Neil Patrick Harris at the 1st Annual Streamy Awards
This is another guest editorial on Tubefilter News, which serves as a complement to our last guest article, “Confessions of Indie Web Series Creators: Things They Wish They Knew.” This time we have Steve Hein, a veteran web producer and the Vice-President of Digital and Short Form Content at 20th Century Fox Television. We convinced him to share some advice from his vantage point as an executive at one of the Big Six.
1. Don’t make cheaper television. Recognize that the web requires a different kind of storytelling. Making cheaper, shorter versions of things that look like TV is a recipe for disaster. Tackle interesting subjects in interesting ways. TV is already online. How is a cheaper shorter version more competitive or compelling?
2. Don’t program like television. Digital viewing is not appointment viewing. There is no rule as far as length or format so creators should embrace this.
3. Know about destinations and monetization. Most sites produce their video content not to make profit but to differentiate a website within a crowded space. The job of a studio is to create value from intellectual property several different ways. Think about how your show will have more than one revenue stream. And please know the difference between sponsorship, branded entertainment, and brand integration.
4. Don’t produce too many episodes. Online audiences are finicky. They are constantly looking for something new. Don’t believe that you can keep their interest in something for several weeks or months. Program content in event bursts. If success is found, produce a new “season.” (The exception to this is news/lifestyle programming. Audiences do build relationships around these subjects and will check back often if not daily.)
5. Don’t neglect marketing/promotion. Viral promotion is the exception, not the rule. Know how to channel something if it goes viral, but don’t plan on something going viral as your promotion plan. Rather than waiting for an audience to discover a show, build up your audience through connection and interaction before it premieres.
6. Casting and execution are critical. People think their friends are funny, attractive and/or talented. Often they are not (unless you’re friends with Neil Patrick Harris and/or Felicia Day). It doesn’t matter if it is TV, film or the web. A great deal of care and effort has to be placed on putting the right people in-front of (and behind) the camera.
7. Create unique entertainment experiences. As pointed out is Lesson 1, embrace the interactivity of the web to build community, engage the audience and grow a relationship with the viewer. Why does this show or concept have to be made for digital rather than other formats? “Because I tried to sell it as a TV or feature script and nobody bought it” isn’t the right answer.
8. Have a point of view/voice. This lesson is ubiquitous to all formats – web, print, film, TV, etc. A unique point of view with a compelling story is the most important thing a storyteller brings to the table.
9. Targeting is essential. Know your audience and know how to reach them. The online landscape is far more expansive then the number of channels on a cable box. There is no scarcity of video options online. Embrace the internet’s ability to find and target a very specific audience.
10. Redefine your market. The audience for digital is bigger than the audience that is online watching web video. Give audiences a way to discover your show off-net. Make them go online for your show.
Steven Hein is the Vice-President of Digital and Short Form Content at 20th Century Fox. He produced his first web series, Go Sick!, for Atom in 1999. Since then he has produced a number of web-based stand-alone shorts and series including Reebok’s Terry Tate: Office Linebacker, 30 Days of Night: Blood Trails, and 30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust. He was honored at the HBO’s 2001 US Comedy Arts Festival for having “delivered short films that set the standard and displaying a remarkable eye for material and directing talent.”
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Thanks, Steven, for taking the time to put this together – it’s great to hear from someone at the other end of the scale! I’m sure we’re all looking to your experience so that we can enjoy your success ;)
#7 – I would add that another wrong answer is “because I want my show to be discovered by a network and re-purposed for TV.” We’ve seen how well that’s worked…why are people still doing it? Keep web series on the web!
Great points, Steven. I often plead with web series creators not to simply mimic TV, but harness the interactivity of the medium to create intimate one-to-one connections with viewers. There are vast possibilities for bringing characters and storyworlds to life via the web, and delivering compelling, immersive experiences is the true distinction from tube TV that has yet to be fully explored by online content creators.
The other point I think it critical for producers to take note of is targeting and cultivating a niche rather than chasing the mainstream. Attempting to create a show that will appeal to the millions of online viewers is an impossible feat, and a wasted effort. Instead, building communities around specific niches forges emotional relationships that create long-term affinity and open up new opportunities for extending your content in meaningful ways.
Last, I think it’s important to note that the unconstrained framework of the web allows you to take more chances and creative risks than you would be able to do in a traditional studio environment. Explore unchartered territory and don’t be afraid to try something new. You can gauge response quickly and optimize to viewer wants and needs. Nothing is set in stone online, so embrace its iterative nature and find innovative ways to deliver relevant and memorable experiences for users.
Gennefer
http://www.twitter.com/Gennefer
On the one hand, articles like this are great for those just getting there feet wet. On the other hand, I really don’t feel like any of this should be news.
March 20, 2007: lonelygirl15 IceBreakers Sour Gum product placement
June 19, 2007: lonelygirl15 reaches a deal with Neutrogena to brand a character as an employee of the company.
January 9, 2008: StrikeTV has it’s first meeting
August 20, 2008: 1st Tubefilter Meetup (anniversary coming up!)
I’ll give the devil it’s due, in terms of interactivity, brand integration and product placement lonelygirl15 was the pioneer. The question is, how come no one has taken it to the next level? I think the answer is, we have. Those of us who live on the internet, who know the audience and the history of web shows, who have been active in the content creating community have. What happened was the traditional media types caught up when the writer’s strike happened. They were established enough to attract “names” to their projects and had previous contacts to get them made.
There are great shows out there, we just can’t get in front of the suits that need to see them. Gennifer, I’ve been following you on twitter maybe that is your job. If so, great! I’d love to talk to you. But I don’t think people who do what you do were around a year ago. That is where the disconnect is. There is a lot of crap out there but that’s because the crap is what is getting in front of the suits not because shows don’t know what they need to deliver.
(ahh it was good to get that off my chest!)
Thank you! That’s a wonderful article, Steven! I’ve discovered that casting is one of my the important parts of a good series, whether on the web or TV. If the audience is attracted to the characters, or really likes them- they will be back on a regular basis to spend time with them- whether watching the videos, or looking at pictures.
I would love to read an article on the differences between sponsorships, branded entertainment, and branded integration. Could you write that next? There’s so much to learn there! Elena (creator/ producer of Life After Lisa)
YES, YES, YES!!! Great points, Steven! You’re comments about not doing web productions like TV are especially spot on, in my humble opinion. And casting really is far harder than most people appreciate (we learned THAT lesson in the trenches). Thanks for sharing.
Druu from Bite Me TV
I couldn’t agree more… cause if you don’t do those things, just make a indie feature film or tv pilot! The web has many plus sides, and down sides, the best way to make it work is to use the plus sides for your advantage! Interactivity. Broad Distribution. Etc… Etc…
These are all great points. But I’d just like to add that I prefer to be entertained above all else. I don’t really care how interactive a web series may be, if it doesn’t capture my attention, I’m not going to be interacting with it at all, even if it is unique to the web.
Dan
Anthony – I agree with you that these points are more a primer for those new to web TV and also agree that there are some great examples of quality web shows. But I do think Steven’s points serve as good remedial information for those already in the space as, other than a select few, I’m not seeing much breakthrough interactivity from a majority of web series. In most cases, they’re mini versions of traditional TV shows (with lower production value) that leave viewers wanting more.
The beauty of online programming is that it is virtually without limits in terms of what you deliver to your audience. You’re not bound by set schedules, studio politics or creative constratints. And with the ability to engage directly with viewers, there’s an interactive element that tube TV could never compete with… yet I’m not seeing those avenues explored. There’s something missing, and I think it’s the difference between pushing a webisode vs. drawing viewers into an experience (and giving them additional pull features to keep them coming back for more).
Just like networks have built umbrella brands around their programs, web series creators need to go further than just the video aspect and create companion content and extended viewing engagements that augment the experience and add entertainment value beyond a short webisode. You will never be able to sustain an audience in the long-term giving them only 3-minute snippets at a time. But a living, breathing experience that makes viewers part of the story is only bound by how far their imagination will take them.
If you give users a storyworld they can interact in, they’ll continue to create new experiences within the context of their own lives over time. And your show/characers become the nexus of those experiences and builds the type of affinity that increases visibility, creates demand, attracts sponsors/brands and brings distribution and revenue opportunities.
Gennifer, I don’t disagree with what we aren’t seeing or what we should see. What I’m trying to delve into is why we aren’t seeing it. Again, the content creators who really have their heads in this space are aware of the shows that have come before them. Even if they weren’t TV is watched in your living room, there is no real mechanism for interaction other than shouting back at the screen. Web shows are watched at your desk in front of a monitor or a laptop where your keyboard also sits screaming at you to interact somehow. It seems to be common sense that a content creator be aware of the difference. I’ll do you one better say a show existed that promoted an intense interactive experience, where would it live? How many distributions outlets have zero social networking or even a commenting system?
I guess I’m biased but I’m still going with content creators on this one. I think the shows are out there. A question often asked by content creators to agents, advertisers, sponsors etc is, how do we get on your radar? In fact it was asked at a panel at itvf just the other day. The answer? A combination of agents, referrals and being discovered on the internet. Not 5 minutes later the panel said brands before to work with a content creator as early as possible in the process before launch. Well, if you want to work with a brand pre-launch then your pilot/show isn’t online to be discovered or referred to. And if your show is online your probably too far into the process to be attractive to a brand. Interesting catch-22 don’t you think?
Oh great, now they tell us. ;-)
http://www.daveandtom.com/safetygeeks.html
http://www.daveandtom.com/invention.html
Nice list. We should all appreciate this effort, and kudos to Fox for caring and sharing. Reaching out to new media producers like this is a smart practice I’ve come to appreciate. I want to highlight #3 as critical. But, I was surprised by #1 & #2. I think the jury is still out on the first two on this list. Let’s look at Angel Of Death and Sanctuary– Two highly successful genre series. The structure of those shows carried them from the web into the cable networks with lucrative deals. And if you consider ‘creativity’ as a fundamental, then the merit of the written and performed material will ultimately attract an audience. Wasn’t that apparent in this year’s upfronts? So in that case, when it comes to competing with TV programmers… Game’s on. But #1 on the list did alert me to something I might not be seeing and my nose is on the grindstone. And I’m almost convinced #2 on the list is subjective. I agree, the internet doesn’t function on a TV programming schedule. However, I can’t exclude the fact I eagerly waited for every Friday earlier this year when Faustino was uploading new webisodes of his series. And each week, you could see his astonishment in the comments section as his show grew an audience (an anomaly of #5, which I agree with). TV schedules work on TV schedules, but people work on their schedules. So the audience is more likely to be available certain times throughout the day if you study the demo and it would be an advantage to analyze this data like you would if you were trying to hit your target at Fox Broadcasting. If you are creating a web series about dating, for example, you might want to show new webisodes on weekend nights when people who aren’t dating are surfing the web. So maybe producers could embrace TV methodologies and succeed, however, they shouldn’t restrict themselves as Hein pointed out.
Thanks for posting, Guest Author. I love your poems, by the way. Just my 2c.
Quick question folks: how should a writen pitch for a web series be written? How many pages, should it include a sample script (or just story lines), story arch (this is hard for ideas that are very comic with no returning line), character description. We just filmed a pilot that turned out great, with stars attatched (and in the pilot), and now we are ready to begin pitching, but at a loss as how to structure it, as we are more used to pitching movies and we are not in hollywood. . . none of our friends have pitched web series before! check us out at http://www.santelmoproductions.com and http://filminginargentina.wordpress.com (news and our current projects)
“I often plead with web series creators not to simply mimic TV, but harness the interactivity of the medium to create intimate one-to-one connections with viewers. There are vast possibilities for bringing characters and storyworlds to life via the web, and delivering compelling, immersive experiences is the true distinction from tube TV that has yet to be fully explored by online content creators.”
Maddison Atkins ( http://www.maddisonatkins.com has done all that and more and yet the show still has not taken off. Why?
All this seems a bit academic at this point. What has actually worked?
Let’s take a look at KateModern. First you had the amazing Joanna Shields. She had the massive marketing power of a social network to throw behind KateModern. Then she had the skills and contacts to pre-sell product placements to advertisers (what you sell does not need to be a product placement, but the key here is that you need someone like Joanna who can pitch a concept in a way the advertiser has faith you can deliver on views).
With potential audience and money in hand they produced a reasonably good web series with a modest amount of interactivity. Now interactivity is fun but lets get real. In most cases it is not scalable to a huge audience and it will do little to market your show. That may change in the future but right now tell me a show that has become a hit because of interactivity. That said, if you can afford it do not shy away from it because there are always niche followers who will really enjoy it.
What you are seeking to do is provide an entertaining web series. How you build an audience without a social network behind you is the million dollar question. Harpers Globe had only modest views and that had a weekly TV commercial. The Guild did reasonably well thanks to Felicia but even they are using the power of MSN to promote their show. None of this is easy and to pretend their is any secret sauce is just not realistic.
Great article, Steven. I’m happy (and relieved) to say we took into consideration a lot of what you talk about before/during the production of our latest comedy series “Whorified!” We haven’t had a bad review yet but the marketing has proven to be the hardest part. Alas, we’re actively working to make sure lots more people “get Whorified!”
Keep on truckin!
Ann Marie Lindbloom
AcuteTV
Co-creator of “Whorified!”
http://www.funnyordie.com/whorified
Great article Steven.
Denton Rose http://dentonrose.com-from the creator of Ernest along with the executive producer of the original Fast and the Furious.
I started my web show almost two years ago. It definitely didn’t mimic TV, but I sure wish I knew more about monetization when I started out. At the time I started, success was still all about getting on the home page of YouTube and having a MySpace page. Boy have things changed in such a very short amount of time.
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