2014’s hit vlogseries, Nothing Much To Do, delivered in real time for 2024.
Set in a New Zealand High School, told by teenage vloggers at the height of superwholock. It’s Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing for the nostalgic and curious.
Thee 2014 transmedia experience; with videos, tweets, insta and tumblr posts direct from the characters to your email inbox.
Emails arriving from 24 March - 5 November 2024.
Subscribe to NMTDaily:
FAQ
How frequent are updates?
For the most part, there will be at least one email a week between 24 March - 5 November 2024. Sometimes more, sometimes less.
Why email? Why now?
Why email? Because Dracula Daily on substack is a fucking cool experience, and what’s a vlogseries if not a modern day epistolary novel? :P
Why now? Because it’s been 10 Years since NMTD came out and it seemed worth a cheeky lil celebration. (Thanks to producer @/minniegraced for putting this experience together!)
What order is NMTDaily being released in?
NMTDaily will be released in date order, rather than viewing order. This means every video and social post will come out on the date they did in 2014.
Please note: This is different to the viewing order on the Official Playlist. Sometimes the thumbnail for a video will show an “out of order” number (e.g. the very first video released on 24 March is Episode 3 in the viewing order).
Additionally, Ursula’s Tumblr posts are dated the day before they went out due to Tumblr not recognising the time difference between Aotearoa and the USA.
Can I join after 24 March?
Of course, you can catch up on emails via the archive on substack and new emails will reach you as they happen. You can always watch ahead via the Official Playlist on YouTube if you simply cannot wait ;)
Hey, I’m not quite sure what transmedia is or what vlogs are. Tell me?
Sure thing! Transmedia storytelling is when a narrative is told across different forms of media. In this case; YouTube videos, description boxes, and comments, Tweets, Instagram posts, and Tumblr posts. This does mean this substack is chiefly video and image-based. Alt text is provided on images.
Vlogs are “video blogs”, where the person in the video talks directly to the camera. In this case, vlogs echo Shakespeare’s use of soliloquy, where the actor talks directly to the audience.
So then whose accounts will I receive emails from?
YouTube Channels:
Nothing Much To Do - Beatrice and Hero
benaddicktion - Benedick
Watch Projects - Ursula, The Watch, and Balthazar
Social Media:
Are the videos captioned?
Yes! The entire series is available in both English and Spanish.
Huge mihi to Lucía Campillo Rey, Alex Ware, Minnie Grace, and the team of volunteers.
What about content warnings?
Most of The Candle Wasters’ works have short Trigger Warning videos at the start of the series. NMTD doesn’t, so please find content warnings below.
The series contains depictions of the following:
Verbal abuse
Misogyny
Alcohol use
Swearing
Loud voices
Eye contact
Additionally, while there was no malicious intent, there are things in the text that are dated.
Further warnings for 2014-Typical:
Homophobia
Sexism
Racism
Ableist language
Harry Potter mentions
Uh, I freakin’ LOVE the music. Is it available anywhere?
You can stream the songs on SoundCloud.
Or download them for free on BandCamp.
Can you tell me a bit more about the show?
Nothing Much To Do was inspired by William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, frequently heralded as one of the earliest “enemies to lovers” stories.
The Candle Wasters spent 2013 writing the series; then cast, filmed, and began editing together in Auckland over their three-month summer break in early 2014*. Like most amateur filmmakers, they begged and borrowed, with a cast and crew of 19 people working for love.
This webseries has 80 episodes which were released over 3 YouTube channels. The total duration of the series is 5 hours long.
*we’re based in the southern hemisphere!
So who are The Candle Wasters?
"Staying up all night, wasting them candles."
The Candle Wasters were four young women (and a token dude) from New Zealand, who created fierce, funny, feminist web series from 2013-2018.
Their work consists of:
Nothing Much To Do | #NMTD (2014) - Much Ado About Nothing
Lovely Little Losers | #LoLiLo (2015) - Love's Labour's Lost
Bright Summer Night | #BSN (2016) - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Happy Playland | #HPLW (2017) - Original Musical
Tragicomic | #TRGC (2018) - Hamlet
In 2014 the group comprised of Claris Jacobs, Elsie Bollinger, Minnie Grace, and Sally Bollinger, all between the ages of 17-20.
I heard this show was improvised. Was it?
Partially. NMTD is almost entirely scripted, however there were some scenes where actors were encouraged to go off-script. We’ve released a few of the scripts publicly, including:
Where’s the info about the cast/crew?
Credits for the series: HERE :)
A Note on Transparency:
NMTD was an amateur production, without the original cast and crew working for love this series would not have been possible.
A heads up email was sent to the NMTD cast/crew about the NMTD 10 Year at the end of 2023, after The Candle Wasters agreed on this celebration style.
All original YouTube channels, BandCamp, etc are un-monetized.
The substack is free and will remain free.
Question not answered here?
If you have an enquiry about this experience or Nothing Much To Do in general, please email producer Minnie Grace: minniegraced@gmail.com and cc in thecandlewasters@gmail.com
If you’re looking to get in touch with someone specific, email thecandlewasters@gmail.com for contact info :)
Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy this 10 year celebration! - MG xx
