The Pipes are Flowing: Hoopla, Substack, and Scaling the Collective
In my last update, I talked about laying the "pipes"—the unglamorous, backend distribution networks required to get independent art out of Portland and into the global marketplace.
For the last few weeks, my head has been down (and admittedly, fighting off a nasty cold—a harsh reminder of the very human side of the "indie label journey"). But while the studio was physically quiet, the digital machine was roaring to life.
Today, I am incredibly proud to announce that the pipes are officially flowing. We aren’t just building platforms anymore; we are operating them.
Here is an open-source look at the milestones we hit this week across the Foundry.
1. The Ultimate Proof of Concept: Hoopla Integration
When we launched NBGee Publishing with Trish Ginther’s Learn to Grow: Life Skills for Teens, the goal was never just to sell books on Amazon. The goal was to democratize access to vital knowledge.
This week, we hit a massive milestone: Trish’s book is officially live on Hoopla Digital.
Hoopla is the primary digital gateway for public libraries across the United States. This means an independently published book by a senior creator in our collective is now sitting in the national library ecosystem, accessible to millions of patrons for free, while still generating revenue for the author. This is the exact proof of concept NBGee Foundry was built to achieve.
2. NBGee Studios and the "Video Comic" Model
As the publishing wing expands, so does our visual storytelling. We are officially moving into full production on our next major property: Gus Tells Terry, an original manuscript by our featured artist and author, Juanita Buckles.
To bring this to life, we had to upgrade our tech stack. I spent the week building and deploying a custom upgrade to our internal NBGee Audio Lab. We can now direct and mix up to five AI voice actors simultaneously, allowing us to produce fully scored, multi-actor "Video Comics."
But making the art is only half the battle; you need a stage. We have officially launched a dedicated series channel for Gus Tells Terry over on our Substack (studios.nbgee.com). We are utilizing Substack's "Sections" feature to build a Netflix-style infrastructure. Subscribers can pay a single monthly fee to access our entire slate of upcoming shows, including the NBGee Alien Universe (animated stories based on our best-selling merch characters).
Most importantly, this subscription revenue will be split with the creators exactly like our merchandise model.
3. Scaling E-Commerce: Gallery Views & The Spring Collection
Over on the retail side, our 2026 Spring Collection is officially live. It features incredible new botanical and abstract pieces from Kim Poff and Juanita Buckles.
We also launched a fascinating hybrid product: physical artisan soaps by Carrie Taylor ("Neon Sugar" and "Indigo Salt") designed specifically to accompany her digital audio capsules.
To support this expanding catalog, I rolled out a brand new UI update: The Gallery View. Store visitors can now click on a specific piece of art and instantly see every piece of NBGee merch that features that image. It shifts the shopping experience from "browsing products" to "browsing art," which perfectly aligns with our creator-first mission.
4. Locking in the Financial Backend
You can’t run an indie record label without securing the royalties. Behind the scenes, I successfully completed our SoundExchange, DistroKid, and UnitedMasters audits. We officially cleared all past catalog disputes and have firmly routed our Master and Label royalties to the new NBGee Records and NBGee Publishing entities. The financial backend is fully locked in, legally compliant, and ready to scale.
The Next Chapter
The infrastructure is built. The royalties are routed. The creators are in the national library system.
Now, we make movies.
If you want to see the new audio lab in action, head over to studios.nbgee.com and subscribe. The pilot episode of Gus Tells Terry drops this week.
Thank you for being part of this journey. The Foundry is officially humming.
— George Bowden Founder and CEO, NBGee Foundry