Doing a web-series

W

weltonfilment

Active member
OK, so here's an idea I had. Now, I've been thinking about this off and on, and I really can't tell if it would actually work, so that's where you guys come in. Please tell me if I'm off my rocker. OK, here goes:

So let's say I develop a concept for a web-based episodic show. I'm not talking about full hour long shows here...maybe something like 10-15 min episodes (act structure would be similar to a short film). This kind of series would be simple in form (few locations, few characters), but hopefully rich enough in story to keep people coming back week after week. The genre could really be anything. Comedy, drama, action, murder mystery, etc. But it would probably be a serial type of show a la Lost and 24.

Now the show is set in place. Minimal costs, but enough production value to make it look good on the web. Now, the trick is...money. A 15 minute show that has a new episode every week can get costly. So how does one pay for something like this?

Advertising.

Think of it like when you go and watch shows on ABC.com and they show a quick ad at the beginning of the episode, and a few ads strewn between (but definitely not as many ads as you see on TV). Usually it's just one company, and they get a few different spots throughout the course of the show. Well in this case, it would just be one 30 second ad before the episode aired (maybe the pilot would be ad-free so people would at least be able to tell if it's worth their time to sit through ads on subsequent eps).

Is something like that even feasible? If you could make a pilot and promote it enough to people to get them interested and spread the word, could you attract advertisers? Any thoughts on the matter are much appreciated.
 
Sounds great..
Would I be right to say all you need now is a script? and afew partners to work with you to help propose it to a company that would likely pay for the advertising?

Regards
David
 
Hi Welton,

Yes, and if you can keep your cost down, perhaps you might try building big audience (100K+) before approaching advertisers. Vlogs like Rocketboom (variety), Geek Brief (new techie stuff), and Ask a Ninja (comedy) are examples of financially successful short shows. BTW, Tiki Bar is more of a humorous episode show to check out if you aren't already aware of it.

Anyway, if you're a grass-roots Indie startup, consider starting with a web-based vlog and vodcast, planning to do deals with Tivo, Xbox, and others as your audience grows. Personally, I'd stay away from posting entire shows on utube, google, yahoo, etc due to ownership rights but it would be okay to use them for shorter promotional "webisodes" so you can maintain content ownership, brand, quality control, and distribution.

Good luck, Michael
 
We've tried it and have had mixed results. The only way to do it correctly is with advertisers. We went with 3-4 minute episodes and were chastised (on this website) because people could download full 30 minute episodic series from itunes for $.99. We have been approached by investors to produce something for them, but they are really only interested in short 1 minute to minute and a half episodes that would be downloaded to telephones and pda's.
We created our own website and granted it is just a niche, horror/cliffhanger, but the quality is there and of course the action. We have traffic and downloads, but not enough to actually produce a series on our own. Product placement and advertising is the only way to go to actually make money. That and getting into Japan or China's cell phone market.
 
did lonelygirl first go to the advertisers and investors before placing anything up?

if it's good enough, youtube should be your starting ground. no?
 
Interesting to hear some feedback on this. Didn't think it would be a viable option, but I'm beginning to think with the right promotional tools and marketing strategy, it could work. Obviously the goal isn't to get rich here, but merely to attract enough money each week to hopefully pay for the cost of making it (meaning: everyone gets paid). It might then become a platform for other things.
 
the company that I used to be part of was founded, partially, on doing a web series. After they left they actually shot the series, but it never took off. The very last I heard was that they were reediting it to be a feature.

www.purgatoryaz.com

It was shot in 13 episodes with decent production value and low budget, but at last I heard bandwidth became so expensive that it was the reason for not launching.

The idea was to front the series and do some grass-roots marketing to get traffic up and then sell advertising, but it's not a cheap deal to keep up apparently.

You might look at mobisodes and such, but at last I checked the studios and larger phone companies had a pretty large grip on distribution. Just like the big studios.

I have a feeling that indie channels for this type of thing are opening up, but it may take a bit of time.

Keep digging and post back if you find anything interesting.
 
15-minute episodes are too long for the web. Under 5 minutes is best and under 3 minutes is perfect.

That being said, I did do a web serial last October called Drake Mountain. I shot it over 3 weekends with a cast of 6 (myself included) and my girlfriend as crew. I was a character AND camera opperator. It was a different shooting experience than anything I've done before (I'm used to large crew, lots of equipment, etc...) The premise was a group of 6 paranormal enthusiasts camping out on a haunted mountain in Vermont for 5 days to explore and document strange occurences. It was shot on a Sony Digital8 handycam using in-camera mic. Everything was improv. The longest episode was 9 minutes long. I released 2 episodes a day for a full week. Looking back, I wish I had cut the episodes down to under 5 minutes. I got a lot of possitive feedback but probably would have had a lot more people watch the entire series if it was shorter. It was hard at the time to cut it down...it's tough editing your own work!

I am planning to do another web serial with a strict 3 minute time-limit per episode. I just don't think most people have the attention span online for anything longer.
 
maverickstunts said:
That and getting into Japan or China's cell phone market.
Click to expand...

I have a contact here associated with KDDI if your looking for a way in.

To the original idea, I honestly believe it can work of the STORY IS STRONG ENOUGH. Then you have to go it alone and get a solid viewer base. Then you have to document things like growth etc, some hard facts and figures you can include in an advertising proposal. You will need to do some hardcore web marketing on your own to help the fan base grow. But with a weak storyline, they will drop off like flies.
 
ncje said:
I have a contact here associated with KDDI if your looking for a way in.

To the original idea, I honestly believe it can work of the STORY IS STRONG ENOUGH. Then you have to go it alone and get a solid viewer base. Then you have to document things like growth etc, some hard facts and figures you can include in an advertising proposal. You will need to do some hardcore web marketing on your own to help the fan base grow. But with a weak storyline, they will drop off like flies.
Click to expand...


Thank you, we are talking with investors now. We are pointing towards a 64 episode webseries of 1 to 1 1/2 minutes per episode. Time will tell, it is coming and people will buy. thank you again and I will be in contact.
best,
steve
 
Advertising coupled with compelling addictive content equals an audience, money, and a sustainable show.

The internet will become alot like the Radio with some programs selling ad time and others having full on underwriters.

I wouldn't be surprised to see entire seasons of shows fianced by one company (like crest toothpaste) whats a "season" basically the length of a feature film? Most features are shot with budget between 100,000-1,000,000 whats a major TV ad cost to produce and then whats the ad time cost?? If you can drive 100,000's of eyeballs 30 or 40 times...

wow, I think I am gonna jump into this fray.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top