The Inked in Erie Siege

You’ve been reading about ‘Sponsors’ and ‘13 Episode Season’ and ‘Airtime Buy’ on Facebook and it’s admittedly all a little confusing. This blog will explain in a bit more detail what we’re trying to do with “Inked in Erie” and answer some of the common questions.

This is the ‘Streaming’ Age, Why Is TV So Important?

TV is the whole ballgame. It’s the ‘Big Show’.  While Internet is becoming more and more popular, good old fashioned Television is still where most people get their entertainment and news. Whether from Broadcast, Cable, Satellite, or even a TV connected to the Internet – it’s still the primary source for most people.

Being on TV, even in a relatively small market like Erie, PA. makes the show ‘legit’. It means we’re tracked by the Nielsons, it makes us eligible for a ‘Golden Globe’, it makes the show – in the eyes of advertisers and other networks – a ‘real thing’.

While we don’t expect a Golden Globe nomination, or to be more than a mere blip on the Nielson ratings, being on TV means access to mediums we absolutely DO want to be a part of.

Securing a full 13 Episode Season will make us eligible to be on VOD Services like Netflix, Hulu and iTunes. Which puts us in 80 Million homes.

Alright, what’s the plan?

The “Inked in Erie” Production has purchased air time for Cable TV in Erie in Prime Time for the month of May.

We will run our first 5 episodes in May, with a new episode every Thursday night at 9pm. Episode 101 starts May 2nd, Episode 102 starts May 9th. Episode 105 starts May 30th.

Each Thursday, the new Episode will also be available on the Web for Free. It will be on www.InkedinErie.com as well as Youtube. The previous weeks episode, will no longer be available for free on the web. Essentially, when an episode is free to watch on TV, it will be free to watch on the web as well.

Previous Episodes will remain available to download in HD for $1.99 an episode. When the 13 Episode Season is complete, there will be a ‘Boxed Set’ DVD and Blu-Ray release and the entire season will be submitted to Netflix and Hulu.

That’s IF we get a full season. We need 12 Sponsors to make that happen.

How much is a Sponsorship, and What’s Involved?

It’s our goal to make “Inked in Erie” available for free to watch, everywhere possible. On TV, on the web, on Streaming Services. In addition to the costs of actual production on the show, to be on Television we have to pay for airtime. We have to buy the space at 9pm on Time Warner Cable. It costs about $3500 for a full 13 Episode Season.

We have space for 12 Sponsors. At a cost of between $300 – $500 per sponsor per month, for 3 months (the full season run) we’re there with room to spare.

In Exchange, sponsors get their message, commercial, advertisement delivered with our show on TV and everywhere the web reaches.

That’s an audience of over 100,000 people during the first season run, and the potential for millions thereafter.

Business owners simply have to get in touch with us. All the details are found in the Advertising Section of our site. www.InkedinErie.com/advertise.html

I don’t own a business, but I love the show. Can I help?

Yes! And we need your help.

First and foremost, watch the show. In Erie, we’re on Time Warner Cable Channel 180. On the web, you can simply go to www.InkedInErie.com and click the “Watch Current Episode” button. You’ll also find us on Youtube, and there’s links on Facebook and Twitter.

Interact with us. “Like” us, share us, “Hype” us. Tweet us to your friends, share our posts and our pages. Spread the word. This ‘Viral Data’ that is being generated – all the combined interactions with the show, tell sponsors that there’s an audience watching. That we’re a ‘real thing’, and it’s worth paying attention to.

If you want to do more, consider downloading one of our Episodes in HD. They cost just $1.99 and can be downloaded to your computer or phone in HD. You get to see new Episodes before they air and all proceeds from downloads goes right into the fund to get our full season. $2 doesn’t seem like a lot, but it adds up. If everyone following us on Facebook contributed $2 to our campaign, the sponsors wouldn’t matter. We would secure our first season, and all the episodes would be available to watch for free.

But most importantly, keep spreading the word! Keep watching, ‘liking’ and ‘sharing’. We grow by almost 200% every week – with this kind of momentum, they can’t ignore us forever!

- Paul Gorman

Executive Producer
Inked in Erie

The Logistics of Cable TV

So, it sounds like a great deal. Get into everyone’s hot little life, film their passions, talk to them about what matters. Film the very best of what they do day-to-day.

In theory… yes.

On the “Inked in Erie” Facebook Page, we’ve been talking a lot about sponsors, and trying get ‘back on TV’.

Let explain a little deeper, to bring everyone up to speed on what’s going on around “Inked in Erie”.

The show is designed to be a deep look inside Erie’s ‘Ink Culture’ or ‘Tattoo Community’. We’ll film anyone, anywhere in Erie County, and put them on TV. You have a great story behind your tattoo? You’re the best tattoo artist in Erie County? Just let us know the where and when, and we’ll be there to film it.

And we want EVERYONE to see it.

So we teamed up with Local Cable TV Network I AM TV Erie, running on Time Warner Cable Channel 180.

Now, time on TV is not cheap. In fact, it’s prohibitively expensive for most businesses. To run a 30 second commercial can costs thousands of dollars even in a market as small as Erie, Pennsylvania. So imagine the cost of buying 30 minutes. In Primetime.

Well, lucky for us I AM TV Erie has already bought up massive chunks of airtime on Time Warner Cable. So we have the ability to buy air time at a pretty substantial discount from them.

You’ve been seeing a lot of talk and banter on the “Inked in Erie” Web Site and Facebook pages lately about buying air time. This is what we’ve been talking about.

Plain and simply, we produce the show “Inked in Erie” on our own. Maddy G Productions along with GMD Television produce “Inked in Erie” at our own expense. Including the costs of putting it on Television for you to watch. It costs about $3,500 to purchase the air time for a 13 Episode Season of “Inked in Erie” in Primetime.

Thus the need for sponsors. Included in that airtime buy is space marked for commercials, so local businesses can take advantage of the ability to purchase Primetime space affordably too. Compared to large networks like NBC, CBS, FOX, ABC, etc… where a 30 second commercial can cost thousands of dollars in Primetime, we can offer the space for a fraction of that. Essentially enabling the business community to grow with us.

We ran “Inked in Erie” all thru April in a ‘Late Night’ time slot (Midnight) because it’s the most affordable slot to purchase. In just one month, the viewership and viral web statistics proved the demand and interest in the show, so we took the leap and booked Primetime (9pm) beginning May 2nd.

If we get the sponsors we need, in June will be expanding into Erie County and buying the same time slot in Crawford County. And from there… there’s no limits.

In the short time “Inked in Erie” has been on the air, we’ve already received interest on a National level. Sony Entertainment has asked to screen the show in 3D. We’ve been contacted by Mark Burnett’s people who also want to ‘take a look’. Cable TV Networks all over the country both large and small are keeping a close eye on us, to see if this little ‘Tattoo Show’ has legs enough to stand on its own outside of Erie.

If it does, we have the option to buy time on DISH, DirectTV, and other cable providers all over the country.

And even then, that will just be the start of what’s possible. GMD Films and Maddy G Productions (the producers of the show) have been making movies and web shows for the last 13 years. When we decided in January to ‘take over’ Television, we put all our combined resources into it. We’ve had some set backs, and things haven’t moved quite as fast as we hoped, but we’re still moving forward. “Inked in Erie” is just our first show. We have several others in the wings, just waiting for our TV distribution to settle.

Thanks to everyone who has shown so much support for “Inked in Erie”. Keep the momentum going. Keep spreading the word. We’re only getting started.

- Paul Gorman
Executive Producer

Where’s My Favorite Artist / Shop?

Since “Inked in Erie” launched on Facebook in February as a preview to our Regional Cable TV Show, the response was immediate and beyond any of our expectations.

Since launch, it’s been a widely interactive experience on the web with many people ‘sharing’ and ‘liking’ and spreading the word of what we were setting out to do. Our ‘Viral Reach’ (which just means the number of people ‘connected’ thru interaction with ‘likes’, ‘shares’, posts, comments, etc.) has grown on average of 200% week to week and continues to grow at an alarming rate. So far, we’ve reached close to 85,000 people in 8 different countries.

In March, we launched the Official Inked in Erie Web Site and within 2 weeks the site ramped up to almost 1,000 viewers a day.

It was all leading up to our premiere TV Episode, which began airing on Time Warner Cable in Erie County on the I AM TV Erie Network (Channel 180) on March 21st and across the web on Youtube.

When we began shooting the show in February, we called, emailed and ‘Facebook’d’ every artist and shop in Erie County we could find. To our surprise, there’s 17 established Tattoo Parlors in our region. We contacted them all in some way.

Among the first to respond were legend “Phat” Pat Stephens, Jimbo at Bay City, and Fred Zeiber at Zink Tattoo. We began filming stories at their shops and continued to solicit other artists, many of whom booked shoots with us.

As our first shoots began to hit Facebook, the fans and clients in the Ink Community started sending us suggestions of their favorite artists and even putting us in touch with some of them directly. We booked even more shoots.

“Inked in Erie” is committed to covering the ‘Ink Community’ at Large. It’s not a popularity contest. We’re not looking for the “Best Artist” or the “Best Shop”, we’re not comparing style, or technique, or focusing on any single shop or artist, or even section of town.

I say this, because well… we’re on the internet, and it didn’t take long for these kinds of accusations to get slung around. 

Like “Fight Club”, at “Inked in Erie”, everyone gets to decide their own level of involvement. Everyone’s invited to the party, regardless.

Now, at least one artist has already headed for the side door, because he believes his art is above what we’ve featured thus far. Other artists have called the show ‘sketchy’, and more have insisted that Tattoo Art should be an ‘underground’ sport, and not for ‘mainstream’ consumption.

I’ve said before, the best part of Erie’s Ink Community is it’s diversity. Lots of art, lots of artists, and just as many personalities and opinions about it. It’s our goal to cover ALL of it.

So, if your favorite artist or shop is not on our show, it’s not because we haven’t asked. It’s not because we haven’t extended the invitation.

Next time you go to get your next tattoo, as him or her why they aren’t on the show. You’ll have your answer.

In the meantime, we’ll still be hitting up any shop that lets us in the door, and we’ll be talking to every artist that lets us point a camera at them.

No one is excluded.

And friends, “Inked in Erie” is just finding it’s legs. With one episode on the air, and another 8 or 9 episodes filmed with more shoots booked, when we get on our feet, there’s A LOT more in store.

Thanks for watching.

- Paul Gorman
Executive Producer
”Inked in Erie”

www.InkedinErie.com