By Isabel Dieppa
The halls of San Diego Comic-Con buzzed early Saturday morning as fans lined up hours before “The Guild Web Series: Back as a Movie!” panel. Early arrivals were rewarded with new information about the movie in an intimate setting.
The panel featured Felicia Day (creator and writer), Ryan Copple (producer), Jeff Lewis (Herman “Vork” Holden), Jon Ritter-Roderick (Kickstarter campaign manager and team organizer), Heather DenBleyker (card game producer), and Vince Caso (Blaze, author of the RPG book).
The online phenomenon The Guild has been around for nearly 20 years. Created and written by Day, The Guild launched as a web series and has garnered a loyal fan base over the years. The show has won multiple awards and expanded into other media, including comic books, music videos, and a musical adaptation.
While the show became a massive hit, Day made one smart move: She kept the rights to the intellectual property. That means any future projects can maintain the integrity and spirit of the original show. Day calls the shots, not Hollywood producers with deep pockets.
Twenty years after its premiere, the Guild team reunited at SDCC to share details about the upcoming Guild movie with fans.
One of the key announcements during the panel was the film’s Kickstarter campaign, which will fund the project. Movies are expensive, and by remaining completely independent, the team is relying on fan support to finance the film.
“This entire project is a love letter to the community,” Day said. “And what we made outside the system. There was no question ever going into the system to get this funded. They wouldn’t get it. They never got it. And we still thrive, and filled rooms and left like 500 people out there. I’m so sorry. That’s the joy of this project.”
Day also described the film as a “spite project” after an executive had “finally” called her to speak about The Guild.
“I said, ‘Will somebody give me money now to make my work?’ No, no, no, she wants a younger actor. And I’m like, ‘Bitch, no,’” Day said.
Day’s passion and tenacity to fund the film herself have extended beyond Kickstarter. The campaign has also created opportunities for other creatives to collaborate on the project. At time of writing, the Kickstarter has raised nearly $4 million, more than double its goal of $1.5 million.
In addition to discussing the movie, the panel highlighted two new products available through the Kickstarter campaign: The Guild TTRPG book, a new Dungeons & Dragons-style campaign written by Caso, and The Swords & Sweethearts card game.
As the leader of both the film and its fundraising campaign, Day told the audience the project is an opportunity to raise funds while creating work in a more collaborative and welcoming environment.
“Giving people the creative freedom to do what they love and giving them the keys to have as much ownership as possible over their work, I think that’s the key to being happy,” Day said. “In announcing a lot of these names you’ll notice there are no big corporations. They lock it up and they protect it. That’s the opposite of what I consider to be great content. I love the collaborative art of creators helping, sharing their success with each other and being able to lift us all up so we can all do what we love together. It’s really important to me.”
While “The Guild Web Series: Back as a Movie!” panel only scratched the surface of what’s to come, many fans were unable to get into the room. Day said the team hopes to secure a much larger room at next year’s Comic-Con after the film is complete and ready to launch.
Until then, The Guild fans can support the film by pledging to the Kickstarter campaign and checking out the rewards available for backers.
Stay tuned to The Beat for more news from SDCC ’26.
