Kuta: “I feel that a burden has been lifted”
Over the weekend, Richard Kuta announced he is scrapping further plans to develop his Sonic fan film, throwing his support toward Eddie Lebron’s endeavor instead. He noted as such when informing TSSZ News of his decision via E-Mail today.
“[....] After careful deliberation, I have decided to put the project on the backburner,” Kuta said in a statement released to the Sonic Retro forums that appears to have since been deleted. “My dream was to make a Sonic movie and while the ambition and heart was present, the actions I took during its development were not the most professional. I understand why there’s been so much backlash towards my reputation and I’m self-evaluating myself to learn how to improve. I’m actually exploring new territory and learning how to approach a project the right way and maybe apply those tactics towards the shelved Sonic project someday.”
In a second statement made on his Facebook page, Kuta affirmed he would support Lebron’s ongoing efforts to produce a mixed live action/CGI fan film.
“After watching his latest video blog, it seems that he has a better comprehension of the franchise and how to deal with the animosity of the rapid Sonic fan base,” Kuta said. “All I can say at this point, is good luck my friend! Anxious to see the new trailer and the character redesigns.”
TSSZ News asked Kuta what would become of the hundreds of dollars he collected through voluntary donations. As previously reported, Kuta had more than $500 in donations to work with, yet apparently only used $300 of that for the production of a single scene met with heavy criticism within the community. His response:
A lot of people of have been suggesting that I contact the studio and either demand for better quality or a refund. I proceeded to do just that, but the results were not that positive. Anyone can argue that the quality of the film can be better (me included), but the fact of the matter is that they did invest their time and labor on it and pretty much produced what they were paid for. If more money was involved, I’m assuming the quality would’ve slightly improved. However, to be civil, I think the scene that we released shows that we accomplished “something” of the film and that alone is a testament to our dedication. I may have received onslaught of emails and comments from livid Sonic fans, but personally, I feel that a burden has been lifted since I no longer have to deal with this affliction anymore and can finally move on to other original material.
That now said, all eyes will now shift to what Lebron has planned for his Sonic fan film, which remains healthy and in development. We’ll continue to bring you developments on that front.
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I wonder how long it will last this time.
Maybe a year or two. He seriously needs to self-evaluate his life.
He reminds me when I was underaged and in 5th grade and I made my first youtube account and caused uneeded drama.
His punk-ass will be back, even though none of us really want hom here. Also, does eddie have a solid release date on his film yet?
I have my own reservations about this announcement. I’m not gonna sit here and bad-mouth anyone publicly, cause god knows Kuta gets enough of this already.
But unfortunately, he DOES have the pattern of quitting and then coming back. Besides, he did say ‘backburner’ which may or may not signify that this project may be resurfacing. Its because of this on-again, off-again pattern that I’m not gonna make any speculations, I’d rather just let time (and Kuta) tell the tale.
Richard Kuta is the Bret Farve of the Sonic community. He gives up on his major project, and then in a few months he’ll come right back to it. Rinse and Repeat.
^ Well, not exactly… Favre was at the point in his life where he was ready to retire, but he wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to quit yet. Kuta is an entirely different messed up story… He’s trying to start something that’s over his head.
Actually, I thought he already DID quit again. In any case, this guy’s driving me nuts. He’ll be back in another six months to try again.
Video of the “funeral”
Just going to chime in and say, yes, its over and Im moving on. Several things have been a bigger priority to me and number one, is my job. The other thing is that Im turning 30 next month and Ive been doing a lot of thinking on how I wanna engage in original projects. Circling back to my job, its basically where I gained the inspiration since I work at a marketing firm. I still like Sonic and intend to keep tabs on the franchise, but Im not going to obsess over it like I have. By the way, many have been surprised how Ive been taking the harsh criticism and parody videos in strides. The reason is cause I just don’t care anymore and Ive learned that you cant please everyone on the internet so why even argue about it? As for Eddie’s film, Im really impressed with his progress and hes definitely somebody who’s well versed in what hes doing.
After watching his Q&A, it confirms that he does care about the fans and wants nothing more to produce something genuine that even Sega might even enjoy. I realize Ive down this circlejerk about quitting and not quitting, but the truth of the matter is that Im satisfied with my life now. Even though some may not approve of it, Im actually happy for once and at peace with myself. I have a wonderful job, I’m rife with creative ideas, Im writing music reviews for a new blogging site, and I have a special woman that Ive been spending a lot of my leisure with for the past 2 months.
Anyway, the fan film is canned and I think the 1 minute scene put closure on the whole deal. Not cause of the negative reception, but the fact I actually witnessed something of my work surface after all these years. It would be great to start from scratch and apply all the helpful suggestions, but at this point in time, I wanna enjoy life and make the best of what my 30s will bring me. Sonic is still past cool to me, but its not a central focus anymore.
Glad to see you’ve been doing better, Kuta. I’ve been praying for you, and it sounds like my prayers have been answered. I hope you have a lovely rest of your life!
Sooo . . . what happens to the money?
But do you really feel that way? You spent years on this thing, hyping it to all hell saying that will show all the detractors, and the end result is a near universal laughing stock. You expect us to believe you are happy you made something and are moving on? I’d like to believe you’re moving on with your life and not going to keep this trainwreck up but this all sounds like something out of Sonichu
Relevant link below
http://www.somethingawful.com/d/flash-tub/ultimate-sonic-fan.php
@chaos_controller
Now he starts begging for more money to help him restart his life. We should start one to get him to see a psychiatrist, that isn’t meant be a sick burn I’m honestly worried about this guy.
Its the idea of completion or near completion is what lead me to this existential moment. For once, I didnt feel the need to peruse this anymore cause I actually witnessed my ideas in motion. Its like that empty void has been filled and Im able to move on to something else. Granted, its nothing like I imagined, but at least I completed something from the project, which is what my intention was since last year. People may ridicule my lifestyle, but at least Im content with myself and Im actually making greater strides to improve my way of living.
So, your quiting after years and years? But your happy with it? I kinda get what you mean.
Dear Kuta:
SEGA has gone through much worse, and now they’ve recovered, so don’t give up. Though I do support your decision, don’t take the backlash too harshly. Thank you for at least keeping the project in the filing cabinet, at some point fans will accept your endeavors as a true project of a sonic fan. Your animation looks a lot better than what has showed up on Newgrounds…
So this pretty much ended up being a massive waste of time, effort, and money huh?
Episode 1 anybody?
If I do say so,that old concept art looks fantastic. Glad you are happy with your life. Its good to not let your heart be troubled. ^_^
@Kuta
I can dig it…theres more to life than Sonic the Hedgehog you know lol. It’s only a hobby for me so it’s no biggie, and it’s crazy to see how crazy and frustrated people can get over something they didn’t even create. Glad to see you’re gettin your priorities together, God bless.
@Dr.Eggfang
Get off his back dude, why are you so concerned about him? You have nothin to do with his personal life.
I’ve tried to do a big project before that wasn’t necessarily unrealistic to achieve… but I was too picky on the voices to cast for each character. It was maybe 5-6 years ago. I think when we’re younger we have big dreams and our own visions we’d like to see come to life. But when you grow up a little more, with some projects you realize it wasn’t realistic at the pace you were going, and you just move on, and say you’re sorry to anyone involved in the project for it not getting completed. I might’ve forgotten that last part though.
But having other people shell out money for the project was one of the biggest mistakes on his part I think. The second being the way he treated people. The third was being a complete diaper freak. It should’ve been a community project from the start, which I guess not too many people would be willing to do continuously for a movie length feature. This is why we have SHORTS people.
…that doesn’t at ALL address where the rest of the money went. Kuta’s quote was pretty much COMPLETELY and totally irrelevant to the preceding paragraph :/
It’s good and dandy, but that big paragraph explanation didn’t answer the question of “Where did the rest of the $200 go”. I know $200 isn’t a lot of money, but it’s still 40% of the donated $500 total.
I am your fan Kuta, so dont give up
@ SEGAMew
This is true. I have been wondering the same thing myself for awhile now.
You lot aren’t particularly forgiving – he did his best, that’s all we can ask. And he wants to be doing something he loves, not because he feels pressured by ‘fans’. Well done Kuta, for coming this far – keep following that dream!
I didn’t donate to this project (because I have yet to set up a Paypal account), but I just have to ask what three other people already did… what the hell happened to the rest of the funds that were donated to this on-and-off project?
Why is this news? This is nothing that he hasn’t done over and over before. Give it a rest, Kuta, and leave the film making to the professionals and professional minded amateurs.
I think we all know what happened to that “excess” money that he didn’t use on the movie. I just hope everyone remembers this the next time he starts a donation drive.
Btw Kuta, you should change your movie youtube account to reflect that you’ve canned it. I mean, you’re just going to come back in a few months (maybe a year) and start it again. But you should at least keep that account up to date with current info.
(Some advice, when you come back this time, skip the “everything’s going to be different, I’ve changed” speech. No one believes it anyway)
All I just saw is money just being wasted.
I knew. I knew he couldn’t go through with it. That being said, I would have a ton of respect for him if he did actually go through with it — that would almost be redemption for years of hyping people up and letting them down, to finally deliver something. But ah well.
@The Magical Dreamer: I can confirm that we will be dropping the project until our interest is rekindled. In all honesty, I don’t see that happening soon, but we have ideas for when we come back to the project. Rest assured, upon the project’s revival (when we decide to pull it out of the attic) you will be treated to a complete overhaul of the project. What does that entail? Well, that’s up to your imagination.
As for the $200 dollars, we considered giving those people who donated a refund. Of course, they’d only get what is left after the animation work, but we considered it. I’ll have to discuss with Rich on what we do with this money.
Greg, I’ve wondered this for awhile now. Why exactly do you need Kuta to make this project? Especially now, since you’re the one working on the new script. Think about all the time you would save without having to constantly do PR for Kuta. You’re certainly no less qualified than him to do this. At the very least, you have enough common sense not to make outrageous claims about the project. If Kuta is truly done with this project (which is what he’s saying here at least) then he should just hand it off completely to you. And I do mean completely, none of this nonsense where makes up fake identities for himself, just so he can “reveal” to everyone that was him later. (Like when his business site “partnered” with his sonic movie project) It never really fools anyone.
Ah, but I digress. Kuta will never let go of this project. In a few months, he will return with new ridiculous and outrageous claims, and it will all begin again. He’s addicted to the attention.
^
“As for the $200 dollars, we considered giving those people who donated a refund”.
Considered? No sir, you should have given all of their money back. Every last dollar and cent to every single person who donated to your project, as you did not deliver that which they had expected on donating to you.
It would be the right thing to do, given how little you have to show for your project.
@Copley Hill Zone: You’re right. I’m sorry, that did come off wrong. But considering that the money went to Rich’s PayPall account so that he could have it to give to the studio for the work, I don’t know what has happened to it since. He might have already given them their refunds (unless any donators wish to speak up and prove me otherwise).
@TheForteEscape: You have a Retro Account right? If so, we can discuss this on there. Please pm me.
He actually just recently said the project is continued in secrecy. A friend of mine’s account was open on his computer and I talked to Richard Kuta as him and now I have a print screen and the whole message thread of what he and I had talked about.
Here is the Print Screen:
http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=kys8pegscqpdsg9&thumb=4