The hardest thing to do is to say Good-Bye. So I’ll say Thank You, instead.
First and foremost, thank you to our Solonauts — those of you who donated your hard earned money to help us create SOLO. Thank you to our top donors all the way to our donors of spare change. We made every penny count. We could not have accomplished all of this without your support.
Thank you to our fans who let us know how much they were enjoying the show. Thank you to the fans who helped us spread the word by telling their friends, family and frienemies. And thank you to the silent fans who were laughing and lurking in the dark recesses of the world.
Thank you to my producer, Allison Vanore. You brought in a team of talented, hard working, creative crew members who brought this show from the page to the screen. You were my rock. Beyond paperwork and scheduling you kept the cameras rolling and the set lit — but most important you kept me focused and sane. Without you I would still be tweeting “Hey, I have this idea for a show…” You made wonderful things happen.
Thank you to my directors. Jorge Urbina — your enthusiasm in the beginning bolstered my resolve to see this through to the end. The conversations we had, late at night on my driveway, still stick with me. You’re a good man to have helming a show. Allison — your easy going attitude and “invisible hand” approach made for a relaxing third episode shoot — and it went so wonderfully smooth! Thank you for taking command for the third episode. Frederick Snyder — your input into character and story was so invaluable, I will never be able to thank you enough. You are a blast to work with and I look forward to working with you again. You took my vision and made it your own. The show grew in so many ways because of you.
Thank you to my editor, Frank Mohler. You “got” the story right from the start. Your cuts were quick and to the point and you truly helped tell the story once the filming was done. Thank you for speaking up when something wasn’t working. Thank you for throwing in suggestions that worked and for those suggestions that didn’t work. You were an integral part to the show and we couldn’t have told the story without you. You went above and beyond the call.
Thank you to my composer, Rob Gokee. You were the first to approach me about working on my show and you have been my avid supporter from the start. You filled the silence and heightened the mood. And thankfully you kept your pants on for most of it. Thank you also for crewing, running crafty, being a swing grip, and being a good friend when I stressed out over all the little things.
Thank you to my Director of Photography, Raphe Wolfgang. You were always there, catching us at our best moments and in the best light. Your humor, despite the long hours, kept our spirits light. You’re a damn good photographer, filmmaker and friend.
Thank you to my casting director, Laurie Records. You’ve been a friend for so many years and I begged a HUGE favor from you in casting SOLO. You found such wonderful actors to audition and the show benefited greatly!
Thank you to MY CREW! It was on your backs and with your creative sweat that we produced a fantastic show. You showed up, ready to put your all into the show, and it was a great pleasure working with all of you. Hopefully most of you had the opportunity to try my wife’s doughnut bread pudding with warm whiskey sauce.
Thank you to my post-production crew. As a graphic artist myself, I know the hours and tedious work you bore through to create stunning effects, glorious sound and all the wonderful music that rounded out the show. You put the polish on and made the whole show shine.
Thank you to my actors. Some of you came on as old friends, others were brought on through auditions and became friends. Your creativity really shines on camera. Thank you for sharing the screen with me and for bringing my characters to life. Watching you speak words that were once floating in my head was an amazing and humbling experience.
Thank you to my friends and family who have shown me such great support — emotionally and financially. You were my cheerleaders! Your enthusiasm and encouragement buoyed me to the finish line. I’m glad I haven’t lost a single one of you to all my tweets, emails, tirades and enthusiasm.
Thank you to Jason Burns and Josh Tate — both of whom were the voices on my shoulder telling me this was a good idea and I should jump right in and “build the ship”. I’m really glad I did. And thank you both for helping me build the set, too.
Thank you to EVERYONE who was involved with SOLO. I coerced favors from you. I borrowed equipment from you. I begged unpaid time from you. I forced you to retweet and repost links. And each of you gave everything you had so freely without too much gripe.
And lastly, but most importantly, thank you to my wife. I’m relieved that you haven’t made me sleep in the spaceship, yet. Your support means everything to me. Your encouragement is manna to me. Your love comforts me when I am down and lifts me up when I feel trodden on… And your cooking kept my crew happy and ready to work. You went above and beyond what anyone should endure for a production. You’re my biggest fan and I am yours. You’re also one of my biggest financiers. I’ll pay off the debt someday, somehow…
WE, the creative team, that is everyone I mentioned above and then some, created SOLO from nothing — something fantastic and wonderful! We completed 9 episodes for our first season and put it out there for the world to enjoy. And we should be proud of this accomplishment. We received FANTASTIC reviews! SOLO was the Official Selection to FOUR festivals in 2010 (ITVFest, NYTVFest, LAWebFest and Flagstaff Film Fest)! It was also nominated for 5 Indie Intertube Awards in 2010 including Best Comedy, Best Actor in a Comedy, Best Editing and Audience Choice as well as a Best Editing nomination in the Indie Soap Awards of 2010. We even gave away 5 AppleTVs and an iPad 2 thanks to our sweepstakes sponsor, DataDirect Networks. We did pretty darn good.
And with these thoughts in mind I sadly announce the curtain for SOLO. I won’t go into details as to why and I won’t tease you with story lines of what could have been. It wouldn’t be prudent and would only lessen what we have accomplished. As for what we could have done better? I’ll leave that to all the amateur pundits to debate. Let it be known that we achieved many of our goals and for that I am extremely proud.
To all our fans, now and future, please leave a comment on what you thought of the show. Tell me your favorite scenes. Heck, get inspired and make a video response like this guy did. But most of all, please continue sharing SOLO with everyone!
To my team, I am humbled by your talent and your enthusiastic desire to create. Thank you for being a part of the show.
Cheers!
July 19th, 2011 at 8:50 pm
Jonathan,
Congrats on making a great show that people will continue to discover and enjoy!
-Joe
July 19th, 2011 at 8:59 pm
Thank you for making us laugh and for making a show that will live on.
July 19th, 2011 at 9:07 pm
Thanks for the 9 episodes of a fantastic show that we did get!
July 19th, 2011 at 9:18 pm
It is better to have SOLO’d and lost than to never have SOLO’d at all.
Thanks for a GREAT show, Jonathan (and everyone else too).
ROBB
July 19th, 2011 at 9:23 pm
Sir you are awesome. Your cast is awesome, your crew is awesome, your production staff is awesome, your wife is awesome, your show is awesome.
Thank you for having more than just another great idea and talking about it in round about sessions with other friends. Thank you for creating a show that has made me laugh and made me share in my geekdom with others in something original.
Thank you for your effort and passion. I will continue to geek out to Solo and recommend it to all I can.
-Shadhavar
p.s. Long live Phal!
July 19th, 2011 at 9:28 pm
John –
You and your collaborators made something amazing by pure force of will. What we do online lives as long as we want it to live. I’ve no doubt Solo will continue to gather new fans every day. Good on you all.
-D
July 19th, 2011 at 9:35 pm
Obviously sad to see her go but its a great show that made a lot of people very happy. I wear my Solo shirt with pride!
Ian.
July 20th, 2011 at 1:13 am
Hey man -
You did it. You walked the walk while others are still talking their talk. The beauty of the web is that a show is never really gone, and there are always more fans to find.
Truly, you should be proud!
Congrats on a great run (that continues on…)
July 20th, 2011 at 2:41 am
J,
I’m sad to hear that SOLO will not be continuing, but you should be proud of what you and your team have accomplished. SOLO was a great show and those of us who know the amount of work that was put into it will always admire what you achieved.
Admit it, the wifey finally made you take the spaceship down and that’s why it’s ending
Thanks for 9 episodes of awesomeness,
-Jeff
July 20th, 2011 at 6:07 am
Can’t wait to see what you come up with next . . . . you’re one amazingly creative guy and I’m glad to know you from way-back-when.
July 20th, 2011 at 6:55 am
We’re sad to hear the news that their will be no more SOLO. But we’re glad we got to be a part of helping make such a good, fun show. Thanks Jonathan.
July 20th, 2011 at 7:29 am
You have no idea how close to the truth you are… But I’m not saying anything.
July 20th, 2011 at 7:42 am
I’m with you, Jonathan. Such good work. Such loving support. And such a graceful exit. Early webseries pioneers set the bar and also literally pay the price for putting their work out there and putting themselves all in. Thank you.
July 20th, 2011 at 9:36 am
Jonathan,
Congrats on jumping in feet first and making a great show that people will continue to discover and enjoy! You should be proud of what you’ve accomplished.
July 20th, 2011 at 10:17 am
I am truly sorry to hear Solo is flying off into the sunset. As a scifi fan I loved its whimsy. As a web series creator I can appreciate the effort and craftsmanship and in general applaud you and the cast and crew. Bravo to all.
July 20th, 2011 at 11:53 am
You have accomplished so much. Congrats!
August 14th, 2011 at 10:26 pm
[...] that he and his team would not be producing any more episodes of the sci-fi comedy series. The blog post announcing the decision is a heartfelt thank you letter to everyone who was involved in the show’s production, but [...]