Before I go on, I will say that I am a newcomer to the world of web content. My entire currently online portfolio is a low quality spoof and a reaction video(which I have heard is the most intense of all time!). With that said, I am now writing my first script for season one of a web-series that is shaping up to be very legit. But, along the way I have talked to some people who are successful in this medium, and I have been privileged enough to learn some proven successful tips from them along the way. I won’t drop names here cause, well, that’s annoying(and what I have facebook and twitter for), nor will I share many of the tips, if any. Being unproven myself, no matter how confident and ambitious(and charming)I may be, my tips wouldn’t mean as much if not delivered by someone who you know for a fact has put the steps to use already. I mean would you buy a “how to” business book by Donald Trump or some guy who learned from Donald Trump and may or may not have potential? Instead I will talk briefly, or try to be brief anyway, about the potential bright future for original web content in the world of entertainment. And especially why anyone struggling to make it in the world of acting, writing, or production should consider a start on the web.
Screen Actors Guild: Did you know that by writing out a legitimate script and going through a process of paper work you can register your web project as a SAG production free of charge? Now, I’m not recommending that you do this and just make some low quality video just to do it by any means. But, imagine you’re an actor. You believe fully that you have talent. Now, right or wrong, you don’t get a fair shake at auditions. Maybe you don’t look like Jessica Alba or Brad Pitt, or even have a less classic but undeniable charm like Felicia Day or Jack Black. Maybe it’s just lack of experience, why take a gamble if there’s a guarantee? And there are a LOT of working actors with loads of experience that take the little roles that you think you might have a shot at. With a show you create, you can cast yourself, and really show what you can do.
Now don’t think it isn’t a lot of hard work. If you create a web series, odds are you’re going to be doing loads of work that, as an actor in a movie or sitcom, you wouldn’t be expected to do(writing, directing, producing, editing, scheduling(NIGHTMARE!), marketing, and all kinds of little things that are overlooked). But, if you can tough it out, you can become a SAG eligible actor all while putting out your first piece of legitimate work. But note, joining SAG is not cheap for an actor. Only a seriously ambitious actor who thinks they have the chops should even take this route. Heres a link to a blog by Ben Whitehair that maps the process out geniously.
How to register your new media project with SAG: http://bit.ly/dkZK7x
Proven Success: I’ll keep it short. Most people who you see on the internet that are incredibly popular have what we call “day jobs”. While their web projects help, and can be considered a success, these aren’t the ones i speak of. I’m talking about people who create web content as a form of career and make their living from it and it alone. THIS IS ALREADY HAPPENING! And many people believe that, as time goes by, this will become more and more common. Not to mention the people who become stars based on popular internet videos: Justin Bieber, Donald Glover(community), Felicia Day, etc. Jokes and opinions aside, can you argue the success of any of these people? In the world of stand-up comedy there are tons of more examples. Not to mention TV shows now being produced about kids who have web-series! One being iCarly, which recently became, to my surprise, the highest rated scripted cable television show OF ALL TIME! While the show is funny in and of itself, I feel that the concept of a web series, and the struggles to maintain it play a pivotal role in why older audiences watch the show. In fact, some I have spoken to involved in the web-series world have told me they watch it for just that reason. That’s the present, what about the future?
Michael Eisner: You may know Michael Eisner as the guy who tries to rip out Peter Griffins heart on Family Guy, but he’s also, as I’m sure you know, the former CEO of Disney. As the CEO Eisner was responsible for many things that, at the time, seemed risky, but proved to be, in the long run, brilliant business strategies. One shining example is when he got rid of Disney’s proven animation department, let their deal with Pixar run out, and then in turn bought out Pixar. I think we can all agree that the Disney/Pixar animation machine has been successful with just about anything it has attempted. At the time though, people he worked with allegedly threatened his life because he was making such a “stupid move”. But Eisner, no matter what you think of him personally, had the foresight to make the decision which pushed his already monstrous business even further beyond any of his “competitors”.
Now as I was doing my lazy computer end of the day stuff, I hear Michael Eisner, the man who masters in seeing the future of entertainment, saying that he is now working almost exclusively in web-based video. According to Eisner, within the next 10 years, web video will be on par with television shows as far as legitimacy goes. And, now this is a big one, as far as money-making goes! Now I don’t think you should get into anything solely for the money, but with this man saying this, and knowing money is his motivation, it makes working on a web series seem like much less a waste of time than some tend to think it is. With product placement and sponsorships on the rise, and shows like The Guild as a shining beacon for us all to aspire to the heights of, not to mention the booming number of new series coming out, I don’t think it’s too crazy to believe that this is a possibility, even if not a probability.
Eisner isn’t the only one who see’s a bright future for web-based media. here’s a link on Alloy entertainment-who is responsible for Gossip Girl, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and the Vampire Diaries, among other things-and the apparently high quantity of web-series they plan on producing. Now I realize those shows may not be your favorites, I have never seen Gossip Girl and only 60% of an episode of Vampire Diaries(Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was honestly a pretty cool movie), but you can’t argue their success. With such success, you have to think they have business sense. Or at least sense to know what works in todays entertainment industry. So, quality of the shows aside, them considering putting so much toward the web is a pretty big deal.
here is said link: http://bit.ly/cVv74e
Also, one of my favorite projects may prove that this could be further along on the road to fruition than you may think.
Dr. Horrible Sequel?: If you haven’t seen Dr. Horribles Sing Along Blog, do yourself a favor and see it now. To those of you who have seen it, amazing right? I have watched it about 4 times in the past 10 days and it just does not get old. A few different people told me that Dr. Horrible was a category on jeopardy, man if that’s true I wish I was on that episode! Anyway the success on this project is incredible and now a sequel has been confirmed. Awesome right? More quality web content to make the new media movement more legitimate? Yes and No. See the sequel is not going to be an internet short. So far all signs point to a feature-length film and a non-web release.So far, according to reports, it will most likely be a television release, but talks of a theatrical release are also, allegedly, in the works.
What this means to the new media movement, in my opinion, is an even faster track to the peak of what it could someday become. Imagine part one starting on the web, and the sequel to a strictly web-based project, coming out on TV. And possibly even in theaters! To me, that is HUGE! Now I won’t kid myself, I know a big part of the success was the star quality of Neil Patrick Harris along with Joss Whedon and crew producing the thing. But still the fact that such a project was created by these people, again, speaks for the web medium. Also regardless of the star power behind it, a web video is still a web video, and if one can make it to the silver screen, or even the…dark gray screen, it raises the bar for everyone else. The Guild and Dr. Horrible are the standards on which we should judge our work, If our quality can reach that height, maybe our success can as well and maybe we can all do our part in taking this concept of web media to a new level. That’s my 2 cents.
On a darker note. With the recent train wreck that was the Streamy awards, the entire web community was set back quite a few notches. I think the people making these great web series though can get past this and prove that it is something to take seriously. With the amount of content that is apparently coming in the near future, you should put this behind you, no more talking about how horrible it was, and just do your thing and show everyone that it was but a blemish on the nice ass that is, web based media.
toodles.
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