7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

1/20

ROSS BROWNS E C O N D E D I T I O N

M I C H A E L W I E S E P R O D U C T I O N S

TV SERIESCreate Your Own

forTHE INTERNET

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

2/20

Copyright by Ross Brown

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any

means without permission in writing from the author, except for the inclusion of brief

quotations in a review.

Published by Michael Wiese Productions

Ventura Blvd. #

Studio City, CA

() -, () - (FAX)mw@mwp.com

www.mwp.com

Cover design by MWP

Interior design by Concord Editorial

Printed by McNaughton & Gunn

Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

TO COME

Printed on recycled paper

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

3/20

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

WHY A SECOND EDITION?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv

PREFACE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii

1 WHAT IS A WEBISODE? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A Brief History of Short Episodic Video on the Web . . . . . . . . . . .

Whats Out There Now, Amateur and Professional . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Why Create for the Net? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2 THE SERIES CONCEPT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Fatally Flawed Series Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Be Bold, Fresh, and Original . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

So Wheres the Drama? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

You Need a Killer Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3 CREATING COMPELLING CHARACTERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Character Essentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Characterization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Your Overall Character Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Leading Characters vs. Supporting Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Drawing on Real Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Growing Your Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4 CREATING THE WORLD OF YOUR SERIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Laying Out the Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Reality vs. Believability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Building on the Reality You Create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

4/20

What if I Want to Make an Animated Web Series? . . . . . . . . . . . .

Animated Web Series: Whats Out There Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5 THE PILOT STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Creating a Story That Tells and Sells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Premise Pilot vs. Episode Pilot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Youve Only Got a Few Minutes, so Be Economical . . . . . . . . . . . .

Creating Memorable Character Introductions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Story Structure: BeginningMiddleEnd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Putting It on Paper: Writing an Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Pitch It Out Loud to a Friend or Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

6 THE PILOT SCRIPT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Building Your Script Scene by Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Deviating from the Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

What Makes Good Dialogue: The Cs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Making Your Script Read Visually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Youve Got a First Draft. Time to Get to Work Again . . . . . . . . . . .

When Is It Ready to Be Shot? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7 CHOOSING A VISUAL STYLE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Marriage of Style and Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Beginnings, Endings, and Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8 PRACTICAL CONCERNS: EQUIPMENT AND BUDGET. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Equipment: From the Bargain Basement to the Penthouse . . . . .

Cameras and Camera Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sound Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Editing Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Learning More about All This Equipment and

How to Use It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

5/20

9 THE PILOT: PREPRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Casting: Finding Talented Actors When You Have No Budget. . .

Locations: Imagination Meets Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Permits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Developing a Shooting Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Revising the Script to Fit the Logistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Making a Shot List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Props and Wardrobe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Situations That Require Special Preproduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

10 THE PILOT: PRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Dealing with the Unexpected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Be Quick but Dont Hurry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Getting Enough Takes and Coverage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

You Arent the Only Genius on the Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Actors Arent Puppets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Crew Members Arent Slaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The World Is Not a Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11 THE PILOT: POSTPRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Rough Cut: Putting It Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Rough Cut: Assessing What You Have . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Refining the Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Postproduction Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Adding Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Creating a Main Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

12 BUILDING ON THE PILOT: COMING UP WITH EPISODE IDEAS. . . . . .

Growing Your Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Growing Your Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Learning from Each Episode You Shoot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

How Many Complete Episodes Do I Need before

I Can Post My Series? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

6/20

13 MARKETING YOUR SERIES AND YOURSELF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

YouTube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Beyond YouTube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Publicizing and Marketing Your Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Festivals and Contests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Should You Create Your Own Website? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Selling and Marketing Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

14 BUSINESS USES OF WEB SERIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Can You Sell and Entertain at the Same Time? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Humor Sells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Characters That Connect with Customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tell a Real Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Give the Customer Value for His Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Even if Youre Not a Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

15 INTERVIEWS WITH CREATORS IN THE WEB SERIES WORLD . . . . . .

Bill Rosenthal: TV Pro Finds a New Market for His Skills . . . . . .

Cary Okmin: Branded Content: Part Ad, Part

Web Series, All Creative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Courtney Zito: Hollywood Girl Moves Behind the Camera . . . . .

Jen Dawson: Party Girl Has Some Serious Game . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Michael Ajakwe: Writer, Producer, Director,

and Web Series Festival Promoter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Christine Lakin: In It for the Long Haul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

EPILOGUE: Youre Ready Honest So Go Do It!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

APPENDIX ONE: Screenplay Format Tutorial. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

APPENDIX TWO: Recommended Reading for More Detailed

Discussion of the Crafts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

APPENDIX THREE: Syllabi and Course Outlines for Teachers . . . . . . . . . .

ABOUT THE AUTHOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

7/20

This book is intended for a wide range of users, including

Aspiring filmmakers

University film, video, or other media instructors and students

Middle or high school video instructors and students

Experienced filmmakers new to the web series genre

Experienced film craftsmen (e.g., cinematographers, editors, grips,

electricians) who want to expand their creative horizons and show-

case their skills and talents beyond their current craft area

Actors hoping to promote their careers and expand their creative

opportunities by creating their own showcase web series

Businesses interested in creating branded content or advertainment-

oriented web series

Each group will find a wealth of valuable guidance in the book, but

they may approach it slightly differently based on their needs and back-

ground. Here are some suggestions for each group on how to use this book:

Aspiring filmmakers:If you are brand new to video production and

have never written a script, used a video camera, or edited video

footage, you should use this book in conjunction with one or more

books on video production and postproduction. This book will help

you conceive your series, develop your characters, write a pilot

script, and plan the key elements necessary for production, such

as casting, finding locations, and making a shot list and shooting

schedule, and will guide you through the creative choices and

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

xi

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

8/20

xii CREATE YOUR OWN TV SERIES FOR THE INTERNET / BROWNprocess of editing. This book will also help you market your show

and yourself. What you will need to consult other books about are

the nuts and bolts of using the camera, sound, and editing equip-

ment. Appendix of this book contains lists of suggested books

to help you with technical instruction in these areas.

University film, video, and media instructors:If you teach at the col-lege level, this book is organized not just as a textbook but as a

kit for teaching your course. At the end of each chapter there is a

For Teachers page with suggested assignments and techniques for

reinforcing that chapters concepts. Appendix contains the syllabi

and a week-by-week breakdown of the two Byte-Sized Television

courses that I teach at Chapman Universitys Dodge College of Film

and Media Arts. During the first semester each student pitches a

concept and characters, then writes a script for a - to -minute

web series pilot. I select two of the scripts to be shot and edited

(assigning crew positions such as director, producer, director of

photography, and editor to the students whose scripts were not

selected for production). Then in Semester , the students write,

shoot, and edit three additional episodes of each series based on

the pilot.

Middle and high school teachers:Just like university instructors, youcan also use the assignments and tips contained in the For Teach-

ers page at the end of each chapter and the schedule and week-

by-week breakdown in my syllabi. In addition, for your students

completely new to writing for the screen, Appendix contains a

simple and effective tutorial on screenplay format.

Experienced filmmakers:If youre an experienced writer, you can usethe chapters on writing less as instruction and more as a stimulant

to your creative process. What may be new and more useful to you

are the sections on preproduction, production, postproduction, and

marketing. Similarly, if you are a pro at production, you can skim

that section and focus more on learning about writing character,

structure, dialogue, and so on.

Actors:This book can open your eyes to the writing, production, and

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

9/20

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK xiiipostproduction processes in a big way. Learning the other parts of

the filmmaking process will make you a better actor and can reveal

to you other talents you have and lead to work opportunities in the

film business you hadnt previously considered.

Businesses looking to create branded content:Though it may betempting to skip ahead to Chapter Fourteen (which is devoted

specifically to business uses of web series), I urge you to read the

other material as well. The principles of effective storytelling and

the creation of memorable characters apply not only to fictional

comedies and dramas but to the stories businesses want to tell

about themselves and their brands.

Finally, I hope everyone has FUN. Use the book to expand your imagi-

nation. Use it to increase your creativity. Use it to motivate the part of you

that is dying to express yourself but doesnt quite know how to get started.

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

10/20

The first edition of this book came out in February , and it has been

a great success. I measure success not only by the number of copies sold

but also by the ways in which the book is helping those whove read it.

It has been adopted as a text in web series classes at major film schools

across the country (Chapman University, Loyola Marymount University,

and Emerson College, to name a few) and around the world, including

film schools in South Africa, Singapore, and China. The instructors have

been uniformly enthusiastic about the book and how it has helped their

students make better web series.

Independent filmmakers have been equally generous with their praise.

At book signings and panels where Ive appeared in Los Angeles, Chicago,

Marseille, and elsewhere, Ive been overwhelmed and gratified by the num-

ber of people whove come up to me to say, Thank you for writing this

book. Its just what I needed to help me make my web series. And one of

my proudest moments came when my writing and teaching colleague Bill

Rosenthal, a writer and producer with over years of top-line credits

on shows for ABC, NBC, and HBO who recently wrote and produced the

web series Greetings from Homefor a major new media company, read the

book and said, I wish Id read this before I made my show.

Thats some high praise, having a seasoned pro say he learned a lot

from your book.

So if the first edition was so great, why bother with a second edition?

The simple answer is that in the world of the Internet and Internet TV, a

few years is a very long time. Things move at light speed, are constantly

changing and evolving. And so I felt it was vital for me to update the book

WHY A SECOND EDITION?

xv

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

11/20

xvi CREATE YOUR OWN TV SERIES FOR THE INTERNET / BROWNto keep it as current as possible and as useful as possible for readers. So

the new material in this book includes

Updated examples from new web series to illustrate key concepts

Fresh information on the proliferation of new festivals devoted to

web series

A new section on marketing not only your series but yourself

A new section on animated web series

A brand-new chapter on business uses of web series, a rapidly

growing area of opportunity for businesses and creators alike

A brand-new set of interviews with creators who have advanced

their careers by making web series, professionals who are finding

new creative and financial opportunities in the web series world,

and the founder of the LAWEBFEST, the worlds first festival de-

voted entirely to web series

All this new material is in addition to the tips, guidance, and instruc-

tion already present in the first edition. So if you are new to this book,

welcome. Enjoy the book, and I hope it helps you make great web series.

And if youre a fan of the first edition, welcome back, and thank you for

your continued interest. I hope this new edition helps you make even

better web series than the ones youve already made.

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

12/20

Every writer, producer, network, studio, and cable channel in Hollywood

is spending thousands of hours and millions of dollars trying to figure out

how to connect with the YouTube audience and make a hit web series. But

its a solid bet that the next breakout short-form hit will come not from

Hollywood but from the mind of someone outside the established media

power structure someone like you.

Thats not to say this trailblazer will necessarily be a rank amateur.

Maybe hell be a writer whos been trying to break into network television

but hasnt succeeded yet. Or maybe shell be writing for another medium

that Hollywood or the Internet suddenly discovers (can you say Diablo

Cody?). Or maybe it will be a veteran writer who has been churning out

bland sitcoms for decades, someone seen as over the hill, someone who

throws caution to the wind and creates something totally new and original

because the traditional doors to employment are now slammed in his face

(can you say Marc Cherry, creator of Desperate Housewives?). Or maybe

it will be someone now in film school, or even in high school, who came

of age during the digital era, thinks visually, and intuitively knows what

her peers crave in the way of short video entertainment, in part because

watching short videos is a normal part of her daily experience.

The point is that everybody knows there is a huge, game-changing, hit

web series lurking on the horizon, but nobody knows where it will come

from. They know only that sooner or later, there will be a breakthrough

smash hit in the Internet TV realm, so it might as well come from YOU.

Webisodes are the Wild West of Hollywood, a vast expanse of territory

with unlimited potential just begging to be explored and mined. The ter-

ritory is open to anyone with a dream and the moxie to follow that dream.

PREFACE

xvii

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

13/20

xviii CREATE YOUR OWN TV SERIES FOR THE INTERNET / BROWNYou may strike oil or find gold, or you may end up with a handful of dust.

Either way, the journey will be exciting and rewarding for its own sake. It

will challenge you, expand your creative horizons, and open your eyes and

mind to all kinds of new skills you never knew you had lurking inside.

But before you head out on this quest to create your own Internet TV

series, you need a few vital supplies: some basic equipment and know-

how, a workable series premise, a pilot script, a shooting budget, and shot

list in short, you need a plan.

This book is designed to help you draw up that plan, step by step. You

are HERE. Somewhere on the Internet is a place for a television series cre-

ated by YOU. This book is the map that can lead you from where you are

now a person with a lot of creative ideas in his head but no clear idea

how to turn those buzzing ideas into reality to THERE, the creator of

your own unique and exciting TV series designed for the Web.

I know it can be done because my students at the Dodge College of

Film and Media Arts at Chapman University have been creating innova-

tive, entertaining web series since . You know it can be done because

youve surfed the Net, seen the good, the bad, and the ugly out there, and

said, I can do better than that.

Youre absolutely right. You can do better than most of whats out

there. And you dont need a million-dollar budget or a Hollywood studio

full of equipment to do it. Anyone with a digital camera and an ordinary

computer has all the equipment he needs right now to make a web series.

What you probably dont have is exposure to the thought process

involved in taking a raw idea for a short-form TV show and shaping that

vague notion into a clear premise, defined characters, a story to introduce

those characters in an engaging way, and the professional know-how to

take that story through production and postproduction and end up with

a polished and marketable pilot episode.

Make no mistake: It wont be easy. You cant just slap together some

half-baked notion, grab a camera, and point it randomly at things that

strike you as interesting or funny. Thats just video masturbation. All

you end up with, as Mike Judge suggests in his film Idiocracy, is a show

called Ow! My Balls!

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

14/20

PREFACE xixYou may also need some help understanding the best way to market

your web TV series that is, the best way to let the audience know what

youve created and get them interested in watching your new TV show.

Simply posting something on YouTube is not enough. The Internet is a

cacophony of voices screaming, Watch me! Watch me! You have to find

ways to make your voice, and your web series, stand out from the crowd.

A great series concept and superior execution are only good first steps.

But to get the eyeballs to your show, youll need to apply a little Web .

marketing savvy, which is what Chapter Thirteen is all about: promoting

your series AND yourself.

But if you have a sincere desire to create high-quality humor or drama

in an episodic form for the Internet and to commit the time and energy

necessary for marketing your work, then read on. As my students have

taught me over and over again, there is an unlimited and untapped supply

of fresh, compelling ideas out there begging to find their way to the screen.

This book will help you to tap into that vast reservoir of creativity and

give your ideas form and professional quality. Its the ultimate winwin

situation: You get a shot at creating a hit TV show for the Internet, and

we, the millions of daily consumers of short-form Internet videos, get a

shot at watching something more compelling than Ow! My Balls!

For the sake of all our days and nights, read on and create something

fantastic for all of us to watch.

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

15/20

1

1 WHAT IS A WEBISODE?

Simply put, a webisode is an episode of a television series designed for

distribution over the Internet. It can be comedy like Boys Will Be Girlsor

its companion series, Girls Will Be Boys, or compelling drama like The Ban-

nen Way. It can be live action or animated (see John Woos Seven Brothers),

fiction or reality-based (see Start Something, a social media documentary

series presented by the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization). It can be a

high-budget, intricately filmed sci-fi extravaganza with dazzling special

effects like Sanctuary, which cost . million or approximately ,

per minute, one of the most ambitious projects to date designed for direct

release over the Internet (which later became a cable TV series on the Syfy

channel). Or it can be as low-tech as a static webcam shot in front of a

convenient and free background like your own bedroom. It can be made

purely for entertainment purposes, or it can be branded entertainment

or advertainment, like dozens of web series now produced by Fortune

companies including Kraft, Toyota, and Anheuser-Busch who hope

that a little entertainment will go a long way toward getting you to buy

their cream cheese, Camrys, and Bud. And the length can be whatever

you choose, from a quick joke (check out the incredibly clever -second

films on YouTube) to however long you can hold the audiences attention.

The key word is series.A webisode (or web episode) is an individual

installment of an ongoing premise with recurring characters. A single,

stand-alone short video say of the hilarious things your cat did after she

lapped up your Jack Daniels on the rocks is NOT a webisode. Neither

is that brilliant spoof of Sex and the Cityyou shot at your grandmothers

retirement home unless you shot a series of short Sex and the Cityspoofs

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

16/20

2 CREATE YOUR OWN TV SERIES FOR THE INTERNET / BROWNwith grandma and her horny pals, in which case we should take the Jack

Daniels away from you and your grandma and give it back to your cat.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SHORT EPISODIC VIDEO ON THE WEB

In the Mel Brooks movie History of the World Part I, Moses (played by

Brooks) descends from a mountaintop lugging three stone tablets chiseled

with commandments from God until Moses trips and drops one of

the holy tablets, shattering it beyond recognition. Having promised

commandments, he covers by swiftly declaring, I bring you ten, tencom-

mandments. Five sacred commandments smashed into a pile of rubble

just like that. Who knows what wisdom was lost? Maybe the missing

commandments said things like Thou shalt not wear spandex after age

or Covet not thy neighbors iPad, for he is a tech dunce and uses it

only to play Spider Solitaire. Your guess is as good as mine. But whatever

moral pearls turned to dust in that moment, Im pretty sure one of the lost

commandments was not Thou shalt make TV shows only in increments

of or minutes.

Since the dawn of the television age in the s, broadcasters have

been prisoners of the clock, confined to airing shows on the hour and

half hour so viewers would know when and where to find them. But the

digital revolution and the Internet have changed all that. More and more,

television and visual entertainment in general are part of an on-demand

world rather than an on-the-hour one. Audiences can now watch what

they want when they want, which, in turn, means that shows no longer

have to be packaged in - or -minute installments.

Its a revolution that has fed on itself. Free from the tyranny of the

/ paradigm, short-form video content in all shapes and sizes has ex-

ploded on the Web. Maybe a show is minutes and seconds long one

time, maybe it runs minutes and seconds the next. Each episode can

be however long it deserves to be.

Audiences, in turn, have responded by changing their viewing hab-

its. Where you used to need at least half an hour to watch your favorite

comedy, now you might be able to catch two or three episodes of it in less

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

17/20

WHAT IS A WEBISODE? 3than minutes. Office workers now schedule video breaks rather than

coffee breaks, boosting their energy and outlook by guzzling down a few

short comedy videos for free instead of a double espresso caramel latte

for bucks. Or maybe you choose to watch a few webisodes on the bus

or the train on your smartphone or tablet.

Never before have viewers had so many choices. And never before

have creators had so much latitude on the length and type of content

they can make.

In truth, short-form episodic film series have been around since well

before the days of television, some even coming during the silent movie

era. Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Buster Keaton all created one-

reelers, popular early predecessors to todays web series shot on film and

exhibited in theaters across the country right alongside the newsreel and

the feature presentation. In the animated realm, the Looney Tunes shorts

come to mind. But the equipment and processing necessary to make

even a -minute film back then were so expensive that only profession-

als could afford to make these shorts. And even if an amateur had the

funds and imagination to produce a clever short film, distribution was

controlled by the major Hollywood studios, which also owned the the-

aters and had no intention of allowing the competition to cut into their

lucrative monopoly.

The advent of lightweight and affordable video cameras by the early

s made it possible for millions to shoot their own videos. But most of

these home videos were unedited, handheld footage of family vacations or

childrens birthday parties, usually narrated by your dad or Uncle Johnny:

Here we are at little Billys second birthday party. Heres Billy eating cake.

Here he is opening his presents. And heres little Billy pulling down his

pants and relieving himself in the garden. As much as you (and, years

later, big Billy) wish Dad had done a little judicious editing, that equip-

ment was still bulky and prohibitively expensive during the first home

video era. And distribution venues remained unavailable to those outside

the media power elite.

The digital and Internet revolution of the s changed all this. Sud-

denly, you didnt need a , flatbed machine to edit your video.

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

18/20

4 CREATE YOUR OWN TV SERIES FOR THE INTERNET / BROWNYour average home computer could handle the task. Video cameras were

cheaper than ever, required no more technical expertise than a flashlight,

and were increasingly capable of producing a high-quality video image.

Best of all, high-speed broad-band connections meant that inexpensive

and easy distribution on the Web was just a mouse-click away for millions

of amateur video enthusiasts.

However, there was still one small problem for amateur video mak-

ers dying to show the world their wares: How would the audience know

where to find your video on the Internet?

Enter YouTube. Founded by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed

Karim, three former employees of the Silicon Valley firm PayPal, the web-

site had a simple but powerful concept: Users could post and view any

type of video, professional or amateur, on this one-stop shopping site. It

was like one giant short-video multiplex, and anyone in the world could

hop from theater to theater for free, without ever leaving the comfort of

their own laptop.

The first YouTube video was posted on April , . It was called Me

at the Zoo no explanation of content necessary and ran all of nineteen

seconds. You can view it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXACIVRw.

By November, the site had , viewers watching million short vid-

eos per day, even though the site was still in its experimental beta phase.

December , marked YouTubes official debut. Within a month

users were watching an astonishing million videos per day. By July

, that number topped million, with , new videos being

uploaded daily. As of early , YouTube had a mind-boggling mil-

lion unique users per month watching more than billion hours of video

during each month.

Though much of the early content was either clips from ordinary broad-

cast and cable television or amateur silliness like teenagers lip-syncing

to pop songs, the popularity of the site and promise of a ready audience

opened the Internet floodgates for well-crafted content in episodic form.

Among the early webisode hits launched on YouTube was lonelygirl, a

serialized webcam confessional of a lonely teenage girl. Though the series

was presented as if the title character made the videos herself, it was soon

revealed that lonelygirlwas not an authentic teenage video diary but a

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

19/20

WHAT IS A WEBISODE? 5carefully scripted show starring an actress named Jessica Rose created by

aspiring filmmakers who saw this new Internet venue as a way to make a

name for themselves in the film business. Despite the deception and the

fact that the public soon knew it was all professionally scripted, the series

remained popular on YouTube and led to the creation of another series in

a similar webcam diary format called KateModern.

Another early web series success was Sam Has Friends, created by a

group that called themselves Big Fantastic. These aspiring video makers

saw the world of short-form Internet TV not as a stepping stone to other

film opportunities but an art form to be mastered in and of itself. Sam Has

Friendspremiered on YouTube, Revver, iTunes, and its own website on

August , . It hooked viewers with the simple slogan, Samantha

Breslow has friends. On December , , one of them will kill her.

Each of the episodes brought Samantha one day closer to death. It was

compelling Internet television, a serialized thriller with new material

and clues made available a bit at a time day by day, and its audience grew

steadily as word spread.

Suddenly, amateur and professional content exploded across the Web.

The webisode revolution was on, and it was televised over the Internet.

YouTube had become the fourth most popular Internet site in the world

and an integral part of the publics daily vocabulary, like Google or texting.

Those under , especially, were so comfortable with capturing, editing,

and posting video online that millions now thought they could create

videos as easily as they could send e-mail.

The public hunger to consume short video was not lost on the profes-

sional world. If millions of eyeballs were leaving broadcast television in

favor of short video on the Internet, then Hollywood, the networks, and

the rest of the global media establishment wanted to find a way to recap-

ture those valuable eyeballs.

Global media giant Sony Pictures Entertainment jumped in, creating a

site called Grouper (later known as Crackle) that billed itself as a multi-

platform video entertainment network and studio that distributes the

hottest emerging talent on the Web and beyond. By the site featured

original web series right alongside much of Sonys library of traditional

sitcoms, dramas, and feature films, a testament to the growing reality that

7/27/2019 Create Your Own TV Series for The Internet Sample PDF

20/20

6 CREATE YOUR OWN TV SERIES FOR THE INTERNET / BROWNtodays audience, especially the younger part of it, makes fewer distinc-

tions between movies, TV, and the Internet. If something is entertaining

and compelling, theyll watch it. If not, they wont.

Disney launched Stage Digital Media, a division dedicated to gener-

ating original online-only content. It debuted with a series called Squee-

gees, about window washers, created by a Los Angeles group known as

Handsome Donkey.

Traditional broadcast networks like ABC, CBS, and NBC, which at first

cursed Internet video as the enemy (just as the major movie studios had

cursed broadcast television as the enemy in the early days of TV), quickly

realized Internet video was here to stay, and they needed to be part of it.

They made full episodes of their shows available online and soon discovered

that rather than decreasing their overall audience, Internet availability of

series expanded their reach. They also created original short-form webi-

sodes for shows like The Office and .

Established filmmakers loved the creative spirit of Internet video and

dove into the webisode pool as well (though they stuck to using their real

names instead of cool monikers like Big Fantastic and Handsome Donkey).

Oscar-winning directors Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men,

Fargo, The Big Lebowski) committed to produce short features for Frames,

a company run by former UTA Online head Brent Weinstein with an ambi-

tious production slate. Charlies Angelsdirector McG was hired by Warner

Bros. to create a series called Sorority Foreverfor The WB. Will Ferrell and

other established stars contribute Internet videos to a site called Funny

or Die. Successful writer, producer, and director Jerry Zucker (Airplane!,

The Naked Gun movie series, Ghost) went so far as to form a new company,

National Banana, with a soundstage and postproduction facilities and staff

dedicated to creating online content.

Though A-list players were storming the Internet video world in droves,

Hollywood also recognized that this new form demanded a new reservoir

of creative inspiration and energy. Major Hollywood talent agencies like

Creative Artists Agency and UTA formed divisions dedicated to finding

new Internet talent, both in front of and behind the camera. These new

agency divisions also sought to develop online opportunities for estab-

lished mainstream clients who wanted to work in this exciting new realm.