This isn't working... | The Friday Update

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Friday Update, in which I give a little insight into what I’ve been up to for the past seven days.

This week’s Friday Update is a bit of a heads up…

Over the past seven days or so, we’ve been putting together a video which we’re hoping might serve as the basis for a bit of a support drive here on Patreon.

The past year has seen us produce a couple of our most-watched videos ever.

We’ve also made some of what I think is our most accomplished work: stuff which has taken us across the country, inside the Houses of Parliament, and had us interviewing everyone from historians to politicians to CEOs.

The videos our extremely small team of three (one of whom only works two days a week!) are now among the most-watched bits of UK-based current affairs programming on YouTube; which is wild.

The pieces we’re working on at the moment, and will be releasing over the coming months, are also not only fascinating but, I think, important.

In fact, the original reporting contained within one is so sensitive I’m trying to avoid talking about it too too much until much closer to release!

Nevertheless, things are getting quite stretched financially.

I’m incredibly proud of how much we’re able to do with vanishingly small budgets, but the reality is that making the videos we make is just really expensive.

Wages, software, kit upkeep, travel, and all the outgoings which come with running any business (from accountancy to payroll taxes to Google Workspace accounts so we can have email addresses!) all add up very quickly.

This has a few knock-on effects.

Firstly, it limits what we’re able to do in terms of trying out the cool ideas we’ve got for new formats. Not only does it make doing so too risky, but we also find ourselves in such a mad scramble to get the next video out each month that we aren’t able to find the time or headspace to really plan these things out.

Secondly (and related to the above), it means everyone having to do about three jobs. Which is chaotic and, I fear, a bit of a recipe for burnout.

Thirdly, working against a backdrop in which it constantly feels like we’re only a few months away from having to massively scale back is incredibly stressful. I don’t think it allows anyone the ability to do their best work or live their best lives.

A lot of you here have supported my work for a very, very, very long time. And for that I am extremely grateful. This work genuinely wouldn’t be possible without it.

My hope over the next week or so is that we might be able to encourage a few more people to come along and join in the fun.

It’s all a bit cringe and embarrassing to have to do, but my hope is that, through doing so, we can steady the ship a touch and be much more on the front foot going forward.

I’ve rarely been more enthusiastic and passionate about doing this and so, all this whinging notwithstanding, I’m really optimistic about what we can do in the coming 12 months and beyond, we just need a little support to get there.

Thanks as ever for your generous support and I’ll look forward to updating you more next week!!