Balena Productions Returns for Annual Charity Stream
It’s one of our favorite times of the year here at Dreamscape Foundation. As a non-profit, charity and giving sit at our core and no season embraces this nature better than Christmas. It’s a passion many people share with us, including our old friend Steven Page of Balena Productions.
What is Balena Productions?
There are many YouTube channels, but at more than 10 years producing content, Balena Productions is one of the veterans. “I basically make animations on YouTube,” Steve said. “Specifically around Sonic the Hedgehog. I’ve been doing it for many, many years, and I hope to be doing it for many more. I love everything I do.” It isn’t a hobby, either. This is Steven’s full-time job. It has to be with the time it takes to produce quality animations to go with his witty voiceover work. While the latter is his true passion, the two skills go hand-in-hand. “That’s what I truly aspire to be is a full-time voice actor,” he said. “I had started off by using static screenshots and adding the voiceover afterward, but as my channel grew into this Titan that it’s become, I had to make my content better for my viewers. If you take a look at the beginning of my channel to the newer things on my channel, you’ll see there’s a huge evolution. I was never trained, I didn’t go to college or anything like that. I just sort of picked up along the way.”The Christmas with Sonic Series
Through the years, Balena Productions formed a tradition called the Christmas with Sonic series. What began with one video triggered a desire for more from the fans who now look forward to these videos every year. “Christmas is that special time of year, of course, full of fun and wonder,” Steven said, “but Christmas is Sonic’s main root was that we wanted to make relatable Christmas videos for everyone. It couldn’t just be just Sonic the Hedgehog running around for Christmas. We wanted to hit that special place of awkward, uncomfortable Christmases for people, but at the same time having them be the best Christmases as well.”A Smashing Charity Stream Just in Time for the Holidays
Christmas with Sonic isn’t the only tradition. Balena Productions also does an annual charity stream with Dreamscape Foundation in support of our cause. “Joe Sehwani, the wonderful guy he is, came to me a couple of years ago, and he said, ‘Oh, I love your videos. We have this charity and we would love to do something’,” Steven explained. “I had been waiting for a charity to come along. I love giving back, especially when Joe’s message is about helping the families with these kids with rare disabilities and diseases. I think it’s a really good cause to help these parents around Christmas. It costs so much just to stay alive these days and for Joe and the Dreamscape Foundation to want to help these parents, that’s really great.” This year’s stream is taking place over the course of two evenings: one on December 7 and the other on December 8. The streams will take place on the Balena Productions YouTube channel at 8pm EST or 5pm PST. During that time, viewers can participate as they go to battle on Super Smash Brothers Ultimate and donate to the cause through Dreamscape Foundation’s campaign on their website. There are 4 bundles to choose from, with special rewards depending on your donation tier:- $10: Receive a Dreamscape Foundation T-Shirt
- $30: Receive a Dreamscape Foundation T-Shirt and a chance to win a PC copy of Sonic Forces
- $50: Receive a Dreamscape Foundation T-Shirt, a Hooba Dooba T-Shirt, and a chance to win a copy of Super Smash Brothers Ultimate
- $100: Receive a Dreamscape Foundation T-Shirt, a Hooba Dooba T-Shirt, a copy of Sonic Forces on PC, a chance to win Super Smash Brothers Ultimate for Switch, and a chance to win an Alexa Echo Dot with smart plug