Viva La Dirt League (VLDL) are a New Zealand group of professional sketch comedyYouTubers.[2] The founding members are Rowan Bettjeman, Alan Morrison and Adam King, but their productions have featured other regular cast members such as Byron Coll, Hamish Parkinson, David Correos, Britt Scott Clark,[3] Ben Van Lier,[4] Ellie Harwood,[5] Phoenix Cross, Rhiannon McCall, Rory Nolan and Robert Hartley.
As of October 2024[update], their YouTube channel has 6.73 million subscribers and 4.19 billion views.[1] Their second YouTube channel, Viva La Dirt League D&D, has 437,000 subscribers, and over 62 million views.[6] They have a Spanish language channel, launched in July 2022, which has 7,960 subscribers and over 933,000 views.[7]
Background
Before forming VLDL, Bettjeman and Morrison's shortBeached was selected for showing at the New Zealand International Film Festival in 2010.[8] Bettjeman and Morrison present a weekly news media online clip show "Media Ocre Awards" for the WatchMe.co.nz.[9] The group went full-time in 2017.[10]
Epic NPC Man is a sketch comedy set within "Skycraft", an entirely fictional fantasy MMORPG where non-player characters (NPCs) and players interact. Epic NPC Man deconstructs the in-universe logic of role playing games (RPGs), the mechanics of video games and the fantasy genre at large, typically spoofing real-life game franchises such as The Elder Scrolls (particularly Skyrim), World of Warcraft, Dark Souls and The Witcher. The series takes place in Azerim, a sprawling kingdom assailed by the neighbouring Orcish land of Shmargonrog. Initially, Epic NPC Man was presented almost exclusively from the perspective of Greg (Morrison), a lowly NPC garlic farmer and quest-giver in the tranquil but unremarkable village of Honeywood, observing the often confusing activities of players. Other recurring characters include the blacksmith Bodger (Bettjeman), sorcerer Baradün (King), dim-witted muggers Bernard (Bettjeman) and Charles (Van Lier), poor fruit merchant Fred Orchardson (Parkinson), the continuously crying Eugene (King), town fisherman Baelin (Bettjeman) and "the Watcher" (King), a thinly-veiled analogue for Geralt of Rivia.[22][23][24] Many scenes have been filmed at Howick Historical Village.[22] Actor John Callen has made multiple guest appearances.
Baelin's Route: An Epic NPC Man Adventure
In 2020, the group crowdfunded NZ$660,000 (c. €390,000) via Kickstarter[25] to produce a short film set in the Epic NPC Man universe. Baelin's Route: An Epic NPC Man Adventure premiered on YouTube on 9 May 2021. The film, which was written by Morrison and directed by Morrison and King, stars Bettjeman as Baelin, a non-player character whose normal route, from home to fishing spot, is interrupted by a human player (Ben Van Lier) and a damsel in distress (Phoenix Cross) making him into a reluctant hero.[26][27] It had over 900 thousand views within 24 hours of its release.[25][28]
Bored
Bored is a series of sketches primarily based in a tech store.[29][30][31]New Zealand Radio Award-winning presenter Ellie Harwood co-stars as an employee.[32][5] Until July 2023, Bored was set in, and filmed inside a PlayTech store (a real computer retail chain in New Zealand), although the sketches were created independently from the company.[33]
As of July 2023, the Bored series is filmed and based in a fictional store called TechTown and is filmed in the new Viva La Dirt League studio.[34]
Building on its success, in March 2020, Viva launched their second YouTube channel focusing on Dungeons & Dragons content set in the Epic NPC Man universe. In the Adventures of Azerim campaign, King, Morrison and Bettjeman reprise their roles as Greg, Baradun and Bodger, and Van Lier debuts the character Bartholomew Osiris Bladesong (abbreviated as "Bob"). Hartley also returns as the Dungeon Master.[35]
In February 2024, Viva started a second Dungeons & Dragons campaign with Britt Scott Clark, Ellie Harwood, Phoenix Cross and Rhiannon McCall called Tales of the Misfits.[36]
Studio
A Kickstarter campaign for a filming studio and office space for the company raised over US$2.5 Million in March 2022, with a location to be determined.[37] In August, the Kickstarter campaign page (Update #38) and the VLDL YouTube channel updated with the news of the new studio location having been secured after a long search. The video shows a tour of the new, unrenovated facilities.[38] The studio has been in operation since June 2023.[39]
