Interview: Jason Boomer and Craig Brown, Rooster Teeth UK
Internet production company Rooster Teeth has stepped into the digital spotlight in a lot of big ways these past few years. The rise in popularity of their let’s play channel, the debut of their own 3D animated series RWBY and the ever so popular Red Versus Blue machinima series still going strong after twelve years has given the Austin-based company a wealth of dedicated fans who attend multiple conventions to meet staff members as well as fan events to meet like-minded people from their community. One such fan event is Rooster Teeth UK. It was started by Jason Boomer and his friends ten years ago as RvB UK and has grown from a few friends meeting in a pub and playing games together into a fully-fledged event featuring screenings of Rooster Teeth shows, cosplayers, tournaments and of course more video games.
This year was a change to the venue and schedule but still kept the warm friendly vibe it’s always had but with a few new additions I didn’t expect. I met Ben Shinfield of Bluekingdom Customs and chatted to him about his hobby of repainting of Halo figurines and other collectibles to give them a better look. Hearing him talk about moulding weapons for figures he was selling that hadn’t even been released in any official capacity was fascinating.
Another person I talked to was indie developer Hussain Patel whom was attending the event to show off his game Hold On! The comparison I can think of is Twister but for your keyboard; You hold down keys that appear on-screen and let go at the right time to get the most possible score. The longer you hold them after they’re finished the fewer points you get towards your final score. Here’s a gif of how it plays.
If you want to check out Hussain’s game you can at his itch.io page.
I’ve attended the last two events and being the tenth anniversary of the event I decided to sit down with Jason (Right) and talk to him and the new head of RT UK Craig Brown (Left) for a small chat. The man in the middle is Dan Jennings, a prominent member of the Achievement Hunter community, who decided to sit in on the photo opportunity.
Eoin Farrell: What is your name and what do you do?
Jason Boomer: My name is Jason Boomer and I’m an event organiser.
How long have you been putting on RT UK?
We’ve been doing it for what will be ten years this year.
Ten years is a crazy amount of time.
Yeah, it’s been quite knackering.
What was it like starting out putting on an event for the first time?
We winged it. We started out as a bunch of mates in the back of a pub; we brought down our own consoles and TVs. We were so low-budget and sort of improvisational to the point where we were taping black bin bags to the windows to block out any light so we could screen Red Versus Blue and things on a projector. It was all really mashed together.
You met all of your mates from that first event on the Rooster Teeth community site, right?
Yeah we actually met up for the first time in Nottingham around 2003 back when the RT (Rooster Teeth) community site was just a phpBB forum and even the future Rooster Teeth staff member Ben King, who was twelve at the time, showed up. We ended up being kicked out of a bunch of different pubs because they thought we were trying to bring in underage kids to drink with us when in reality we were all just fans and friends.
What was the hardest thing about putting on events in the early years?
Really reaching out to the community to promote ourselves was a big challenge. Obviously we all talked on the RT forums and played games together but that only went so far. Breaking outside of the social circle we were in to bring new people who might not know anyone to the event for the first time was difficult.
It is one of the weird problems that can come up in online communities is that when circles are formed returning people tend to stick together but it’s also of the really good gaps you and the RT community have bridged in a lot of ways. From my experience coming to this event in particular is that an empty chair at a game of Halo or Left 4 Dead really goes a long way when coming to events not knowing anyone or trying to meet new people. As the Rooster Teeth community has grown do you still find reaching an audience is still a main issue?
It very much is the same problem but for the opposite reason nowadays. Back when we started mostly everyone was a fan of Red Versus Blue so we only had to appeal to a single community. Now that Rooster Teeth’s become a bigger company with more shows there are more groups like the RWBY and Achievement Hunter sub-communities. We’ve been adapting to appeal to the broader audience by even changing our event name from Red Versus Blue UK to just Rooster Teeth UK to be more inclusive as we’re all part of the same community.
Have you been to any fan events outside of RT UK?
I think the closest I’ve come is RTX, Rooster Teeth’s official convention, in 2011 which was actually their first event and it was absolutely something else. They had oversold their tickets by about 300 people and being an attendee hanging out with staff members and having access to things a lot of people now actually pay for in the more recent event was really fun.
Do you think people who aren’t fans of Rooster Teeth could attend?
Yes and I think that’s something we’re being very aware of in the future. Seeing the response to other groups like Starbase Leicester, StreetPass Leicester and the Enigma Media guys who came down to do photo shoots for the cosplayers was amazing. We’ve done a good job of incorporating the different fanbases from RT like Funhaus, RWBY and Achievement Hunter that now we’ve gotten to the point where there’s really nothing stopping us from hosting other groups like Camp Imgur or Reddit Sub-communities and I think that’s the next logical step we want to take.
What other kind of events does Sidefest host besides Rooster Teeth UK?
I’ve gained a great deal of experience from RT UK and while a lot of it is still very much cobbling things together, it gave me the idea that I could turn event organising into a career. I founded Sidefest in 2014 and started putting together different events. We actually ran “Create-A-Con” last February, which engages the public with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), so the idea was that attendees could become more engaged with local organisations and learning new things and gave them access to things they wouldn’t usually have at school or home like the Oculus Rift, 3D Printing and the Raspberry Pi.
Putting on the event was made even easier because the local university were even willing to help fund it and we ended up getting the building we’re sitting completely free so we didn’t have to charge exhibitors or attendees to come and it was just an incredible event. We’ll actually be having another event on October 31 and will be in the same building as last time.
We’re now joined by Craig Brown, one of the members of the RT UK team. Craig how long have you been a member of the RT community?
Craig Brown: Around November 2013, I started out as a fan of Achievement Hunter and branched out after I discovered they were actually part of a bigger network of channels.
What was your first community event?
It was RT UK last year.
Well you’ve certainly worked your way up the ladder in a short space of time.
Definitely, last year was sort of the kicker that I want to get more in-depth with the community and meet more people.
And that helps considering next year you’ll be heading a lot of the organisation of the event. Obviously Jason will still be supporting you guys in a lot of ways but what kind of ideas do you want to bring to next year?
The thing with it is that as I’ve been talking to Jason, who’s been doing this for over ten years, has said that as Rooster Teeth has grown he’s struggled to keep track of everything with the new fan-bases arising and enticing them to the event has always been a challenge. I want to keep reaching out to more people in the sub-communities and ask them what it is they’d like to see here to attract more members of their communities. Most people don’t really know what to expect when they see “Rooster Teeth UK” because with the number of different shows they produce, but I want to make the group more of a platform for fans to be recognised for their talents like art and cosplay and we’re even talking with prominent members in the Community Hunter (A fan-driven content channel created by Achievement Hunter) to maybe do something in a live setting for next year’s event. Reaching out to more fans and raising the bar for entertainment at the event would really be what we all aim for next year’s event.
Last question: If any, what video games are you currently playing?
Jason: Oh god. Pokémon Blue and the first Peggle on 360 is what I’m at right now. I was watching Achievement Hunter’s Peggle Happy Hour and it made me realize I had a lot of levels still left to do.
Craig: Right now, actively nothing, but I’m really looking forward to playing Octodad: Dadliest Catch.
Well that’ll be it guys, thanks for having me. Where can people find you guys on Facebook and Twitter?
Craig: I am @RealLadderMan. You can also follow @RoosterTeethUK if you want to keep updated on the group’s news and events.
Jason: I’m @Side_Fest on Twitter and if you want to follow us on Facebook you can at Facebook.com/RvBUK.
RT UK is just one of the many fan-run groups the Rooster Teeth community has fostered over the years. RT Ireland is the Irish chapter of fans who organise a yearly event in Dublin every year for the past two and have even had Rooster Teeth staff member and co-founder Burnie Burns in attendance as a special guest last August of this year.
On a personal note I admit I have fallen off the proverbial wagon on keeping up with the wealth of content Rooster Teeth produce but it’s the community and the friends that I’ve made that keep me coming to these events. If you’re looking for a few new shows to watch or want the occasional funny video check them out. Their community site is a great place to find new friends and groups to hang out and play games with. For me I came for the content but stayed for the family I’ve found from it and couldn’t recommend it enough.
