Adelaide
Oct 30 - Nov 1, 2026
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In 2007, struggling actor Felicia Day set out to prove that she didn’t need Hollywood to make art. After trying and failing to pitch an idea for a sitcom based on her love of online gaming, she decided to take matters into her own hands, turning to the burgeoning world of online video distribution.
The result of Felicia’s labour of love was The Guild, a web series which follows the exploits of a group of MMORPG players after they meet in person for the first time, with Day playing the lead character, Codex/Cyd Sherman.
Day reworked her pilot sitcom script into ten episodes of only a few minutes each to form the first season, which was produced on a shoestring budget and uploaded to YouTube between July 2007 and May 2008. It was one of the earliest web series ever made and certainly one of the most popular, running for six seasons between 2007 and 2013, with Day writing the majority of the episodes herself.
However, they actually ran out of money after episode three, with the first season only being completed thanks to PayPal donations from fans. It’s this scrappy, grassroots spirit that established The Guild as a paragon of independent art and victory over the exclusive and insular Hollywood content machine.
It’s in that very same spirit that The Guild made its surprise return in July this year, with the launch of a Kickstarter to fund a 20th anniversary reunion movie, The Guild: Ren Faire’d.
Day made the announcement earlier in the year, generating much fanfare and excitement. A script had been written and the original cast were all on board. Day had even secured several of her celebrity friends to cameo in the film. All she needed was the funds to actually make it happen.
With Hollywood still showing no interest, Day once again turned to the passionate and supportive fan base who had kept The Guild going for six years. It’s no surprise that those fans turned out in droves to lend their support and their hard-earned money.
However, even the most diehard of Guildies couldn’t have foreseen just how successful the campaign would be, shattering all manner of records and Felicia Day’s wildest expectations. Even before the campaign launched, The Guild: Ren Faire’d was not only the most followed upcoming campaign across all categories on Kickstarter, but it was also the most followed movie in the platform’s history.
The campaign officially launched on the 21st of July (8am on the 20th in California), with an initial goal set at a paltry $1.5 million USD. Day stated that this was the bare minimum that they needed to make the most basic version of the movie, and that initial goal was surpassed within the first 24 hours of the month-long campaign.
On top of that, the campaign broke several Kickstarter records, with it having the biggest launch day for a movie, the fastest movie to raise US $2.5 million, and the most funds raised in 24 hours for a movie. This reception was unprecedented, and proof positive that this quirky little web show from the early days of YouTube was still adored by legions of fans around the world.
Rewarding those diehard fans and supporters, Day and friends offered a range of goodies for their backers, from stickers and pins, all the way up to signed props, set visits and producer credits.
As the campaign cleared hurdle after hurdle, they continued to add more and more stretch goals, and new, exclusive merch was put up for grabs. T-shirts, posters, Blu-Rays, signed scripts and an original Guild tabletop RPG were some more of the rewards on offer.
One of the most unique bits of merch though, was a new and original dating simulation card game called Swords and Sweethearts. While it seems that a standard version of the game will be made available elsewhere, the Kickstarter exclusive version includes the likenesses of many fan-favourite celebrities, such as Nathan Fillion, Matt Mercer, Misha Collins, and Adelaide and Brisbane 2026 Supa-Star, Alan Tudyk.
By the time the campaign ended on the 22nd of August our time, the Kickstarter had received US $6,795,922 in pledges, across some 45,000 backers. Thanks to late pledging being open for a while longer, these numbers ended up being closer to US $6,920,000 across 46,213 backers. That is utterly mind-blowing!
Every stretch goal was met, every dream achieved, with the final goal of $5.7million being easily cleared. According to Day, this means that she’ll be able to make her dream version of the movie, and all funds raised over that final goal will go into improving the quality of production, with extra shoot days and the like.
Day has also announced several extra projects, which served as stretch goals, including two new music videos, an animated special and a ten-episode gaming series called Conludo, hosted by Day and her frequent collaborator Wil Wheaton.
The unbelievable amount of money earned also meant that more records were broken, with The Guild: Ren Faire’d now becoming the most successful movie Kickstarter campaign in history, beating the previous record held by the Veronica Mars film, which raised some US $5.7million.
This campaign was a truly amazing achievement, and a testament not only to the tenacity of independent artists, but also to the power of fan-culture. It’s moments like this that speak to its sense of community.
Day has spoken at length about how Hollywood rejected her and The Guild, with those Hollywood suits just not getting it. So it’s only right that she found the support and artistic appreciation she needed in the geek community she’s always been a proud member of.
The Guild started out as a poster child for the power of independent art and geek culture. Nearly 20 years later it’s doing it all over again, at a time when faith in the Hollywood machine is at an all-time low.
Best of luck to Felicia Day and her Guildies as they put their movie into production and head into what is sure to be an epic 20th anniversary year. Game on!
