James Banks. TeaGuvnor. Jacky. Veracity. Fluke.
Tons of UK broadcast talent like this have expressed interest in potentially coming together for an epic, one-off production about… watching paint dry.
Yes, you read that correctly. No, it’s not April 1st.
Esports talent from as far as Canada (CSGO caster Davey) want to travel to a studio in the UK, to watch different coloured emulsion paint decorate walls. Not only that, but they’re going to study it together, analyse it and produce a broadcast for others to watch.
And it will help raise money for Maggie’s Centres, a UK-based charity that provides free practical and emotional support for people living with cancer.
So, who is the mind behind this bold endeavour? Freelance esports producer and esports broadcast production tutor Jakub ‘Atroix’ Szmyt, who teaches at the Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies in Nottingham, where the broadcast is expected to take place.
He asked on Twitter:
Now, it seems to us that Jakub may be doing this partly to prove to students the ‘build it and they will come’ mentality with productions, and that would appear to be the case from what he told us.
But the response has been surprisingly overwhelming.
The full broadcast talent line-up on board has not yet been announced – and neither has the date – but we’ll update this article when they are.
Here’s a list of just some of the global esports talent interested in the stream, whether it’s the idea of it, watching it or in some cases taking part. This includes the following casters, camera operators, producers and more (we now regret sifting through and typing this whole thing out – so we may have missed a few):
- Aaron Gill
- Aphi
- Beamic
- Bigg Hungry Phill
- Chunks
- CodyCasts
- Coppet
- Cyano
- Dandro
- Darxil
- Davey
- DocDa
- Dktruman
- EBAC
- Fabian Hällsten
- FirstKnightOfNi
- Fluke
- Frazer
- Funky_AU
- Gaogaen
- GerryTheMusicMan
- Gompers
- Hazza
- Hopx
- ImPERium
- Infernosis
- Jacky
- Jacob ‘PR’ Arce
- James Banks
- JazzManCasts
- John Allen
- John Pritchard
- JokersRansom
- Joseph Hawkins, Blast
- Kai-Uwe Zimdars
- Keg
- Krux
- Ktad
- Lythi
- Middlecott
- Mimi Wermcrantz
It is a little disturbing the number of people who want to do this.
— Parth N (@parthenaan) April 4, 2022
- NaoriMizuki
- Novicaine
- OfficerNaughty, MNM Gaming
- OnlyJoshinTV
- Ravish Khanna
- Rob Evans, Challengermode
- Robin Engström
- Ryan Randall
- Septilence
- Salty_Jayy
- Sölvi Kálsson
- sfX
- Shink
- Shrikel
- Skriv
- Skyscraper
- SneakyBeakyTTV
- Steve Kangas
- Tanner Metro
- TeaGuvnor
- Temporal
- TheSwaggKing
- TimeToLight
- TudorCasts
- Tyler Gough
- Tyler McNally
- Veracity
- WaXeN
- XRTROIKA
- Xset
- Zephyr
It’s not the first time a paint-drying production has been made – this video of a paint-drying stream has been watched almost 2m times. It’s reminiscent of that ten-hour Overwatch stream of former lead dev Jeff Kaplan sitting beside a fire.
Atroix is a former student of the Staffordshire University esports course – he left early because he was frustrated with the course – before teaching esports broadcast production at Confetti.
Atroix has also worked on the Halo Clash Series, Six Memevitational, Esports News UK interview streams (like this one with Alphari) and more. The Six Memevitational previously raised £5,000 for the Maggie’s Centres charity.
Now, leave us as we crack open a tin of Dulux in anticipation of the paint-drying stream.
“CAMERA #2 IN 3.. HOURS”
— Marcus Mod (@Mod645) April 4, 2022
If you want to sponsor the stream or get involved, contact Atroix on Twitter
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
