Team Production Blog

Production Blog

Welcome to The Splat! Show Team production blog. Here you will find important updates from the team that make the Splat! Show a reality.

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Updates From The Splat! Show Production Team

Gearing Up For A Milestone Year!

Posted February 16th 2024

We’ve been quiet for the past few months production wise as we shifted focus to boring admin stuff. Now that is out of the way we are now in full panning stages for production to resume. We are shooting with Tommy and Louie next month before we start regular production from April. 

So what does this year have in store? Obviously I am not going to spill everything today, but we have some great participants lined up and there will be some big changes coming to the show in terms of games and looks as the year rolls on. I see our 20th anniversary as a break connecting the first 20 years of the Splat! Show to the future. Over the course of this year the show will morph into something fresh and new and I hope you are all looking forward to it.

The first thing you are all going to notice is that the set has had a spruce up. This forms the first part of our “Project Alpha” that is now underway. The set has a new colour scheme to match the website and we think you are going to love it! Also, we’ve invested in new clothes and props for the set. Project Alpha is a multi-pronged project and we will be moving onto the second phase of this project over the next few months. We will not be revealing anything about the second phase until they are complete as it is the most complex part of the project.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all our fans who have supported us this year. Our year is nearly finished (we run from April to April) and at the time of writing, this year is looking to be our most successful ever! We can’t grow forever, but the fact we are still growing and reaching new heights is very humbling. Every person who has purchased a video, joined the Fan Club or even paid us visit for one of our private experiences THANK YOU!

I sincerely hope you enjoy what is to come this year.


Pete 

Happy New Year Splatters!

Posted January 11th 2024

Hey guys,

I hope you all had a great Christmas and Happy New Year! 

We started the year by completing our long delayed shoot with Brad and Louie (now available to Fan Club members in early access). I am so glad we were able to get the shoot completed as it was very close to being cancelled. Thankfully, that didn’t happen and the show turned out great and is a fantastic addition to our 20th anniversary lineup.

While January is the new year for the majority of people, it is not for us. Our new year starts in April (along with other businesses). It will be a slow start to 2024 as I get some admin done and completed (tax!) and then will move on to what is next. During this time I will be hosting privates which have remained busy into the start of the new year. 

I have tried my hardest to avoid burnout during 2023. You may remember that I was badly burnout at the start of 2023 and while I am not as bad this January, I am starting to feel a little worse for wear. It is very much a little bit of burnout. After I have completed the admin that January brings, I will be taking it easy until I feel I am fully recovered and back up to strength.

Thank you to everyone who made 2023 another great year for us, it’s looking like we will be up again compared to the previous year when it comes to a close this April. We have grown every year since 2021 (the pandemic of course hit us hard) and I hope you will continue to enjoy what we have coming over the course of 2024 and during our 20th anniversary year. We have some big plans (codename Alpha) and we will of course announce these when they are ready.

I wish you all the very best for 2024!

Best wishes,

Pete 

end of Year Messages

Posted December 3rd 2023

Hey guys,

Sorry we haven’t posted much content to the blog during 2023. But we usually post an end of year update, so here it is.

I started this year with some pretty bad burn out. I knew that I needed to take some time off and production on season 21 didn’t start till early March. I have said this before and I will always remind people. Running Splat! is a full time job and sometimes it can get a bit too much. I still run the business side completely on my own and while I have one or two people helping me with other stuff, Splat!, Splatette! and Experiences could all be considered three separate businesses. Β This year I have decided to try beat any burnout and take December off from shooting. I am not hosting any privates or commercial shoots this month (although I am currently ill with the Flu and a big sorry to any people that were delayed) so I can take some down time ahead of resuming early next year. There is one exception here. If Brad is able to get time off work, I will make time to host Brad and Louie to get their delayed shoot completed. But currently it’s looking like this shoot will now happen in early 2024.Β 

While the Brad and Louie shoot appears to be delayed to 2024, this year has been a big one for us. We were able to get season 21 completed before our 20th anniversary plans kicked off. While season 21 was smaller than usual, I am incredibly proud of the season and how it has performed for us. We had some great guests. Sam,Β Stee and Matthew are some of my faves featured. A BIG thank you to all our season 21 participants.Β 

I knew that our 20th anniversary season had to start from September of this year to hit the anniversary date. I have been blown away by the amount of content we were able to shoot for the start of the anniversary season. It’s a blur now, but we were able to shoot over a years worth of content in the space of two months. This was in part to having James back at some shoots now he has nearly fully recovered from long COVID. It was a great pleasure to welcome James back to the shoots. I love you James! Our 20th anniversary season will continue production when we resume production early next year and we have some great and big plans in store. You may have seen our “Project Alpha” tease on the news page, and while I won’t be announcing anymore details here today, if it all works out then the show will have a refresh I feel it needs.Β 

Our 20th anniversary season is about celebrating what has come before and what is to come after. As 2024 rolls on until the end of the 20th anniversary season we will be implementing our project alpha changes that will hope will really re-fresh the show. New ideas have been spinning in my mind for a number of years now and these will start to roll out next year. It’s not going to be easy, but nothing worth doing is easy. I know we will have our hits and a number of misses too, but overall we feel the majority of you will enjoy what we have in store. We’ll see you all at the fun fair in 2024 πŸ˜‰

A thank you also goes to Rob who is taking on more Splatette! duties and now is in control of casting across Splat! and Splatette!Β 

A huge shoutout to all the fans who came to HQ and took on the Gunge Tank in our private experiences. I’ve said it before, but it’s my biggest joy to meet the fans who keep the business going. A HUGE THANK YOU and I hope to see more of you next year. Everyone is welcome.

Finally I want to wish you all a very festive season. We are not really celebrating Christmas like we usually do this year, sometimes it’s a good to rest things and our Christmas Grotto will return next year. If you are looking for some festive mess, then check out Retro Stream which features two classic Splat! Christmas videos.Β 

Stay safe, have fun and enjoy the content we’ve released this year. I wish you all the best and thank you once again for your continued support.

Pete XoXo

JAMES’ END OF YEAR MESSAGE

For me, 2023 has almost felt like 0-100 in 30 seconds when it comes to Splat.Β  There was a bit of a warm up in 2022 but this year was almost like being back to normal.Β  Except in a new location, with new models and new gunge!Β  If you’ve never been to a private experience (and, if not, why not), I don’t think you really get the idea of how much gets crammed into the floor space on a shoot so the new location having more room has definitely made things easier.Β  More room for buckets, more room to gunge blast and more room to… well pretty much everything really.Β  The only thing that isn’t larger yet is the tank!Β  But if you’ve been in the tank, you’ll know just exactly how much that holds anyway!Β  I feel genuinely lucky to have worked with the guys I did this year.Β  So in mostly no particular order…

Β 

Jay – you were 100% β€œlad” and damn you knew exactly how to work the camera.Β  The perfect guy next door type (oh I would so be looking over the garden fence if you were next door!) and I think you get my vote for looking the best in the purple singlet.Β  And there’s a picture I took of you in the aftermath of a green and blue gunging where you just look soooooo adorable.

Β 

Rob – or as I definitely think of you β€œohmygodwow” Rob.Β  You get the vote for not just being a great face and personality to gunge, but when you got topless… oh my.Β  Damn you were so much fun on the day, still can’t believe you’re early on in your modelling career, you’re a true natural.Β  And the blue singlet, oh you were so absolutely the star in that.Β  The shot of the translucent green gunge on your pecs?Β  Okay, I admit, I considered making that my phone wallpaper for a while, just an utterly amazing look on you.Β  Please come back asap!

Β 

Olly – totally statuesque and the one that really came close to pushing my body image buttons.Β  An absolute gent to work with (your celebratory pub trip after the shoot was VERY well deserved) and you ROCKED the surf suit.Β  Seriously, I would kill for you to be a VERY personal trainer with me.Β  And so completely and genuinely modest about yourself.Β  The tank was made for people like you, because a body like yours looks soooooo good in gunge.

Β 

Phil – yes, it’s great meeting new people, but there’s a true delight in seeing people return after a few years.Β  Especially when they’re just such a truly lovely person as you are.Β  A natural in the tank, a natural in front of the camera and if Pete hadn’t put your name down as someone he wanted back, I sure as hell would have.Β  And possibly one of my favourite guys to photograph too.Β  Not just because of the hotness in lycra, but just so enjoyable to work with again.

Β 

And yes, I’ve saved Gabriel till last.Β  In six years of being behind the camera, there have only been two models I’ve worked with where I’ve actively longed to be in the tank with, and Gabriel is most definitely one of them.Β  I have fatigue issues due to my health, but damn the shoot with Gabriel re-charged me.Β  He’s so absolutely full of life, it’s like working with a ball of sexy enthusiasm.Β  Know what, I’ve photographed Gabriel Phoenix in speedos.Β  Seriously, no matter how many times I remind myself of this, it still surprises me.Β  An absolutely amazing human, I hope that comes through on the footage.

Β 

And yes, I did get some tank time myself.Β  I got stormed, and I freely admit I played the unluckiest game EVER of Lucky or Mucky.

Β 

Splat 2023, it may not have been the β€œheaviest” year of shoots I’ve been on but hand on heart it’s been the best.Β  The chaos off camera, the β€œhonest I’m not collapsing against the wall from exhaustion” moments and even enjoying being back cleaning out the tank between segments.Β  And yes, I know a little of what 2024 has in store.Β  And yes, I do plan to be back in the tank again next year myself. Cos sod it, it’s lycra it’s gunge and it’s my treat to myself for β€œforcing” myself to photograph and film actual models getting messy.Β  And there’s a reason Splat’s been going so long… it’s because we are bloody good at what we do.

Β 

Here’s to 2024.Β  But to 2023… tanks for the memories.

Β 

Slow Down For Summer - BUT....

Posted June 15th 2023

Hey guys,

Just a very quick update regarding the summer months. We are scaling back our production during June and July as the summer months hit. We announced that season 21 would be smaller than usual as we head into our 20th anniversary plans. We will be taking the summer months to prepare for the launch of our special 20th anniversary season which we hope to launch from September 2023.

Here is a quick outline of our plans. Please bear in mind these can change at any point.

We will be finishing our current season (21) when we complete our shoot with Thomas’ replacement. This will be the season 21 finale and that show. Thomas will now feature early in our 20th season or will be an add on for season 21 after it officially ends. 

Aiming for September 2023 for the launch of our 20th anniversary season that will last for one year. We will be using the next few months over the summer to prepare, and possibly secretly shoot content for the 20th anniversary season launch.

September 2024 – Special 20th anniversary season ends. September 2024 to early 2025 – No new content to be produced as we take a break.

Splat! Private experiences will continue to be available until the end of 2023. We are currently not taking any bookings for 2024 at this time. This may change, and any updates will be posted to the experiences page. 

 We have other things we are not prepared to announce at this time, but we will be sure to announce them when we are ready. 

Thank you for the support so far this season and we hope you are looking forward to our very special 20th anniversary season. 

Best,

Pete 

Season 21 Has Officially Started!

Posted March 3rd

Hey guys,

After numerous delays due to the high volume of private experiences that have taken place, we have now completed our first season 21 Splat! Show shoots. And what shows they are!

We really wanted to make a statement with our first two season 21 shoots, that we can still get the best new faces around. Sam and Ste were great at their respective shoots and I would argue that these two shows are some of our strongest for a long time. I just hope you can wait for their official release dates.

We also took the chance to tweak the show format a little this season. We have reintroduced the custard pie round after we had to stop during the pandemic. Planting pies in faces was a health hazard! I know that a few of you have been looking forward to pies making a return and the new game format works really well. Lucky Or Mucky is back this season too but we have moved back to the strings format, where the participant pulls the cords instead using numbers. Both Lucky Or Mucky Rounds with Sam and Steve are interesting for reasons that will become apparent when you watch them. We have also made some slight adjustments to the tank too, we have introduced colour branding to bring it closer to our website design. It’s only a slight change, but I think it looks really nice. Oh, and the flashing red lights are back after viewer demand too! 

I know that you guys are looking forward to seeing the results of our first two season 21 shoots. I know this because the Fan Club has been on fire since the sneak peeks were posted and The Gunge Tank vote and pre-shoot offer saw strong performances. Thank you for the support. Why are we waiting till April 1st? Sadly, it’s one of those boring business decisions we have to take from time to time. But those who took part in any pre-shoot event will get to see our new guests sooner. 

We now head into our second set of shoots (along with even more private experiences!) with returner Lucas (Gunge Fan!) and new face Liam. I hope you are looking forward to them too.

Beyond that, we are in some deep negotiations with some faces we know will be popular. We will share more when we have concrete details. 

Thanks for your support as always, we can only do what we do with your support. 

I hope you enjoy the season.

Best,

Pete 

Gearing Up

Posted Feb 11th 2023.

Hey guys,

So just a quick update following on from the blog below. 

I have rested up as much as I was able to during January and I am now back in full planning mode and actively casting guests for the new season. Things have gone slower than I would’ve hoped due to the high number of private experiences that have taken place since mid January. The diary is still pretty full with bookings until the end of February so please don’t expect any updates about our first commercial releases of the year for a while.

I’m trying to slot a few bookings into place before then, but I do not want to overbook and I want to make sure we have the right guests to kick off the new season. There will be returing guests, with some making their final Splat! appearances too.

So while I do not have much more to share at this time, the site is still being updated with releases from season 20 and of course regular Fan Club updates continue. 

We are also looking at introducing a small yearly charge to visit the site. This will effectively replace the current free account system that allows you to view the show pages, preview images and trailers (trailers will move to the site completely and will not be posted to socials). We can only produce new content and keep the site online and make plans to expand due to the fans who actively purchase our content. We know there are many who just view the images and trailers, which is fine, but we will be asking them to contribute a small yearly fee if we move forward with this plan so everyone is contributing to the show and site. We don’t run adds on our site and free visitors who don’t actively purchase our content actually costs us money. There is an unbalance that needs adjusting as we move forward.  We understand this will not please a few, but if you enjoy what we do we feel it’s the right way forward. This is still in the planning stages and if we move forward with this change we will announce more details when ready.

Thank you for bearing with me as I took some time off. Your support is everything and I promise the wait for brand new content will be worth it.

Pete 

The Year Ahead and 20th Anniversary Plans

Posted Early January 2023.

Hey Splatters,

Pete here. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a safe new year. As the new year hasΒ now started, I just wanted to give a little update about the year ahead and a little personal update.

Before I jump into our plans for the year ahead, I justΒ wanted to give a small update regarding myself. Last year was theΒ first year that we were able to produce the show without too many distractions. Thankfully, weΒ didn’t have to deal with any COVID restrictions (although the virus itself did still cause some issues for us and our guests) last year and it was veryΒ much all hands on deck during the year. We managed to produce ourΒ biggest season sinceΒ season 16 and James was also able to make a few shoots too as heΒ continued to gain strength afterΒ his long COVID battle. I was also able toΒ scheduleΒ some down time away from the shoots in December for the first time in years which ran into early January. As I started to rest, something odd was happening and I felt very off. Burnout out had been creeping up on meΒ throughout the year without me really noticing. It was only when I stopped to take a break that I feltΒ exhausted and I was feeling the full effect of burnout. If you’ve everΒ experienced burnout you will know it’s not nice. You have zero energy to do anything,Β and I mean anything. I managed to continue to process orders asΒ usual, but my plan to make some plans for the new year were not going to happen during this time.Β 

Running this site and all its operations, shoots, business stuff and regulatory stuff takes its toll and sometimes it’s TOO much for me to handle physically and emotionally. I am getting a little better now and I will soon start to get back to running the shoots (the first private of the year isΒ approaching). I will be making sure that during 2023 that I do not overΒ stretch myself. This may mean that this coming season may be smaller in scale, but I won’t know that until the end of the year. My health is important and working the way I did last year will send me to an early grave. I will do my best as always, but I won’t let itΒ affect my health to this degree again.Β 

So what aboutΒ the year ahead? Season 21 is the season that will lead into our 20thΒ Anniversary season. Yep, September 2023 will be the start of the 20th year of The Splat! Show. I can’t quiteΒ believe that it’s beenΒ almost 20 years that The Splat! Show idea was born and that we are still here producing new content 20 years later. It’s crazy to me but soΒ incrediblyΒ exciting. We are still hereΒ because of YOU and theΒ support you’ve shown us over the years so thank you!

With our 20thΒ AnniversaryΒ starting in September, season 21 will only runΒ officially until September 2023 when ourΒ social 20thΒ Anniversary season will start. Our 20th Anniversary season will start in September and will runΒ until September 2024. There will then be break fromΒ September 2024 toΒ January 2025 when season 23 will start.

We will of course be sharing our plans for our 20thΒ anniversary as weΒ approachΒ September, but we have season 21 to shoot and complete before then. I will share more details about both when I am able to.Β 

ThankΒ you all for the support and I hope you look forward to the coming year!

Best wishes, Px

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