Faces of Serenity is a two-part campaign consisting of a mail-in component and an online component. The purpose of the campaign is to show Universal that producing a sequel to Serenity is a smart and profitable business decision. To convince Universal of this, our campaign will show them exactly how much Browncoats are spending on Serenity- and Firefly-related products. From multiple copies of BDCE DVDs to Companion Books and action figures, from theater tickets to CD soundtracks and iTunes downloads, we will explicitly list every purchase and price thereof related to our ‘Verse, thus showing Universal how much money they stand to make by expanding our ‘Verse via the Serenity sequel we all so long to see.
We’re also going to have a lot of fun here.
Part of the fun will be the online picture component of this campaign. This component asks all Faces of Serenity participants to submit a picture of themselves, along with all of their ‘Verse-related merchandise. My own example is here:
These pictures will be used in two ways: as part of our mail-in campaign, and as part of our online campaign via this site. For a general description of the campaign (its goals, how it works, how to join) please see the “How to Join” page, which is (almost) complete as of the time of this post. For a general idea of our complete pitch to Universal — our rationale for convincing them to greenlight a Serenity sequel — please see the “Letter to Universal” page, which is complete at the time of this post.
These two pages, and especially the PDF forms linked to on the “How to Join” page, form the heart of the Faces of Serenity campaign. The final part of the campaign — the online fun part — is the “Faces of Serenity Gallery” area, currently under construction. Or better said, currently fully functional but populated by cats placeholder pics, rather than Browncoats showing off their shiny ‘Verse-related purchases.
Eventually, the cat placeholder pics will be replaced by pics of you and your shiny ‘Verse-related products. But I need you — all of you, and every Browncoat you can find — to start sending in appropriate pictures to populate the Gallery. Until then, pictures of my cats placeholder pics will be used as placeholders to test the functionality and scaleability of that core area of the site.
In addition, at present only two albums reside in the Gallery: one for UniHD and one for fireflyfans.net. These albums will soon be joined by other albums, with each album representing a “Team” of online Browncoats. The goal is to spark some friendly competition and encourage participation: What Team has the most pics? UniHD? fireflyfans.net? Who has the most loyal Browncoats? That sort of thing.
My ultimate dream addition to the Gallery would be an album for Team BDH/Cast, a place where Joss W and Co. would have their pics on this site, showing their support for a Serenity sequel. It’s a goal, and it will be rolled into the “Letter to the Cast” once said letter is completed.
Questions? The “FAQ” is up and running. Please check it out. If your question isn’t answered there, please post it in the comments, and it will be answered and added to the FAQ.
Other areas of the site remain under construction, and there are a few core CSS and template issues I’m working to resolve. Nonetheless, the plan is in place, and all major functions of the site are working. Soon, I will be rolling out this same streamlined design to the Serenity Day 2008 site, and actually integrating the same sidebar “Randon Member Pics” and “Latest Member Pic” widgets right on SD08, so that when a new pic is added here, it is automatically highlighted on SD08. In this way, SD08’s site will help promote the Faces of Serenity site, just as this site will actively promote SD08. (And I may even get that gorramn SD08 countdown timer to work in real-time. It’s on the list….)
Much work still needs done, but all major foundations have been laid, and all major website functions are working. Most importantly, the Faces of Serenity plan is fully in place, the forms are ready, and the time is now for Browncoats worldwide to start downloading forms, gathering shiny ‘Verse-related purchases, and taking pictures.
So, as River would say, “That’s the plan.” Now it’s time for comments. They’re open, and I look forward to your thoughts.
