Rooster Teeth v Shane Newville Fiasco

I wasn't going to make a big deal about this, but forums, my own friends, and the internet already has and I feel that if I don't write out my own two cents about this dilemma I will never be able to focus on my own life as it stands.

In case you're not yet in the know how about what I'm talking about. Shane Newville, previously one of the lead animators on Rooster Teeth posted this yesterday: drive.google.com/file/d/0B-H0K…

I've read the contents of this letter and I initially, unconditionally, took Shane's side in the matter.

If not for speaking out against Shane, I probably would never have delved deeper into the matter on the whole. 

Well, after a 30 minute venture into the abyss, I've returned and what do I think?

Well, you're talking to a guy that follows the mentality that "writers write, animators animate and editors should stay the FUCK OUT of productions UNLESS they have something intelligent to add or notice a grammatical error", so you already know my tinted bias on the matter, but hey, don't we all?

I've seen arguments say that Shane is a whiny, self-centered individual trying to manipulate the reader and vindicate himself while painting Rooster Teeth in the blackest of colors, saying that they ruined Monty's dream. I've seen arguments say much the opposite.

I've seen people say that Shane probably broke an NDA. (non disclosure agreement)

Rather than ramble, I'm going to break down each point of this an elaborate it in a mostly professional fashion.


Why is Shane only coming out with this NOW?

Remember how I mentioned a non-disclosure agreement? I signed one of those once. The one I had to sign required me not to say anything until 6 months after I was let go from my job, if and when (and in my case it was when). People, this letter wasn't written yesterday. Shane had to wait until season 3 was completely public, time had passed and he was permitted, legally, to put it out there. That's why he couldn't comment when he first left Rooster Teeth, he was still UNDER his NDA. 


How dare Shane not accept that Miles Luna and Kerry worked with Monty as well ad nauseum

Shane's letter does it's best NOT to name names. While you could easily twist the contents to say he's making RT out to be this nefarious corporation, I think it's also so that no one person knows who he's talking about and therefore everyone's to blame and yet NO ONE is to blame, kind of a Schrodinger's Cat scenario. 

And while I don't want to discredit Miles and Kerry, these are also the same people that laughed their BALLS off when they found out the season 3 finale would be on Valentine's Day AND put out rather...ill-timed Valentine's Day cards when the season was over. 

Furthermore, if it IS true (and people seem to agree) that Shane was Monty's best friend there might've been things Monty told him that he didn't tell Miles or Kerry when coming up with ideas for RWBY. I have 3 really good friends and one of them is the one I would trust with my car more than the other 2. That's not to say my other two friends I don't trust and ask for help, but I will admit that, subconsciously I know who tends to get the preferential treatment.

One commentator I read said "I knew Rooster Teeth walked into a minefield once the season finale came out, but I didn't think it was this bad". This brings me to my next point



Shane blames RT for all of Season 3?

Uhhhhh, no. From what I'm understanding, Monty DEFINITELY was going in a darker direction with the production from day 1. Pyrrha's voice actress tweeted to this extent, saying that Pyrrha's death was always within Monty Oum's wishes. 

I actually read what Shane had to say on the matter. Um, all things considered, no matter WHAT happened to Pyrrha it was going to look like she was Fridged for the sake of the plot, something I don't approve of on principle and Jaune being there or NOT would NOT have made things better. I do agree with him that Cinder is so OP it's not even funny though. 

I honestly don't care what he has to say about technical jargon and the way things were animated yadda yadda yadda. I care about the STORY of RWBY more than anything, not its production budget or its sound quality. And THIS is where it gets hairy.  

There are 3 portions of Shane's letter that, until they are professionally contested, must be seen AS fact because no one has disproven that they aren't. I don't want this to become a he-said she-said case, so I'll only talk about the parts that matter. In a chaotic office, things run rampant and materials get misplaced or misused and productions fall apart. (Just ask Ben Singer about Godzilla Vs Gamera). So I won't discuss when he talks about "I sent them things, but they didn't listen". I just want to focus SOLELY on the story bits, what's important TO ME about this letter, and go from there. 


1) Adam Vs Yang was not supposed to be a life-altering curbstomp 

I'm starting with the big one first and foremost. If this is unassailably TRUE and Miles and Kerry sacrificed and awesome fight scene FOR SHOCK VALUE I will be PISSED beyond all recognition because THAT would've been MUCH BETTER than what we got until prove otherwise and the ONLY way for anyone else in the production staff to DEFEND such a DUMB decision is the following:

A) Yang gets her act together and kicks Adam's teeth in
B) That this "life altering defeat" is going to be a major player in Yang's character from now on, but ONLY if she goes back to snarky, quippy, jubilant Yang. 

And, Shane, if you're reading this, while you did say Yang's defeat wasn't supposed to be life-altering, you also failed to mention that that's what you were forced to do. If it wasn't supposed to be that way WHY ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH DID YOU MAKE IT THAT WAY? Sure, have Yang lose, but leave her arm out of it. JESUS!


2) Sheena's treatment

Okay I know this doesn't entirely play into the story, but hear me out. Shane claims that Sheena is the closest thing that Rooster Teeth has to Monty's brain and they "slammed the door in her face" rather than taking her on board to use what Monty had left. I HOPE things aren't quite as bleak as Shane described, but if they are GOOD LORD is that a way to treat someone?

Furthermore, if she's the closest thing to Monty's brain WHY would you not use her when you can? I get she has her own job and might not be qualified as a creative director, but if that's the case have her at least write down everything she and Monty discussed and have her forward you the resource. Don't just burn the damn bridge! This only tells me that they see RWBY less as Monty's creation and more a cash grab IP. And until there's evidence to the contrary, I have to go by Shane's statements alone and my own knowledge (and ignorance) of corporate politics and this cruel, unforgiving world.


3) Raven in Season 3?

So apparently Raven was supposed to attack JNPR at a cafe for reasons only Monty understood and, from what Shane says, Sheena might have. This is one of those things where I'm...torn about this.

On the one hand, even a creator does not know EVERYTHING and doesn't know bullet proof storytelling. Ask he'll tell you the...horror stories about Fairy Without Wings he and I have discussed. 

Hell, if you'll recall I work non-profit (for the time being) with a project called Xunon Vega and that story was in the gutter until I came along to "fix" it. Monty was an amazing person, but definitely not faultless and even his fans agree he was more of an animator than a writer.

So for reasons like THAT I could understand Miles and Kerry taking it out if they had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT HE WANTED TO DO WITH IT.

WITH THAT SAID!

I then go back to the point of Sheena. If it's TRUE that she knew more than Monty's own production staff as an "unofficial" member of the team, then she might've known the purpose of this scene and, supposedly, Rooster Teeth doesn't give a DAMN.

Considering Raven doesn't make an appearance throughout the rest of the volume, it might've been a good call or a BAD call depending on how knowledgeable Sheena is in the whole affair. On this we will never know, but this is the type of detail that lends credence to the idea that Shane isn't lying his ass off to drum up drama. 




Monty not accepted by his own employers?

The way Shane presents it, Monty created something that Rooster Teeth instantly knew was going to be popular and were almost gleeful to be rid of him so that THEY could take over the project. 

When I first read it, I couldn't believe that this could be true and after reading the community's response, I'm more skeptic than sympathetic. This is why I prefaced everything by saying I'm biased about creators vs editors. Because if Kubo suddenly DIED, I imagine Shonen Jump would take over and run Bleach






STRAIGHT INTO THE GROUND!!!!!



It's why I can't find myself finding such a claim completely unbelievable. And why I'm willing to believe Shane more than most.

This is why I'm very careful about talking about my novel online and restrict it to just skype with people I can trust! 
Money is a powerful motivator and people will do anything to get it. 

I wouldn't be surprised if there's some tin hat jackass claiming that Miles and Kerry paid the doctor to commit malpractice to kill Monty so they could get their hands on RWBY and we should ALL BE THANKFUL that Shane isn't claiming THAT because he EASILY could



Shane is emotional and an unreliable narrator with a martyr complex

Leading me to this because that previous statement certainly discredits this entirely. If Shane REALLY wanted to sound like a raving, emotional lunatic, he DEFINITELY would've made a comment like what I just said. 

I understand that Shane definitely didn't have the best of things going on in his life when all of this was going on and more than one redditor pointed out that people that join a team to be on the same team as someone else are clearly going to experience the same issues, but that doesn't mean he's and out and out basket case.

Let's go back to what I said about NDA. Shane probably could NOT have written something like this, he even says so at one point when he references his tweet about saying "things did not go as planned. Best of luck." and then in his next sentence "maybe you understand why I couldn't respond then"
His NDA is probably expired by now and he probably CAN say whatever he pleases without backlash. 

So, no, I don't believe Shane is anything of the sort or butthurt. Hell, I was butthurt when I got fired from Philadelphia and I haven't let it consume me NEARLY like this. Then again, I wasn't juggling a divorce at the time or lost my best friend along the way and only worked there 5 months, so what do I know? 

I do concede that some of the things Shane said DO sound rather...unprofessional and make it sound like he doesn't cooperate well on a team, but if you really felt THAT outcast in a team--and believe me I know the feeling--it's hard not to lash out, even if you're trying your best not to. 

Furthermore, Shane bashes Maya and supports Poser, even though apparently Monty's last tweet praised the former for how much the boolean operation has improved. So, yeah, that's why I'm not taking EVERYTHING Shane said at face value. I'm not an idiot!




On the whole, I could've done without the headache of this letter existing in the first place, but at least typing out this journal has brought me some peace of mind and I can go back to MY life and MY worries. 

I don't need to be reminded of RWBY's season 3 fiasco. We ALL knew it was going to be a tragedy the moment the first episode hit the table. You're continuing a series that outlived its creator. There IS going to be BACKLASH. 

Because as I sit here and think "If Monty was still with us and season 3 had been released and presented as is, would we still be up in arms? Would we care? Would the internet be as angry as it was?" 

My guess is, no. We would have faith in Monty to bring us what we came for. 
But what did we come to RWBY for? Miles Luna already explained that RWBY wasn't always meant to be colorful and pretty. I was actually waiting for the jump straight into darkness because the show seemed to be hinting at it every chance it freaking GOT!

What I think is really going on, is that Monty is gone, the internet is going insane and everyone seems to want to believe that "they know what Monty would want"

Is it too much to hope that the gates of heaven will open, Monty Oum will descend with wings, wearing sunglasses and on the back of a chain smoking Unicorn and PIMP slap everyone everywhere for being such tools? 
yeah, I'd say that's about as likely as the sun exploding, but I think it's something we all need. 


People say that Monty's catch phrase was "Keep moving forward" and I think none of us are doing that. We keep looking at the things that have come and gone without his existence to approve of and we harshly speculate over whether or not he would like it. At this rate it's only a matter of time before some dumbass grabs a gun, commits to a mass shooting and smears blood everywhere that spells out "Monty Oum would approve". 

We all miss a great man that made great things and we don't know how to move on without him. But we just HAVE to because THAT is what he would want. That's what it means to keep moving forward. Let's not let Monty Oum's death hold us back, let it inspire us to keep making great things. Let his legacy INSPIRE us to be great, rather than use it to justify our hatred and ostracize the creativity of others.

And this is coming from someone that only ever saw Haloid ONCE and episode 1 of Dead Fantasy when they were rather new to the internet and never really bothered to follow the man behind both creations until I was told "Monty Oum was dead" by a good friend of mine and just went "...who?"

Cue me getting into RWBY and Death Battle eventually putting out their remastering of Boba Fett Vs Samus Aran. 





Egads I got off track

Point is: I think there are points of Shane's arguments that have merits and I don't think he's trying to starve for attention or vindicate himself of any wrongdoing. I think he's upset that the people he worked with aren't making Monty's vision the BEST it could be with hime gone. He believes they are cutting corners in order to meet their status quo and are trying to re-invent the show with a disregard for what Monty envisioned for it, while still slapping his name on the title as "created by Monty Oum" knowing that branding it that way is the only way to please fans. 

And IF that's true, I cannot accept that as a business practice AT ALL. And THAT, ladies and gentlemen and those of indeterminate gender is what I take away from Shane Newville's 36 page letter and how I feel about it.


Now if you'll excuse me, I have a long day tomorrow and this fiasco just threw my plans for TODAY out the god damn window. 

I'm going to try and forget about it as best I can and, in the words of Monty Oum, keep moving forward


And from all of me
to all of you
let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic

Ja ne!