files consisted of episodes that alternately centered around a complex, series-long mythology or standalone one-off adventures; Matt compares Homestar Runner toons to the latter.
- The Brothers Chaps' appearance in Eric Conveys An Emotion: The Football Game is mentioned.
[edit] Fast Forward
- The Store products Matt mentioned were all released, but not exactly in the anticipated timeline.
- The figurine set released July 15, within two months of the interview.
- Although the CD was planned to release in the summer, recording did not finish until August; it was released on November 17.
- Kick The Cheat plushies came out February 16, 2004.
- The strongbad_email.exe DVD set was not released until November 9, 2004 — over a year later than initially planned.
- DNA Evidence, which tied together a running gag from six consecutive Strong Bad Emails, is probably the closest to a "big X-Files type story line" that the site has attempted.
- Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People is a "3D cel-shaded" game released for the Wii console.
- A t-shirt featuring the whole cast would eventually be released — the Fangamer "Everybody! Everybody!" design. Unlike the wallpaper mentioned in the interview, this design uses a very limited color palette.
[edit] External Links
- Read the interview (archive link)
