Heroes of Cosplay Sanctuary

We circulate, or we fade away. The real issue for me with social media. Yes – media is constant. Pushing a new season or series of a show is just as much content as the show itself – sometimes more. How many previews and commercials do you see everywhere for Disney shows like Hawkeye and Loki?  They have their run and then the communications giant moves on to the next thing. Are we at all surprise...

Will cosplayers be able to keep up with platform shifts to short video clips? Because it wants to be more like YouTube and TikTok and soon you’ll be seeing recommended videos in your feed in addition to ads every 4 posts. Organic on social is nearly dead.  Posts are very difficult to see, and even difficult to see when you pay. Now you have to create videos and be very clever with how to distribut...

Can I tell you how to compete in media when I do not myself compete? I can tell you that the game changes a lot, and that online interests, algorithms or just regular people are fickle minded.  You can do the exact same thing as someone else and get nothing from it.  Often, the easiest result to see if no responses or low responses which can be due to a lot of reasons What does it mean to compete...

Is it important that Cosplay is a hustle that I receive things to do?   Yes, it’s expensive and often people in this space will say that contributing to them keeps things going But it’s not your audience’s responsibility to pay for your hobbies and interests nor in gaining attention should you become the interest that they subscribe to – a fan club (buy things and obsess over me) You’re not a cele...

Returning for Season IV, is good friend and NY Avenger Anthony Cosjitsu.  For this return episode, we go deep on many topics and take some time to catch up on everything that's been happening with Anthony since his last appearance on the show.  It's always great to hear about the new projects, and the growth that Cosplayers experience in the Community - all the projects that they have go...

It’s a lot of the ‘so what’ and ‘why’ that you need to answer and then also figure out who it is that you want to join your journey – because having Patrons is great, but what’s in it for them?  Eventually you fade away from your account and can’t engage because the audience gets too big – it just exists like it does for many celebrities. The trap that I see the most is that it becomes a form of m...

Is gaining attention marketing? Are you, in trying to create viral content actually marketing? Sometimes.   The intentions drive the answer – what does that mean? Marketing yourself, your brand, products/services means that the attention is a means to an end – you want people to pay attention because you believe that what you’re telling them leads to them wanting something you have to offer them –...

I honestly lack the energy to be an actor or performer of any kind. But theater does play into Cosplay – it’s where many of us go after being theater geeks in high school and college and where we meet people with similar interests – or at least…try to meet people with similar interests – we can at least follow people with similar interests, like their photos, and wish we were as good – oh…wait tha...

Being a beginner at a hobby can be a terrible experience – in fact, I’ve never successfully stuck with a hobby for more than a couple of years because I generally run out of money and patience. There’s a ton of gatekeeping in Cosplay and I’ve yet to go to a panel where I actually learn how to make something from what’s being explained at the panel.  It takes DOING And unfortunately, there aren’t t...

Why is painting hard?  It’s not art – it’s more like paint by number because you already have the piece – you just need to make sure that it works and looks ok and is consistent and the colors are right. Once you paint something, it’s kind of hard to go back and do it.  You can’t really un-paint it.  You can paint over it, but if it’s foam, this may not work well – you create layers and it can get...

Foaming is also hard to do.  It requires a lot of planning on how small pieces are going to fit together.   Being an engineer helps as you have the ability to see how things fit together – should you be creating your own patterns. Following patterns and cutting foam is easier compared to sewing.  It’s a matter of sizing correctly and then finding an adhesive that keeps everything together. Let&apo...

Where would Cosplay be without makers and their ability to recreate many of the props and armor that we see with so many characters in the space.  They bring our Fandoms to life - From gaming to full suite made from scratch, there’s not much that my next guest cannot make. Creating some of the most amazing custom foam pieces that I’ve seen, and always a pleasure to work with, having made many Cosp...

I suck at sewing. I just started, so I thought I would have an episode where I talk about why so many people buy Cosplays instead of building them.   Sewing takes a lot of time – setting up the machine, threading it, picking fabrics, pinning patterns, finding anything that works, and then…sewing a straight line – which I so far haven’t been able to do. Go too slow – it doesn’t come out right.  Too...

Attitudes and mindsets – what others are DOING in the Cosplay space, their personalities, and other politics that come with (now anyway) building a following online I can’t even say that complaints are varied.  There are really 3 or 4 main complaints – not getting enough attention and/or donations, people’s attitudes towards cosplay or in the community, not getting enough out of something. Social...

Cons are a bunch of work for Cosplayers.  Makeup alone can take hours – and you have to put it on every day you’re at Con.  You have to have extra luggage, lug a bunch of costumes and props around, find a place for things, arrange shoots, and it’s more like a long work day than anything else. Cons are a bunch of work. I don’t have tips on how for it not to be work for a Cosplayer to go to a Con an...

That you use Instagram and people acknowledge you for using the platform, does not make you a celebrity. Celebrities are not famous because of what they do on Instagram or YouTube or Facebook. The myth of legendary status – marketing – just clever marketing. It’s not real, but it can help you sell things The movie industry boosts actors and actresses to promote their product – it’s all about selli...

If you haven’t noticed yet – Cosplayers seek a lot of attention for what they do.  And it’s getting really competitive. If you’re not a model or a designer, or you don’t have a workshop – the online space is getting very closed off. But when you have people in a different space – the video clip sharing space say that the other content doesn’t matter OR even better – when they say it’s too hard or...

Why we Cosplay and not just Cosplay, but why do we have to share it at all? We’re not just dressing up as the characters anymore – we’re imitating the look of the actors wearing the costumes and it’s getting to the “who are you wearing” phase where costume designers are finding accounts and sending suits out in order to get noticed. It’s all about attention, but are there other reasons deeper or b...

My next guest, friends – I’m beyond words to have someone of such accomplishment and talent on the show. Best Masters winner at Anime Central, Central Champion for Crown Championships of Cosplay, featured in Cosplay Culture Magazine, Star Wars Insider, on StarWars.com, Marvel.com, and SyFy. She has seen so much success with her Cosplay creations as a competitor, has written and published well-rece...

I’ve never felt that I’m good enough for Cosplay.  And it creates a lot of anxiety. People can be downright awful. It’s not even about the Cosplay 99% of the time. Cosplayers are very forgiving about your Cosplay, but not really about you. For some reason, Cosplayers believe that they have a level of celebrity status – at least some do, and they’re protective of who they come in contact with every...

Keeping things straight – Cosplay takes a lot of organization and even more so to present yourself online. This is one area that we don’t always think we’re failing at, but I’ve seen a variety of organization in Cosplay from throwing everything together at the last minute to planning things out meticulously. The cosplay itself has a level of planning – and it’s possibly the hardest but also the mo...

Too much time, too much content, too much money – when is enough enough in Cosplay? I don’t hear much about this online – how broke are we all going in the name of fandom? Is it keeping us poor or do we now have to have a donate button just to keep everything going? When do you know you’ve reached a limit and if we’re obsessing over a fandom, how do you know if you’ve even reached a limit? I can’t...

If you are promoting posts, you are not paying for followers. If that’s true, than every company on earth is cheating when it comes to you buying their stuff.  Everyone with a business has spent money marketing their brand, product and services. Purchasing followers is exactly that – you go to a site that “sells” followers and you pay money for them to add to your following.  It’s really bad for y...

I’m interested in keeping it simple – less is more in Cosplay, posting, and in general. If Cosplay isn’t making you money – do you want it to? Is that a priority? Because there are a lot of ways to make money that does not draw attention to you.  I’m a Marketing Director – that’s how I make my money.  Cosplay is not something I have monetized nor is the show. But Cosplay is complicated, so how can...

We’re heading into the Inferno this season and what are we going to talk about on the show that we haven’t beat to death already? Controversy and the topics that I want to explore deeper – not just how to make money in this space - though we will get to that. We need to talk to artists  We need to talk to people who have been in the Industry for a while We need to talk to authors We’re going to ta...