“Billy and Mandy” Creator Maxwell Atoms Sells “Dead Meat” on Kickstarter

Maxwell Atoms, creator of the Cartoon Network series The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, is the latest TV animation producer to appeal directly to his fanbase for financial support on a project.

Atoms, who was recently a director and exec producer on the Disney series Fish Hooks, describes his Kickstarter project, Dead Meat, as a “post-apocalyptic black comedy/social satire/puppet gore web series about a guy and his mutant dog called Dead Meat.” His goal is to raise $50,000 by November 16th. In the first eight days of the campaign, 156 backers have contributed slightly over $10,000 (or 20% of his goal).

Other animation show creators who have funded projects successfully through Kickstarter campaigns include Joe Murray, Dino Stamatopoulos and John Kricfalusi. Dead Meat faces challenges that were not experienced by the campaigns of those other creators because Atoms plans to produce the project in a medium for which he has no track record (puppets), and is aiming the content toward a mature adult audience that may not share much in common with fans of his animation. Therefore, he must rely on a community of fans who respect his creative vision enough to follow him into new territory. Atoms will be conducting a Reddit AmA this evening at 8pm ET/5pm PT to promote his work and the Kickstarter campaign.