Sucessful Cinematic Web Series?

Depends on what you mean by "success" and "cinematic". For the former, I'd definitely point to The Guild, though they're far from the later (awesome though, if you are/know gamers). I don't really watch enough of them to know if anything is out there that's really "cinematic" (well, Brackenwood comes to mind, but that's animation, and a slightly different kettle of fish)
 
ST:OGAM is more of a three part mini series. Interesting that I cant find any DATES on the site to let me know how stale this might be. Copyright 2009 so I guess is not that old.

Good point about what is success. I suppose there are many definitions.
 
This is what I'll say:

I don't watch any webseries and I don't know anyone who does. I'm supposed to be the target demographic. Therefore I cannot believe there is any money to be had in webseries.
 
Depends on what you mean by "success" and "cinematic". For the former, I'd definitely point to The Guild, though they're far from the later (awesome though, if you are/know gamers). I don't really watch enough of them to know if anything is out there that's really "cinematic" (well, Brackenwood comes to mind, but that's animation, and a slightly different kettle of fish)

According to Wikipedia, The Guild has had over 45 million views on YouTube. I have no idea what that would translate to in terms of ad payments.
 
According to Wikipedia, The Guild has had over 45 million views on YouTube. I have no idea what that would translate to in terms of ad payments.

like 30k a year. The only ones that make money on the web with video are aggregators. People who take a revenue share from dozens of channels that size.

Web ads to not pay out well. And companies will cheat you. You are just a name to them. I was severely cheated by Machinima.com.
 
As someone who's in the midst of putting together a web series, I should say that I'm not doing it for the prospect of money. My ultimate goal is to get a modest fan base and body of work to tap when getting funding for other projects.

As far as web series' I watch. I'm definitely a fan of 'Chad Vader'. And it seems to have done pretty well for the filmmakers, you can see the production value go up and up as they use the ad funds to buy better equipment and their crew gets more experienced.

Didn't 'The Whitest Kids You Know' get started as a web series? Or was it just a really short show on IFC? Either way I'm a fan.
 
According to Wikipedia, The Guild has had over 45 million views on YouTube. I have no idea what that would translate to in terms of ad payments.

They get pretty decent sponsorship from Microsoft as well, in exchange for XBox premieres. Again, definitions of success, but having a sponsor seems to be a good way to do it (sort of direct advertising money). They've also spun off into comic books (Dark Horse, relatively mainstream stuff), not exactly a goldmine there either, but some income (and some people do THAT for a living too!) Don't know how their dvd sales are (I know lots of people who have them).

I think for a webseries to really "make it", finding different sources of income is an absolute must.
 
They get pretty decent sponsorship from Microsoft as well, in exchange for XBox premieres. Again, definitions of success, but having a sponsor seems to be a good way to do it (sort of direct advertising money). They've also spun off into comic books (Dark Horse, relatively mainstream stuff), not exactly a goldmine there either, but some income (and some people do THAT for a living too!) Don't know how their dvd sales are (I know lots of people who have them).

I think for a webseries to really "make it", finding different sources of income is an absolute must.

Corporate sponsorship will pay you more than any form of web revenue. Exception, if you can create a beloved character, you can sell a lot of hats and t shirts. On a national level, that's worth some real cash.

@Dreadylocks

I hope you have a great time with your web series. For fun is a good reason to do one. Enjoy!
 
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