The Kristian Harloff Show, a YouTube channel helmed by Kristian Harloff, has been promoting a passion project #Trending that went live via Kickstarter campaign on September 22, 2026, and has already reached 100% of its initial funding goal within seven days.
This should be exciting news for indie creators, as it represents another success story for pursuing a dream outside of the conventional avenues for producing art and entertainment; this is not a typical Hollywood development, rather it is a project born out of love and supported by an online community. With co-writer and co-STAR Martini Paratore along with director Andrew Fried, Kristian is going to be able to make his show a reality now that the first goal of $200,000 has been met.
Kristian Harloff has been on YouTube since he launched his Schmoes Know channel with fellow comedian Mark Ellis in 2008, and has been steady building his own channel that has a dedicated audience tuning into daily videos and livestreams. The early success of this Kickstarter campaign for the series Trending is a testament to the power of community. With the campaign having only just begun, its mission will now be to achieve stretch goals that push the possibilities for the series even further than what was initially pledged.
Speaking of ‘Trending’, there have been similar successes in the movie space, as this recent summer box office will show, with films such as Obsession and Backrooms crushing off of very modest budgets and also created by YouTubers. This is proof in the pudding that the right community/creators can make their dream a reality by betting on themselves rather than relying on the tried and tested studio system.
Kristian and Mark evolved the Schmoes community into a network called the Movie Trivia Schmoedown in 2014, which was a real movie trivia entertainment show inspired by Kristian’s love for the WWE (think wrestling promos but for movie trivia nerds). As a bonus for reaching the campaign’s initial goal, it was announced that Kristian will be bringing back the Ultimate Schmoedown for a 16-person tournament.
This YouTube channel @TheKristianHarloff of 234,000+ subscribers is flourishing and will no doubt provide a baked-in audience for the Trending series. Bringing back the Schmoedown will only help in building the hype for this community and what is being dubbed ‘Our Show’ (#OurShowIsTrending). The backers are getting a unique inside look into the development of the pilot based on the tier that is selected (ie. how much you choose to donate to the Kickstarter campaign), and there is still time for interested parties to get in on the ground floor of this 31-day campaign.
Trending is 100% happening now that it is fully funded in its first week, as the campaign went live on September 22, 2026, and runs until October 23, 2026. Check out the page ourshowistrending.com and see if this is something that interests you.
