Tag Archives: web series

What have we been up to?

We have been creating an online documentary series, and I got stock in a job for a while. But here we are back and running.

If you want to learn more about our documentary, visit ThePerfectionOfGiving.com. It’s a documentary series that explores the theme of generosity and giving. I will be reporting here more about it. It started as a short documentary film and as it evolved, I decided that I was going to go all out and build an online series of several episodes of 25 to 30 minute episodes. Check out the trailer of our Chapter 1:

Another project that I will be talking about, of what I have learned and the process that we are going through, will be Scent:Velvet Mist (still working on that title). The project I am collaborating with my writer friend Jason Levy. It’s the story of a detective who falls in love Continue reading →

How To Protect Your Web Series Screenplay and Idea

When writing a web series the screenwriters are usually careful with who they share their script, until they have it protected. But when is it right to protect your idea? How to go about it?

The US Copyright Office only takes finished work, but we usually show our treatment, sinopsis and scripts for our web series way before the there is a final draft! There is a way to protect it.

Continue reading →

website

How to Create a Web Site for your Web Series in 4 Easy Steps

When making a Web Series or any kind of Web Show, I see many producers ignoring one of the most important elements in your infrastructure: THE WEBSITE! Without a website, your web series will not really go to far! So here go.

This quick guide will help create and host your own WordPress website and have it up and running in just a few minutes.

Follow the instruction and you will have a nice website to show your web series to the rest of the world. Continue reading →

Casting Call

Web Series Development Part 3 – Posting The Casting Call

When making a web series, it is very important, the most important, to get your main characters right! Casting your web series with an actor to embody that character is one of the most important decision as a director or producer and can make the rest of the job easier or harder.

There are different shows that need be casted differently: Variety shows with hosts, reality shows with participants, and fiction web series with actors. In this post we will be focusing the the fictional web series, because I consider it to be the most complex and important. Will touch on the other kind of shows in a later post. Continue reading →

Web Series Production Team

Web Series Development Part 2 – Your Team

Web Series Production TeamThe idea, the spark that makes web series, TV and film so magical, usually starts in one single brain… maybe two in some cases. But also truth, film, video, visual storytelling in general, don’t become a reality without a team of people that work hard to make it happen. That is what this post is about. The team that you will need to bring together as soon as you have your web series screenplay ready.

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Blip.tv Another Move in Pro of Web Series Producers

Blip.tvI have said many times on twitter, in this blog, in Facebook, and over coffee and beer with my friend: Blip.tv is the most producer friendly distribution and advertisement partner for almost all web series producers (maybe not the exact words, but more or less).

Today (June 1st 2011), from their brand NY office, Blip.tv co-founder announced they have created a distribution partnership with The Collective (I didn’t know who they where either).

So the web series from The Collective (Fred, iJustine, The Annoying Orange, among others.) will be distributed and sold (to advertisers) by blip.tv, and this will include the youtube channels (if have not used blip.tv or are not familiar with it, blip.tv distribute to many other sites, including YT).

This is a great news for any web producer, and not just the once that work with The Collective, because it is starting to legitimize a medium that has been somewhat just observed from the outside by investors and advertisers to see what happens.

Here is the video of the announcement. What do you think? Does it make you happy?

 

Watch live streaming video from bliptv at livestream.com

How long are web series episodes?

There is a lot of debate about the length of a web series episodes. It ranges from people that have tried 1-minute episodes  to people that make shows that are 1 hour long! I guess it depends on who is making the web series.

The truth is most people agree that somewhere between 5 minutes and 10 minutes is a good mark. Certainly the most successful web series are close to that mark.

So how are you supposed to define how long your episode should be?

The argument for a short episode:

If your show is comedic, targeted to a younger audience, or meant to be watch on the run, then shorter episodes are very good for that. A bit size. If you are doing a show on tips to do something, short is also better. The key about short content is to design it for people and platforms where they are not going to invest much of their attention spam. So make a killer first 10-15 seconds, and make sure to keep people engage for your minute by keeping that energy and stimulation up!

The argument for the long format:

The only way that a long format can stick, other than coming from a big TV network and be available on Hulu, is to have a very well defined audience and for that audience to be willing to sit through an hour or 45 minutes of content. Interview and educational shows that are targeted to a very specific niche. Those web series episodes can hold up to 45 minutes, even an hour. The best way to go about it is to break your show in three of four segments that change the speed of the show. Will help keeps the viewers engaged.

The Real Length of a web series episode.

The truth is that it will depend on the story and your interest as a producer. Some things need 25 to 45 minutes to be said. And that is fine. Somethings can be said in 2 minutes. Start from your guts and follow what the audience asks from you.

Open Process #3: My outline for Scent

For those of you who have been following up the Open Process (here #1 and here #2) of me making a web series, I have been working a lot in two very important things:

1. I am developing the Characters.

2. I am developing the story for the first season and what are the open loops that will be addressed in the second and third season. Or maybe the second and the Online Movie? Depends on how this flies!

I wanted to share a little bit with you my writing process and I how I have been going about it. My goal is to set the rules of a universe (a very realistic universe in many ways) that will allow me to tell several stories with this characters, and build on that. So for these characters and this particular event:  Continue reading →

3 Ideas To Keep Your Web Series Alive

Keep you Web Series AliveVery few web shows get a large substantial following. Some of them get a great substantial following, and then reach a plato and can’t get more followers. One of my pilots (Carlitos is Pisssed) had 1400+ views in the first episode and around 400 in the second and 300 in the third. :( I made a clear mistake there, I launched all three episodes in one day, just a few hours apart.

So here are some ideas for not letting your web shows die to soon, or better yet, die at all.

1. Post new content all the time.

Now, new content is not a new episodes every day, because that might not be story of financially possible. Koldcast.tv shows a new episode everyday. That might keep the first kick going but it dries out the content in a week or two!

Continue reading →

Are Web Series The New Short Films?

The more people I talk to, the more I hear the phrases: “My web series is a labor of love, I can’t expect to make money. It’s just to show the world what I can do.” Exactly what everyone was saying 5 or 7 years go when they talked about their short films. People put short films and web series in the same category.

Now, when you make a short film, they are usually anywhere from 1 to 30 minutes long, but really over 15 minutes is not really a that short any longer. Even the festivals have a hard time adding it to their programs when they start getting longer.

On the other hand, must narrative web series are divided in seasons. Usually anywhere from 3 to 7 episodes. Around 5 to 10 minutes each. So people are making up to 70 minutes of content (almost a feature film), not expecting to make any money from it. Continue reading →