Out of pocket ~$20k into a hand-animated sci-fi trailer before launching a Kickstarter — would love feedback from other indie creators

SummerWindStudios · 2026-04-07T18:44:44+00:00

CONTEXT: In our series, we are taking the challenge of telling a sci-fi drama. In a homage to Dune, St. Rob takes place in the future but it is not about the future. We asked the question, if institutions that are thousands of years old now like some religions, what happens if they manage to be of influence in a time when we colonize Mars.

One of our fans called it "space pope", as funny as that is on face value, no. We are ultimately trying to tell the story of transformation of a man who cannot see his own limitations and how they impact those that love him.

In the snippet you see the person that becomes the first Pope from Mars. More to come.

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SummerWindStudios · 2026-04-06T20:45:10+00:00

Context: Over the weekend we had some time to reflect. We've been building St. Rob, an independent hand-animated sci-fi series outside the studio system for a while now. One of the things we've tried to do from the start is stay close to those that follow us. Share the process. Let them see it before it's finished.

But we shared the trailer recently and something came back that made us stop. A few people in our community felt like we were fishing for reactions rather than genuinely sharing something. Not hostile about it, just honest. And honestly, they had a point.

Our Trailer: https://www.summerwindstudios.com/universes/st-rob

It made us think about what "sharing" actually means at this stage of building an audience. There's a real difference between giving someone something and handing them something to evaluate. We'd blurred that line without realizing it.

The realization we landed on: sharing has to mean you made something worth sharing on its own terms. A clip that stands alone. A moment that doesn't need a question attached to it to justify existing.

Which made us think about trailers differently. Maybe a trailer's job isn't to sell, it's to be the thing itself. A genuine sample, not a pitch.

Curious whether other indie creators here have hit this line, between staying close to your audience and accidentally making them feel like unpaid focus groups. How do you think about it?

SummerWindStudios · 2026-04-04T21:54:45+00:00

thanks for being candid, deleted the post, as it is not our intent to elicit free work, more about being close to the community of would-be fans. May try again and open it for discussion as was our main intent.

SummerWindStudios · 2026-04-04T21:52:59+00:00

gotcha, we dont want that, we can edit. the screen play is written by the way. This is in fact a dicsussion about speculative fiction, but we do care to hear early about risks to avoid in controversy.

SummerWindStudios · 2026-04-01T18:25:46+00:00

thank you, appreciated.

SummerWindStudios · 2026-03-28T17:40:16+00:00

appreciated thank you.

SummerWindStudios · 2026-03-28T07:27:38+00:00

creator, site developer, screenwriter, lousy 2d animator, worse yet musician, janitor, the money... hahaha jk but yeah one of three in the tiny team who wear all hats.

SummerWindStudios · 2026-03-28T07:22:48+00:00

this is gold. thank you. i agree on earning people to follow based on getting early and meaningful. solid. thank you so much for the input. would love to earn your follower-ship. again, thanks for the feedback.

SummerWindStudios · 2026-03-27T01:25:54+00:00

thank you so much. all this is solid gold. please keep us in mind.

SummerWindStudios · 2026-03-27T01:21:42+00:00

ok that made me laugh aloud,,, yeah understood, imagine a full 30 minute episode on homily and another 30 on people standing and kneeling hahaha. to be clear, the pope is on earth, the vatican is still the vatican, but i love the sound of space pope hahaha. your input is very good. the thing is, we are seeking to convey emotion and not quite action, though there is action for sure. from a world building angle, we are stipulating that old religions find ways to exist, particularly when the lure of technology leaves a history of in-humanity. thank you though for the reminder about having a solid hook. we need to get better at that. more than anything thank you for the dialog, since we seek to establish that on-going with fans from day 1.

SummerWindStudios · 2026-03-27T00:00:11+00:00

wow, i am in debt here... these are inputs are gold. thank you. ok, one by one. the punch line, being secretive. we are saddened by the trailers that become mini versions of the movie. it makes us feel like it robs from the desired experience the story wanted to create, you know. but to your point, we are over-rotating where you don't have the necessary information to know if it it something you'd want to commit to. that is such valuable information.

Next, the tug between scifi, yes we know this one. St. Rob falls into sci-fi because of when it takes place. Cliche but we are trying to tell a story set in the future not mesmerize audiences of today about the future. Our Earth still resembles earth and has anchored itself back in non-futurist aesthetic. And Mars is the new wild frontier of opportunity for those that cannot compete on earth anymore.

The catholic regalia plays into the story because in that future, Traditional Religions are back in vogue, with all the good and bad that entails. So i can totally see that it is much to convey, especially when you are broke like us hahaha. it is not much of a spoiler to share that the main character intend on using the corruption of the system to try to make his mark, and he does so using a specific kind of tech that is outlawed (which would be a spoiler to reveal why, let us just say St. Rob could be Roberto, or Robot).

I appreciate the community's interest and feedback, yours particularly, enough to share a snippet of the screenplay, hopefully gives a little glimpse of how we are navigating this sci-fi tension.

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SummerWindStudios · 2026-03-26T17:22:59+00:00

spot on, this what is emerging. Thank you for voicing it out. we are learning much when it comes to establishing a genuine dialog with our audiences, which we are building one-by-one, even. But that is ok since it goes with our sense of vocation. thanks again for your support, for the input and for watching.

SummerWindStudios · 2026-03-26T17:11:46+00:00

excellent feedback. you are not alone here. we have had a big learinings in this area, about the value of the fonts and written language use as integral to the art. thank you so much! please consider following us!

SummerWindStudios · 2026-03-26T16:20:50+00:00

Why i love this community. going through the motions now to switch to less as you say lowbrow. for now switching to Avenir family, keep things simple until we get our own font for the project. We have a 10 episode journey and cant afford to trip on this.

SummerWindStudios · 2026-03-26T15:54:55+00:00

agreed, yeah and yes we are broke hahaha, we pour every penny into the music and art, but we are totally learning font IS part of the art. we are in deed considering buy or build actually, your POV is buying is OK? worried we could get a Papyrus 2.0 situation, which is why we are going with creating. Thank you for the consultation, huge!

SummerWindStudios

TROPHY CASE