Hiya, firstly absolutely was blown away from Hilltop, it was everything I could have asked for from my first time watching TMA live and more!!!! And secondly, is it okay if we post fanart of the show? Or would this be preferred to a later date just in case for spoilers?
Hey, Glad to hear it, we aim to please! This is one is probably best formally addressed to [email protected] but I'll try yo answer it this time as its a fair and nuanced question. I'll preface this answer though by reiterating this is not official advice and I am NOT the fandom police, that way madness lies. All I personally ask is that everyone treats everyone with some respect and kindness. So, we've asked people not to go deliberately spoiling things and posting photos/ spoilers of the Magnus Live: The Hilltop previews online.
This is for a few reasons: 1) Spoiling things is rubbish for people who haven't seen it yet and our fandom is VERY chatty online meaning its very easy to get spoiled. Less spoilers out there = less spoiled fans, simple! 2) It's very distracting doing theatre when people are heckling or filming/taking photos mid show and it makes the quality of the experience worse for all the audience members who are being more respectful. By asking people not to film etc. we can minimise that behaviour (fanart is obvs a completely different kettle of fish). 3) We intend to run this show more. If its already rampantly spoiled online then third party businesses worry that ticket sales will go down and so they are less interested in working with us so we don't get to run it as much and everyone gets less live shows as a result. 4) This show was partially funded via a kickstarter that had thousands of backers but these first-looks had to be kept small to test stuff out. Obviously we'd like everyone to get the chance to see it live but we are trying to provide patrons/backers etc. the filmed version of the show and it would be a shame for them to be short-changed by fans wantonly spoiling it before they get a fair chance to see it. Or worse, feeling pressured to watch an early released rubbish version filmed on someone's wobbly-ass phone instead of the real deal just to avoid being spoiled before the proper footage is released. 5) Similarly we intend to sell the filmed version for anyone who isn't a patron/backer etc. so they can see the show even if they can't attend in person. Again, if people don't buy it because its completely spoiled then third parties are less interested in participating meaning we have to show it less and even less people get to see it. 6) I am not a social media expert (shocker I know) but smarter people than me tell me rampant spoilers is a recipe for people to get resentful due to FOMO and hate it on principal. That would be a shame since we all worked really hard on it and I think the vast majority of our fans will get a kick out of seeing it. 7) To my knowledge, due to legal obligations to third parties relating to ticketing etc., Magnus Live: The Hilltop cannot be released under a Creative Commons license. That mean's we are required to be a bit more stringent on stuff like this than normal. There's a bunch more reasons besides but I'm getting lost in the weeds. Sufficed to say there are good reasons to ask for no spoilers other than just being a killjoy. Now, to bring this all the way to fanart: SPEAKING PERSONALLY AND NOT AS MR RQ: If someone is making fanart about Hilltop and they are doing it legally and in a way that is respectful to me and others, who am I to stand in their way. I'd just politely suggest that not spoiling something is a way of showing respect so maybe take a moment to consider if you are on the right side of things before posting it online (which it sounds like you're already doing so good job I guess!) TLDR: As always, just be sensible about it and when in doubt ask via official channels starting with [email protected]
