Warrior Nun: 3 Months Post Cancellation
Where We Stand — Dec 14th to March 14th
My fellow Halobearers,
Three months ago we received the news that Warrior Nun was not renewed by Netflix for additional seasons. Three months ago, following the cancellation, we spent time together listening to each other express what this show means to us using Twitter Spaces. A feature on the social media platform that many of us didn't even know existed until that very moment. In the days following Sunset, Twitter became the launch pad for a movement; a movement that would receive over 3,000 unique article mentions across the planet in over 6 languages.
What began as a desire to #SaveWarriorNun fueled a GoFundMe (GFM) that has raised over $42,000 and funded 7 billboards in 3 cities on 2 continents so far… and that's not including 2 additionally funded projects by individual fans themselves in Arizona, USA and Milan, Italy. But the GoFundMe has also done more, funding projects like a shelter donation of stuffed bears for children experiencing domestic violence. The GFM donations additionally funded a promotional package sent to Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, Hulu and HBOMax that involved #SaveWarriorNun branded material and a promotional document about the series and its accolades.
Collectively, we have promoted Warrior Nun on our own and kept the series in the Top 10 for global in-demand for Netflix shows for over 16-weeks. That is to say, since season 2 was released in November, Warrior Nun has been ranked among the top shows of the Netflix catalog for over 4 months. Without any marketing investment from Netflix.
Netflix press release series name mentions. February 18th, 2023
Since December 14th, 2023 we have generated:
16+ Weeks Top 10 Global in-Demand Netflix Series,
3,000+ Verbatim Media Mentions,
118,000 Petition Signatures, [View]
$42,000 Raised on Go Fund Me,
9 Billboards on 2 Continents in 4 Cities,
10+ Million Tweets,
1+ Billion Views on TikTok,
Season 2 Rotten Tomatoes - 100% Critic & 99% User Rating with 8,850 Reviews, [View]
30+ Cast and Crew Interviews,
4 Live Broadcast Twitter Spaces,
4 Data Analytics Research Papers,
2 Websites:
2 Newsletters:
Halobearers, we have accomplished something that companies like Disney and Marvel only dream of creating. A positive, inclusive, responsive, and proactive fanbase that will do the promotional leg-work for them. We stepped into a marketing company's role and shook up an entire industry with our outreach. Buzzfeed and A*POP, Time Magazine, The Guardian UK, Paul Tassi with Forbes Magazine, and even our own dear Nick Bythrow with Screen Rant took notice. Was it our job? No. But it is our pleasure to support the cast and crew of Warrior Nun who have been incredibly grateful, engaging, and encouraging of our efforts.
The cast and crew who have answered our absurd theories, participated in over 30 audio and video interviews, joined in our silly food fight jokes, bought our fan-art merchandise, shared a little fan club shirt that will help raise money for The Trevor Project and even support our own Order of the Cruciform Sword (OCS) Newsletter.
The biggest thing to remember is this is a business industry first, and contracts move very slowly. Social media in contrast moves at the speed of light. Just because it looks like nothing is happening doesn't mean nothing is happening. Do not be disappointed by unrealistic expectations.
Can you find another series or fandom in the last 15 years where the international cast and crew have stepped outside of their contracted duties to engage with the fans on the level that Warrior Nun's team has? We have established a new form of marketing to customers that will be replicated for years to come. We eliminated the middle man. Fan conventions ask you for money to get a picture. We respectfully asked for a few questions. Media companies want you to watch the stars from behind a screen. We said, "We can do better." Gathering over 47,000 unique views on Twitter in under 3 days of the 10 Million Tweet Celebration space hosted by a fan, Had, that featured Simon Davis Barry, Kristina Tonteri-Young, and William Miller says just how much of an impact we can have as a fandom.
Goodbye old world marketing. The Nuns have arrived with the new teachings of outreach.
And while it seems impossible that we could have accomplished so much in such a short time, there are still data papers being released targeting platforms with the cash revenue to purchase and provide new seasons of Warrior Nun. We have been told directly by Simon Davis Barry himself that we are not fighting alone! People involved in the series are aware of what we have accomplished and are fighting with us.
Do not give up because instant gratification is not constant. Do not stop sharing your love of a series that has changed your life. Do not let go of hope - because we are accomplishing something unseen in the world of entertainment marketing on a global level:
We have the Support of Cast and Crew,
The Media knows our name,
We are built on the shoulders of the shows that came before - this movement is not going away.
Our community is not just social media, it's found in real human interaction. We celebrate when our friends accomplish something, we rejoice when their fanfiction is updated, we share when they create new art. We also weep with them when the moment calls for it. We laugh when they remind us of something silly. We check in on each other's well being and tell them to take breaks and rest or encourage them to seek help if needed. Find another fandom that is this thoughtful in such a short amount of time.
Resurrecting a show isn't something that just magically happens; it takes time and effort, the can be further complicated by real-world events, like a looming entertainment industry strike in two countries, an entire industry coming to a stand still post-pandemic, and the real cost of inflation in the filming world.
This is a marketing experiment at its core, using constantly evolving tactics with data supporting the process. We are fighting by saying enough is enough. We are tired of our stories, our representation, our voices being smothered, belittled, or ignored. We are literally fighting a billion dollar industry and we are being heard. We are fueling a fire with data and community, one that would have simply been smothered otherwise.
But we have to prioritize our own well being first. I know it feels like we are losing when we go by social media metrics alone. Remember that achieving short-term goals, like 10 million tweets, is great, but it doesn't in itself win hearts or minds. We are a slow-burn movement that continues to build, and that stays in the beautiful and the scary moments. We can not compare ourselves to the Supernatural or the Doctor Who fandoms. We can not think in that manner because we are unique.
We have one job as a fandom - to share the series to new viewers.
In that, we are Halo Bearers. We tell others about the show, about its representation of women, ethnic and racial diversity, and the LGBTQ+ community, about the romance that breaks the mold of Sapphic storylines. We show what we love about Warrior Nun.
Share your art on Instagram, edit the remix videos on TikTok, yell about kiwi skin on Twitter, discuss theories on Tumblr. But never give up hope.
+Cohosh