RiffTrax
Type of site | Film, comedy |
---|---|
Available in | English |
Revenue | est. $5 million[citation needed] |
URL | rifftrax |
Launched | July 20, 2006 |
Current status | Active |
RiffTrax is an American company that produces scripted humorous
The first releases originally featured Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett, through audio-only tracks intended to be played in unison with unaltered VHS and DVD copies of these programs. After the introduction of already-synced VHS and DVD material, added to the riffers were Mary Jo Pehl and Bridget Jones Nelson, who also wrote and performed for the MST3K series. Guest riffers have also added commentaries, including parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic, comedians Paul F. Tompkins, Cole Stratton and Janet Varney, and actors Joel McHale, Fred Willard, and Neil Patrick Harris, among others.
RiffTrax products are sold in downloadable media online and delivered by app, streaming video, and DRM-free download. It is also featured on Pluto TV, Twitch, Xumo, Tubi and a channel on Samsung TV.
History
This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2022) |
Following the cancellation of MST3K, Nelson, Murphy and Corbett attempted to bring the riffing concept to a
.After the association with Rhino Entertainment and
The movies chosen for
The company originally produced audio-only tracks which were intended to be played in unison with unaltered VHS and DVD copies of these programs. The early RiffTrax were almost all solo efforts on Nelson's part, but it soon became apparent that there was a strong demand for them. Nelson was quickly able to recruit more riffers for the project. Most official RiffTrax (not counting fan-made iRiffs and the spin-off RiffTrax Presents series) have a stable cast of Nelson, Murphy and Corbett, identical to
The enthusiasm of guest riffers for the project led to the establishment of RiffTrax Presents, a series of tracks exclusively hosted by guest riffers.[7] The success of the guest format is such that "Three Riffer Editions" of some films previously solo riffed by Nelson have been re-produced for VOD services. These feature new riffs by the present lineup, with Nelson having ceased producing solo riffs in 2007.[citation needed]
Most recent works created by RiffTrax are crafted by a small team of writers; longer works are divided into 20- to 30-minute sections for each writer to rewatch and develop riffs for before assembling the entire work.[8]
RiffTrax continues to release audio track riffs that can be used to play over the owner's own copy of a film as well as making versions friendly for films offered on online streaming services like Netflix. They have also since expanded to produce full-length video-on-demand riffs for films that have entered the public domain or otherwise have been licensed cheaply, such as Night of the Living Dead and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.[citation needed]
Along with the feature-length tracks, Corbett, Murphy and Nelson have created riffs for a number of
In 2008, RiffTrax launched iRiffs, which allows fans to upload commentaries to be sold on the website. iRiffs users are paid 50% of the net revenue generated by their products. iRiffs differentiates from normal RiffTrax in that both serious and humorous commentaries can be uploaded.
In October 2015, RiffTrax negotiated the rights to release available MST3K episodes through Vimeo via an all-access subscription plan, with a new re-release uploaded each Monday; individual episodes could also be rented through the site, and in November 2015, RiffTrax also started to sell MST3K episodes on their website. The RiffTrax.com releases contain a newly recorded introduction on each episode by Nelson, Corbett, Murphy, or Jones Nelson and Pehl. A substantial percentage from the episode sales on the RiffTrax website goes to the cast members of MST3K.[13]
On July 20, 2021, RiffTrax celebrated its fifteenth anniversary.
Live shows
As part of
RiffTrax has teamed with
On February 25, 2013, RiffTrax announced a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to secure the rights to riff Twilight, the first film of The Twilight Saga, for their live show in August 2013.[24] Although the Kickstarter was successful, RiffTrax could not work a deal to secure the rights to Twilight and they, instead, used the funding to secure Starship Troopers.[25]
On May 12, 2014, RiffTrax announced another Kickstarter campaign to raise money to secure the rights to the 1998 version of Godzilla.[26] The Kickstarter raised the goal of $100,000 within a day. On May 29, they announced a stretch goal of $250,000 to secure the rights to Anaconda for their Halloween show;[27] the goal was reached on June 10, the day before the Kickstarter's end.[28]
For 2015, RiffTrax repeated the Kickstarter approach, successfully funding its four-movie event for the year, dubbed "The Crappening". The successful Kickstarter allowed them to riff on
For 2016, RiffTrax used a Kickstarter campaign to successfully fund their events for the year, meeting their initial goal of $225,000 within four days after the start of the campaign, with $620,999 as the total amount raised. The first event was a riffing of the film Time Chasers on May 5, 2016, and used a high definition remaster of the film provided by its director, David Giancola.
The second event was a Mystery Science Theater 3000 cast member reunion on June 28, 2016, and took place in Minneapolis. The format of the reunion was similar to RiffTrax's SF Sketchfest "Night of the Shorts" shows, using various educational shorts as riffing material. Alongside Nelson, Corbett, and Murphy, the guests were fellow MST3K cast members Joel Hodgson, Bridget Jones Nelson, Mary Jo Pehl, Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, and Jonah Ray.[31][32][33]
The third event for 2016 was Toho's 1961 Kaiju classic Mothra on August 18, 2016, and featured a brand-new widescreen print.
The fourth RiffTrax event was the horror classic Carnival of Souls and took place on October 27, 2016. The print used was the 78-minute colorized version of the film previously released on DVD by Legend Films.[citation needed]
For 2017, RiffTrax again used a Kickstarter campaign to successfully fund their events for the year, meeting their initial goal of $250,000 on March 8, 2017, sixteen days into the Kickstarter campaign. The first event was a new riff of Samurai Cop, on April 13, 2017. The second event was the "Summer Shorts Beach Party" on June 15, 2017. The format of the show was similar to the shorts shows from the SF Sketchfest "Night of the Shorts" and the MST3K Reunion Show. Alongside Nelson, Corbett, and Murphy, the guest riffers were Bridget Jones Nelson, Mary Jo Pehl, Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, and Paul F. Tompkins. The third event was the Doctor Who special The Five Doctors, held on August 17, 2017;[34] which, for legal reasons, RiffTrax could not reveal this until the RiffTrax Kickstarter campaign had officially ended.[35][36]
RiffTrax had been wanting to do a Doctor Who episode for some time as a way to bridge into its fandom, but had to get permission from the BBC. The BBC had been hesitant, fearing that the nature of RiffTrax may have been mean-spirited, but after seeing some of RiffTrax's work, agreed to the use, feeling it would help promote Doctor Who in America.[37]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the year's live shows were postponed to 2021, and therefore no new campaign was held in the latter year, but RiffTrax experimented with live virtual shows, using films available on Netflix and the Scener app was used by viewers to pay to watch the event. These shows included riffs on the first episode of Stranger Things in July 2020, and the film Starship Troopers in September 2020.[38][39]
The list of live Rifftrax shows is:[40]
Date | Main Feature | Short subject(s) | Guest stars |
---|---|---|---|
August 20, 2009 | Plan 9 from Outer Space | Flying Stewardess | Rich Kyanka
|
December 16, 2009 | RiffTrax Live: Christmas Shorts-Stravaganza | Christmas Toyshop, A Visit to Santa, Christmas Rhapsody, Three Magic Words, The Night Before Christmas, A Christmas Dream, Parade of Aquatic Champions, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer | Weird Al Yankovic
|
August 19, 2010 | Reefer Madness | More Dangerous Than Dynamite, Frozen Frolics, and At Your Fingertips: Grasses | |
October 28, 2010 | House on Haunted Hill | Paper and I and Magical Disappearing Money | Paul F. Tompkins |
August 17, 2011 | Jack the Giant Killer (1962) | What Is Nothing? | |
August 16, 2012 | Manos: The Hands of Fate | At Your Fingertips: Cylinders and Welcome Back, Norman | |
October 25, 2012 | Birdemic: Shock and Terror | Norman Checks In | |
August 15, 2013 | Starship Troopers | ||
October 24, 2013 | Night of the Living Dead | Norman Gives a Speech | |
December 5, 2013 | Santa Claus Conquers the Martians | Santa and the Fairy Snow Queen | |
July 10, 2014 | Sharknado | A Case of Spring Fever | |
August 14, 2014 | Godzilla (1998) | ||
October 30, 2014 | Anaconda | Halloween Party | |
December 4, 2014 | Santa Claus (1959) | At Your Fingertips: Sugar and Spice | |
May 6, 2015 | The Room | At Your Fingertips: Floats | |
July 9, 2015 | Sharknado 2: The Second One | Why Do I Need Parents? | |
October 1, 2015 | Miami Connection | Measuring Man! | |
December 3, 2015 | Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny | Santa Claus' Story, The Tale of Custard the Dragon, and Santa's Enchanted Village | |
May 5, 2016 | Time Chasers | Chimp The Fireman | |
June 28, 2016 | RiffTrax Live: The MST3K Reunion Show | The Talking Car, A Word to the Wives..., More Dates for Kay, Shake Hands with Danger, Americans at Work: Barbers and Beauticians, Stamp Day for Superman, At Your Fingertips: Grasses | Bridget Nelson, Mary Jo Pehl, Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, Jonah Ray, and Joel Hodgson |
August 18, 2016 | Mothra | Soapy the Germ Fighter | |
October 27, 2016 | Carnival of Souls | The Dirt-Witch Cleans Up and Masks of Grass | |
April 13, 2017 | Samurai Cop | Manners in School | |
June 15, 2017 | RiffTrax Live: Summer Shorts Beach Party | Ricky Raccoon Shows the Way, Office Etiquette, Rhythmic Ball Skills, The Griper, Sentinels of Safety, A Touch of Magic, The Baggs | Bridget Nelson, Mary Jo Pehl, Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, and Paul F. Tompkins |
August 17, 2017 | Doctor Who: The Five Doctors | Play Safe | |
June 14, 2018 | Space Mutiny | H. G. Wells' The Magic Shop | |
August 23, 2018 | Krull | ||
April 18, 2019 | Octaman | McGruff's Drug Alert | |
June 6, 2019 | Star Raiders: The Adventures of Saber Raine | Values: Telling the Truth | |
August 15, 2019 | The Giant Spider Invasion | Adventure In Telezonia | |
August 17, 2021 | Hobgoblins | Life in a Medieval Town | |
October 26, 2021 | Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes | It's Your Accident | |
August 18, 2022 | The Return of Swamp Thing | Danny's Dental Date | |
August 17, 2023 | Rad | The Witty Witch and Hidden Valley |
Total Riff Off
In conjunction with the
The Rifftones
In August 2008, Nelson, Corbett and Murphy formed a musical trio named The Rifftones, initially to compete in Quick Stop Entertainment's second Masters of Song Fu competition. They won the competition, beating fellow musicians Jonathan Coulton, Paul and Storm and, in the final round, Jason Morris. After the competition, they decided to continue creating songs as The Rifftones, making songs based on the movies they've riffed and releasing two albums of music, which are available on the RiffTrax site.
Use
RiffTrax commentaries are synchronized at the start of the movie using a cue.[43] To reassure consumers that the MP3 file is synchronized with the film, fictional character and riffer "DisembAudio" (voiced by writer Conor Lastowka) speaks occasional lines in exact synchronization with the movie.[44][45] "RiffTrax Presents" commentaries feature a female synchronization voice, Debbie.[46] Though RiffTrax are suggested to be played on an MP3 player or with computer software, they are sold as unrestricted MP3s, allowing users to choose the viewing method that suits them the best. A RiffTrax Player is also offered as a free download for Windows computers.[47]
The movies chosen for RiffTrax are based on two criteria: whether the movie lends itself towards a funny riffing, and whether the film is widely available on DVD.[43][45] These criteria have resulted in a wide variety of genre and era of movies chosen to be riffed. The first audio commentary made available through the web site in July 2006 was for the 1989 film Road House, long cited by Nelson as the cheesiest movie ever made.[48]
RiffTrax Player
The RiffTrax Player (RiffPlayer) is a program which automatically synchronizes the commentary playback to the DVD playback. The RiffTrax Player makes use of a commentary MP3 as well as a text file (.sync) containing the synchronization information of the DVD and the commentary. As of February 2015[update], the RiffTrax Player currently supports Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X Snow Leopard and up.
RiffTrax On Demand
RiffTrax On Demand features downloadable DRM-free video files of films with RiffTrax commentaries embedded. RiffTrax On Demand has released many short, public domain, and educational films similar to the ones that MST3K would sometimes mock before a full-length movie began.[49]
Featured catalog
Video game
In March 2022, Rifftrax: The Game was announced. Developed with Wide Right Interactive,[50] and was released on May 5, 2022 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S, as well as Steam.
References
- ^ "A twist on 'Mystery Science Theater'", SanDiegoUnionTribune.com. March 28, 2013.
- ^ Penny, Damian (2006-08-10). "Review: Rifftrax". Blogcritics Magazine. Archived from the original on 2008-01-06.
- ^ "Interview: Michael J. Nelson". TeeVee. 2006-10-16. Archived from the original on 2006-11-24.
- ISSN 0099-9660.
- ^ Kaiser, Andy (2006-08-07). "Please talk during the movie". The Grand Rapids Press. p. D3.
- ISSN 0745-4724.
- ^ "RiffTrax Presents". RiffTrax. Archived from the original on 2008-09-14. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
- The Wrap. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
- ^ "iRiffs FAQ". RiffTrax. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
- ^ Legend Films, Inc. (February 4, 2009). "RiffTrax Announces Chance for Fans to Work with the Stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000". PR.com. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
- That Guy with the Glasses. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
- ^ Rifftrax: Batman Forever (Video 2009), IMDb.com. Accessed October 28, 2022.
- ^ Reich, J.E. (November 3, 2015). "RiffTrax Is Releasing Episodes of Cult Favorite 'Mystery Science Theater 3000'". Tech Times. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
- ^ torgosPizza (May 20, 2007). "RiffTrax Live! for San Francisco Sketch Fest". RiffTrax. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
- ^ Lastowka, Conor (December 11, 2007). "RiffTrax Live in San Francisco". RiffTrax. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
- ^ Sampo (July 24, 2009). "Update: RiffTrax Live Event to Broadcast to Theaters". Satellite News. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
- ^ "Mark your calendar: Next RiffTrax Live event scheduled for Aug. 19". mlive.com. June 15, 2010.
- ^ "The Stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000 Give the Vincent Price Classic House on Haunted Hill the RiffTrax Treatment on the Big Screen This Halloween". BusinessWire. October 5, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
- ^ "RiffTrax LIVE: Jack the Giant Killer". Fathomevents.com. Retrieved 2011-08-15. with the short What Is Nothing and two short videos created by SomethingAwful.com
- ^ Sloan, Will (August 16, 2012). "'You Can't Just Be The Voice Of Generic Sarcasm": The Art of Movie Riffing". Retrieved August 17, 2012.
- ^ "RiffTrax Live: BIRDEMIC". Fathom. Archived from the original on August 23, 2012. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
- ^ "RiffTrax Live: Starship Troopers". Fathom. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
- ^ "RiffTrax Live: Night of the Living Dead". Fathom. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
- ^ "RiffTrax Wants to Riff TWILIGHT Live in Theaters Nationwide! by RiffTrax: Mike, Bill & Kevin — Kickstarter". Retrieved February 25, 2013.
- ^ "Major Announcement - We Have a Title!". Kickstarter. May 22, 2013. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
- ^ "RiffTrax will Riff GODZILLA & ANACONDA in Cinemas Nationwide by RiffTrax: Mike, Bill & Kevin - Kickstarter". Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ^ "ANACONDA Stretch Goal!". Retrieved June 13, 2013.
- ^ "ANACONDA is Happening!". Retrieved June 13, 2013.
- ^ Jasper, Gavin (2015-02-19). "RiffTrax Live 2015 Schedule Announced: The Crappening". Den of Geek. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- Tribeca Film Festival. March 5, 2015.
- ^ "RiffTrax Live 2016: MST3K Reunion, Time Chasers Live & More!". Kickstarter. March 7, 2016.
- ^ Hughes, William (March 9, 2016). "Get Involved, Internet: RiffTrax is putting together an MST3K reunion show". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
- ^ Rife, Katie (April 1, 2016). "Rifftrax Exclusive: Joel Hodgson and Jonah Ray join the live MST3K reunion". The A.V. Club.>
- ^ Gilyadov, Alex (March 27, 2017). "Rifftrax Live Brings the Classic Doctor Who Tale The Five Doctors to the Big Screen". IGN. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
- ^ "RiffTrax Live '17: Samurai Cop, Beach Party & Mystery Title!". Kickstarter. February 21, 2017. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
- ^ "RiffTrax Live '17: Samurai Cop, Beach Party & Mystery Title! by RiffTrax: Mike, Bill & Kevin — Kickstarter". Kickstarter.com. 2017-03-08. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
- The Nerdist. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
- ^ Adams, Erik (July 20, 2020). "The Rifftrax crew on going online and Upside Down during the pandemic". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
- ^ Adams, Erik (September 2, 2020). "RiffTrax brings its Starship Troopers show home—would you like to know more?". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
- ^ Jasper, Gavin (August 20, 2018). "A Complete History of RiffTrax Live". Den of Geek. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
- The Today Show. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
- Splitsider. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
- ^ a b "RiffTrax FAQ". RiffTrax. Archived from the original on 2008-01-21.
- ^ "Mystery Science Theater, round two". The Commonwealth Times. 2007-02-08.
- ^ a b "Mike Nelson Interview". Buzzgrinder. 2006-10-14. Archived from the original on 2006-12-06.
- ^ Murphy, Kevin; Corbett, Bill (May 13, 2008). RiffTrax Presents: Saw. RiffTrax. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
- ^ "RiffTrax Player". RiffTrax. Archived from the original on December 13, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
- ^ "'Road House' -- it's the cheesiest, book says". CNN.com. August 16, 2000. Archived from the original on August 13, 2007. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
- ^ "On Demand Catalogue". RiffTrax. Archived from the original on December 13, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
- ^ Faulkner, Cameron (15 March 2022). "RiffTrax: The Game tasks you with rewriting the worst B-movie scenes". The Verge.