Meet Killian Davies of Mesa

Today we’d like to introduce you to Killian Davies.

Hi Killian, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My name is Killian Davies, and I’m a videographer, convention panelist, cosplayer, and AZ Ren Faire Performer.

I love Dungeons & Dragons. I’ve been playing for almost 10 years now, and find myself as what’s called the “Forever DM”. I tell stories to my players, homemade, original adventures not established in the official D&D books (also known as homebrew content). And for a long time I have always wanted to write and publish my own third party D&D content.

On August 4th of 2023, my birthday, I was laid off from my job. A business decision meant to save money for a company that was investor-heavy but failing to uphold their goals; I was some of the fat needing to be trimmed. I decided right then and there to make my own business decision: I was going to invest in myself.

I began working on my own single session adventure, something a group of adventurers can start and finish in one day (also known as a One Shot). There are thousands of wonderful D&D writers out there, and like any creative field, the biggest question is always “How do you stand out?” Well, I decided to combine two things I love: Dungeons & Dragons and Helluva Boss.

Helluva Boss is an adult animated cartoon on YouTube created by Vivienne Medrano and their company Spindlehorse Toons. Helluva Boss is the smaller, independent sister show to Hazbin Hotel, produced by A24 and distributed through Amazon Prime Video. This show follows demons in Hell as they fight, swear, kill, and more importantly go through TONS of relationship trauma. It was the perfect setting for D&D players; the entire tone of the show along with the core protagonists are the embodiment of an adventuring party!

And so I took inspiration from an episode of the show: the lead characters visit a devil carnival known as Loo Loo Land. Every D&D party loves a good festival session. For 8 months, I invested my own money, over $4,000, essentially everything I had left in savings, while I would work part-time and freelance jobs to make ends meet. I paid for high-quality art I could license for future products, all of my sample pieces for additional merchandise, and preparations to launch a Kickstarter in the Summer of 2024 to gauge public interest.

In April of 2024, I took early print copies to LVL UP Expo, a convention in Las Vegas, to meet the cast and creators of Helluva Boss. I had them sign my own copy, while gifting them each their own. And upon talking about my journey and what was to come, they all said the same thing: Good luck.

The Kickstarter launched in June, with a target goal of $6,000. It was reached in one week. By the end of the campaign, my book Loo Loo Lunacy had raised $17,411, nearly tripling the original goal. Now I’m currently in the fulfillment stage, ordering merchandise inventory, applying to vend at conventions (my first confirmed event is Game On Expo 2025), and scheduling playtest sessions for Book #2.

A lot has changed in the one year investing in myself, and so far, I’m loving the payoff.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Every artist and creative finds their challenges, and my path was no different. I had mentioned my project was funded within a week. $6,000 raised in 7 days. It only took 2 more to raise another $2,000. The day after that my Kickstarter was struck with a copyright claim.

This isn’t uncommon on fundraising platforms. Many creators start initiatives with established brands without looking into the fine details of what they can and can’t promote. They get hit with a copyright claim, and a creator can choose to submit a counter-DMCA letter proving they have the right their Kickstarter, or they remove the project entirely from the platform.

Loo Loo Lunacy was struck by A24, making a claim my project was infringing upon “A24’s Helluva Boss”. I had heard from many friends of mine who run their own fundraising campaigns that A24 is rampant on fundraising platforms, constantly striking down projects. And to a degree, it made sense: they had recently acquired and published the flagship show Hazbin Hotel, one of the most popular pieces of content on Amazon Prime Video.

There was only one problem with their copyright claim: A24 owns Hazbin Hotel, not Helluva Boss. While the two shows are sisters and exist in the same narrative universe, Spindlehorse Toons only sold the rights of Hazbin Hotel to A24, and kept Helluva Boss as their own independent project. Through my deep research of this project (and the doubling of research I had to do during the copyright claim), I had confirmed three things:

1. A24 does not appear in any episode credits nor the IMDb page of any Helluva Boss episode.
2. On the official U.S. copyright government office website, A24 (and its subsidiary Keep Spitballing LLC who was also billed on the copyright strike) own the copyright to all 8 episodes of Hazbin Hotel, but show no record to owning Helluva Boss.
3. Helluva Boss does not have any record of copyright on the official U.S. copyright government office website.

I promptly filed my counter-DMCA with screenshot evidence for all three of these points, and then had to wait. After filing a counter-DMCA, the original filer has 10-14 business days to either issue a response, or let their claim fail and the project can resume.

For 14 days my project was offline, and I was losing backers. In that two-week span, I had lost over $500, and feared for what this would mean for the project. What if it came back online and I had no more momentum? What if there truly was something I didn’t know about the copyright that I had missed? It was two weeks of second-guessing and drumming up worst-case scenarios.

But I had to believe I had taken the correct steps, done my proper research; I had to hold onto that thought, because if I didn’t believe in it, then why should anyone else? And after 14 days, that belief paid off. A24 didn’t issue a response (nor an apology), as they silently retreated from the copyright claim and let it fall away.

I had succeeded. David had beat Goliath, and I was able to finish funding my Kickstarter. I even made T-shirts to celebrate the occasion that stated “I Appealed The Lawsuit” (It wasn’t a lawsuit, but this was a reference to an item in my book that is a t-shirt with that quote on it you get for riding a ride called The Lawsuit”. It felt very fitting to make merchandise like that available.)

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a professional videographer and editor, and have been for almost a decade. I’ve created award-winning short films, worked with Hollywood celebrities, and produced high-quality ad content for businesses.

I am a traveling convention panelist who creates entertaining content for attendees at these events to laugh and learn about various pop culture topics. I use cosplay as a form of identity when attending these events.

I am a published D&D content writer, making third party content that has sold internationally. And this one is the one I’m most proud of. It was the one that required the most focus, garnered the toughest adversities, and at times appeared to be utterly hopeless in achieving. It’s rather surreal I’ve made it to where I am with it, and where it is still going. I simply count my blessings and keep working to make it the best that I can.

What sets me apart from others is there is no other published content like this on the market. For merchandise based in the Hellaverse (Hazbin and Helluva alike), you’ll find pins, prints, stickers, buttons, zines, and SO much more. But not a D&D adventure book, not one published with custom races based on the creatures in the show, or containing an art style inspired by the show so well. That’s what sets me apart.

What matters most to you? Why?
What matters to me most is support. Being a creative cannot be done alone. You may go into a venture by yourself, but there are countless times where the unbearable weight of the unknown hits you, and if you don’t have a good support system, you’ll fail.

You can be the most talented person in your field, in the industry you’re pursuing, but none of that matters if you don’t have someone checking in with you to see how you’re doing, to hear your frustrations when you’re stuck, to be a shoulder to cry on when something failed, and to cheer you on in your celebrations.

So many personal events happened in my life since August of 2023, and a lot of them weren’t good for my mental health. There were many times I wanted to give up, in so many different ways, both in a business and personally, and I am eternally grateful for the people who pulled me out of the darkness multiple times to remind me what I was trying to accomplish.

Support is everything. Without it, you have nothing.

Contact Info:

• Website: killiandavies.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/azstolas
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/killian.davies
• Other: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/azstolas/loo-loo-lunacy-a-helluva-boss-dandd-5e-adventure?ref=discovery&term=loo%20loo%20lunacy&total_hits=1&category_id=34

Image Credits
Personal Photo – Killian performing at the 2024 AZ Ren Faire as Captain Cillian Silverloch in the Mermaid Grotto. PHOTO CREDIT: Freckled Fox Photography Kickstarter Cover Photo – Studio shot of the DD book Loo Loo Lunacy. PHOTO CREDIT: James Carrillo Killian & Vivienne – Convention Photo of Killian with Spindlehorse owner and Helluva Boss creator Vivienne Medrano. PHOTO CREDIT: Hyn May Productions Alex Brightman w/ Book – Helluva Boss voice actor Alex Brightman holding his copy of Loo Loo Lunacy up to camera that was used for Kickstarter promotion. PHOTO CREDIT: Hyn May Productions Panelist Photo – Killian leading a DD education panel at LVL UP Expo 2024 dressed as Valentino from Hazbin Hotel. PHOTO CREDIT: Hyn May Productions The Lawsuit Blanket – A queen-sized blanket of one of the significant art pieces from the book featuring The Lawsuit. This was a Kickstarter stretch goal item. PHOTO CREDIT: Killian Davies I Appealed The Lawsuit T-shirt – This T-shirt is inspired by artwork from Loo Loo Lunacy and was created after Killian overcame the copyright claim obstacle during the Kickstarter campaign as a way to celebrate his victory. PHOTO CREDIT: Custom Ink