On June 19th of 2026, popular indie animation company Glitch Productions uploaded the finale to their most popular show to date: The Amazing Digital Circus. However, for many fans, the premiere was not their first time viewing the hour–long episode.
When Glitch announced the release date of the finale, they also announced that from June 4th, the finale would be screened alongside the penultimate episode in theaters as a double feature dubbed The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act.
In any other case, the notion of an indie animated series having its finale shown in movie theaters would be considered a bold new step for the future of indie animation, potentially paving the way for small creators to be able to get their passion projects recognized and displayed among big-budget, professional films. But with the way the act of getting the finale screened was handled, that future for Glitch Productions may be a far cry from becoming true.
What is Glitch Productions?
Glitch Productions is an animation company founded by brothers Kevin and Luke Lerdwichagul in Sydney, Australia. Before founding the company, the brothers were mostly well known for Luke’s former YouTube series SMG4, a machinima-style comedy series mostly featuring parodies of Nintendo characters and IPs, which was officially completed as of late 2025.
On the Glitch Productions website, the brothers state that “We wanted to bring the kind of energy, passion, and community that other parts of the world have shown for teen and young adult animation, but always seemed lacking in the mainstream Western animation industry. So we decided to make shows that we wanted to watch, and since then, we’ve found that millions of other people want to watch those shows too.”
Since the company’s founding in 2017, Glitch has produced multiple shows on their YouTube channel, such as the well-received sci-fi thriller Murder Drones, the widely anticipated Knights of Guinevere by Dana Terrace, and their most popular show to date–as well as the subject of this article, The Amazing Digital Circus.
What’s The Amazing Digital Circus?
The brainchild of online animator ‘Gooseworx’, The Amazing Digital Circus is a 9-episode-long series inspired by Harlan Ellison’s short story I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream. The series follows Pomni, a human trapped in a computer program with five other humans and Caine–the AI running the show. The narrative focuses less on the humans banding together and trying to escape the circus, and more on studying the characters in their bleak setting, and exploring how one finds meaning in a stagnant life.
The show was a massive success for Glitch Productions, its pilot episode clearing ten million views within the week of its release, critics raving about the new show and its dark themes, and merchandise for the show lining the shelves of Hot Topic to this day.
By all accounts, the announcement of the show’s finale being in theaters should have been received with excitement and anticipation from its massive fanbase, but the responses were anything but.
Inaccessibility to The Fans
When the announcement of the screenings was made on April 10th, 2026, the response online was very mixed. Many people were excited at the idea of their favorite show being shown on the big screen, but as many things go online, for every one excited fan, there were two ready to complain.
Many fans came online, primarily on platforms like X or TikTok, and voiced their concerns over not being able to afford to buy the tickets or the finale not being screened in cinemas in their country. Some even threw out accusations that Glitch was doing this in order to get more money from their fans. Furthermore, with the date of the screenings being two weeks before the release on YouTube, it was only inevitable that they would be bombarded with spoilers from the moviegoing fans.
In the heat of the online discourse over the premiere, Glitch’s CEO, Kevin Lerdwichagul, made a post on the official Glitch BlueSky account responding to the backlash the announcement was getting.
Ultimately, Lerdwichagul affirmed that this was a decision made not only with the fanbase in mind, but also the creators, as well as indie animation as a whole. If this screening were to be a success, then that could potentially change the way that the film industry as a whole sees indie animation.
He also encouraged the show’s audience to reach out to their local cinemas via call or email to ask them to screen the finale, a tried and true practice in getting films in theaters that may or may not have contributed to the finale being screened in over 80 countries.
The Korea Contract
If you are trying to get a movie shown in theaters, especially on a global level, the best course of action would be to get in contact with a film distributor or a distribution company. That is what Glitch did with all of the countries they wanted to screen in. One of the companies they worked with was SBMNE in Korea, with whom they arranged a contract.
That was until May 8th, 2026, when SBMNE suddenly announced on their X account that Glitch had unilaterally terminated the contract. As a result, the screenings in Korea were delayed.
Later, the company’s CEO, Son Wee-hyuk, made a statement:
“Hello, this is Son Wee-Hyuk, the CEO of SBM&E company, who was expected to be a distributor of TADC. Last April, after we made a contract with Glitch Prod, we were focusing on the TADC movie distribution for a whole full month long, and it made me happy when the movie was registered in scheduled-movie list, after we made a discussion with Megabox (One of the biggest movie theater company).
“But Glitch Prod suddenly noticed us to terminate the contract unilaterally, and I cried a lot this morning after realized all those hard work and effort we’ve made were meaningless.
“We were originally planned to write the article after ticket reservation, but we apologize to let you know about this unfortunate situation. This doesn’t mean they’re trying to change the distributor company, but their official statement is ‘complete abort of TADC movie screening in South Korea’. Please understand that we cannot tell you the specific reason of contract cancellation, for now.”
It goes without saying that the spontaneous cancellation of a contract with no prior notice is unprofessional. Glitch’s look was even further sullied when it came out that the company had been ignoring contact from cinemas and distributors in Turkiye and Australia.
Eventually, Glitch came forward with a statement about the cancelled screenings. They cited the reasons for their actions as being in the name of maintaining the finale and preventing leaks.
This reasoning, while it explains their unprofessional behavior, does not justify their actions. The way they navigated communicating with companies was borderline irresponsible, especially considering all the importance they put on this screening.
For a company trying to pave the way for future indie animation, they were putting the wrong foot forward. And ultimately, it would prove to be all for nothing.
The Leak
Despite Glitch’s efforts, the Brazilian dub of The Last Act got leaked onto X and quickly spread all throughout the internet. In a flash, fans and haters alike tore the ending to shreds while some tried their best to avoid spoilers.
While Glitch has still not yet made a statement about the leaks, Gooseworx, the creator of TADC, made a statement on her Bluesky.
Ultimately, the project had gotten much bigger and more popular than Gooseworx could keep up with, and she grew apathetic towards it. Such is a common tale for creators who make it big, even if Glitch’s business model was made to prevent such jading.
When the Credits Roll
When all is said and done, what is left? Glitch had set forth with the intention of giving small creators, like Goose, the platform to tell their stories. In doing so, they started a motion to get their best show put in theaters. But then, not wanting to make sacrifices to the product and wanting to prevent leaks, they broke contracts abruptly and ghosted companies. This creates a bad look or themself and indie animation. And all the while, the show’s creator hardly cares.
It’s almost poetic. Like a Greek tragedy.
It would not be far off to assume that we will never see Glitch Productions in theaters again. But this is not the final nail in the coffin for indie creators.
Obsession did come out this year, after all.
