series The Future of Web Series?

cameronchapman

cameronchapman

The first episode of Dragon Age: Redemption is finally out (it's been in the works for a year and a half), and it's pretty awesome. For those unfamiliar with it, Felicia Day is creating the series for BioWare, as a tie-in to their Dragon Age video games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-093SQo9NWM

This is opening up a new avenue for web series creators to make money. Rather than just creating a web series and then hoping to draw in advertisers, you might have the opportunity to create a specific series for an advertiser. It's like product placement on steroids.

Felicia Day hasn't done things like this in the past (she said she's been approached before, but never felt like the project was something she really wanted to do until now), but she recognized the opportunity when something she was interested in finally came along. And depending on the success of this series, other companies may follow suit. And hiring someone who's already created a successful series makes more sense than trying to do everything from scratch.

Anyway, I'm wondering what everyone else thinks of this kind of model? I realize deals like this are going to be few and far between (at least for now), but I'd wager that finding this kind of deal is at least as attainable as making it as a director or producer in Hollywood (and by "making it" I mean working at it full-time, without supplementary income), and probably more so because there aren't the same kind of gatekeepers in place (yet).
 
This is a much better than average model, as you have direct sponsorship. It also comes with an established license and a built in fan base.

Also, I love Dragon Age.

On the flipside, Machinima had me build them an entire Mass Effect webseries, aired it, and then paid me nothing for it. Their attitude seemed to be that paying content providers was unimportant since everyone was already so lucky to be in with them. When I demanded to start seeing checks, they just stopped airing the episodes. Lost 3 months of my life to those morons.
 
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I'll have to check this out. I love Felicia Day's work (this season of the Guild has been fantastic). Haven't played Dragon Age yet, though I've wanted to. Anything with "dragon" in the title has got my attention ;) Yes, I'm a sad l'il geek!

Absolutely this is one way to get it done, and not dissimilar to how Day has been getting it done. The Guild attracted a sponser, giving her the budget to do what she wanted to. Being commissioned to work on a series is a great move for her; it'd be nice to see more companies do stuff like this. I know Wizards of the Coast commissioned a few pretty neat animated things by the guy who does Brackenwood (by far one of the best Flash animated series online), and lots of companies have done the same with web comic authors. Great to see the video folks getting their turn!

Really, finding any way to get money out of a webseries is fantastic. And, Nate, sorry about your experiences with Machinima. I've known some other people who have dealt with them with similar results.
 
Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC said:
How do web series generate money to keep going?
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The same way TV generates money - through advertisers. You get
advertisers by having something or someone that advertisers feel
will draw viewers; and viewers see ads.

And I think this is the future of web series. Start with a
recognizable product like a video game, or a graphic novel; or a
star actor people want to see. Or both.

The future of web series will follow closely the growth of TV.
When more and more people begin watching, advertisers will take
notice and be willing to pay the creators to reach those eyes and
potential buyers. And web series will follow the path of music
videos. At first they were made by the "creative" people, but as
they became more and more noticed and popular the big money (record
labels and advertisers) soon took over.

What I fear is the future will end up being almost exactly like
current TV and music videos. The big exception being creators will
still be able to post their shows in the web, but all the money
and viewers will go to "name" product. I think the next few years
are critical - content providers and advertisers are open to new
things. A small series that reaches an audience even without names
may get advertisers and money.
 
Ernest Worthing said:
I heard Whedon is planning on doing another webseries as soon as he's done with The Avengers.
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I had heard that! And I had heard the name Warren Ellis thrown around in conjunction! His "Orbiter" is one of my favorite graphic novels. As much as I want to see Avengers, I can't wait until it is finished. I like Whedon's work far more than I like the Avengers.

Thinking for a moment on this topic, are there any good NON-comedy webseries that get attention? Again, I love the Guild and Dr. Horrible, looking forward to JourneyQuest 2 (from the folks who did the Gamers movies...there's more stuff in the pipeline in that world too). But it seems like every series online is trying to be funny. It's like everyone has a paint box, but they only use red.

Maybe sponsored/commissioned series like this could open the door for a serious production to be popular, with the aforementioned established fanbase already in place.
 
If you want to monetize your web series production, you should consider this:

Horror -- there are a few places waiting for someone to do a good horror web series. I won't cite these shingle companies, but they are absolutely enthralled with the idea of a solid horror web series in the vein of MTV's Teen Slasher "Sweet Sixteen" trilogy.

IP Branded -- Like Rik says, Video Game, Comic, so on and so forth. This is the biggest reach for advertisers dollars.

Niche Related -- Strong here, most niche-based content on the web is alright for product selling. Meaning, you're not so much getting money off of the advertisers due to very low views (80-100K) but you're opening up avenues to feed the audience ancillaries or product tie-ins. This is a big one that's about to take off, been in a few meetings about this kind of stuff.

Instructional -- Silly? But, true. There's going to be a direct-to-market pay-to-play instructional web movement within the next two years. This won't be an advertiser's dream, it's a content owner's dream. People pushing their workout regimens are trying to figure out the platform to open it up to .99 per week subscription services, and they'll be putting out a LOT of training videos and extra content at this price.

There are mega corps looking to find a way to push their skin products to the web series market. First hand info, and when they figure it out it's gonna get weird.


At this point, no one is looking for dramatic narrative without genre influence or IP brands attached. You're also going to start seeing a ton of faces in web content, that's another way to monetize the high risk ventures. See: Freddie Wong for examples of this.


Web Series, to me, is not the future, but part OF the future of content available for mass consumption. The bars being set for narrative by series like the Mortal Kombat: Legacy venture and now Dragon Age. Or, on the other side, guys like Freddie Wong and co are pushing the boundaries as to what neurotic little thirty-second stints should be.

Guns, guts, video games, and effects.

Me, personally, I've been attached to the web movement back when Crackle was first being born. The ANGEL OF DEATH series, which was created as a web series but packaged as a feature film at the end. It didn't work out as well as they had hoped, but it set a bit of a precedent for content.

Interesting Fact: Bioware also approached Rainfall Films for the same Dragon Age series and we shot a very quick "example" for them a few years before the Felicia Day series got started. Here's the link: http://www.rainfallfilms.com/

Click the link for DRAGON AGE and it pops up on the right side.

Right now, if I got into web series, I'd have to have a good 50K at the very least to do it right. 30K would be a little hobbled, but passable. I would definitely be doing a very broad niche, one that lives on the internet to begin with with an intent to serve to consoles and VOD, etc.
 
Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC said:
How do web series generate money to keep going?
Click to expand...

You don't generate money at first, at all. You start with a budget and find advertisers who are interested in doing so at the front of your material. More than likely, the advertiser's dollars after any initial contractual payment won't amount to anything unless you're getting Freddie Wong numbers (10M Views a video or more).

The sustainable model is for those who've built an audience (Again, Freddie Wong), those with an obvious and very popular hook, star attachment, etc.

Even The Guild's a struggle to keep going, with its huge fanbase install.
 
If you can't make a great webseries for under $30,000 then you are not being efficient with your money. That is by no way an attack on Kholi though (I think the comments made by Kholi are excellent), just my opinion. :)
 
DeJager said:
If you can't make a great webseries for under $30,000 then you are not being efficient with your money. That is by no way an attack on Kholi though (I think the comments made by Kholi are excellent), just my opinion. :)
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It depends on what you're making. If you spend 30K on something that doesn't look like Mortal Kombat: Legacy's episodes or at least what Wong and Co are doing you're pretty much just burning your money.

If you aren't doing serious content, dont' spend ANY money at all. I think you CAN do a "good" web series for under 30K. Good and Marketable/profitable are different terms, though. Shoot the typical talking heads web series that only small groups are interested in. Even then, though, 10-20K views a video equals like 1.50 in ad revenue.
 
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I totally agree. I'd never spend a dime on a web series that was drama or something boring. I think that the Dragon Age: Redemption webseries looks like it was shot for $1,000 (including wardrobe).
 
Nate North said:
This is a much better than average model, as you have direct sponsorship. It also comes with an established license and a built in fan base.

Also, I love Dragon Age.

On the flipside, Machinima had me build them an entire Mass Effect webseries, aired it, and then paid me nothing for it. Their attitude seemed to be that paying content providers was unimportant since everyone was already so lucky to be in with them. When I demanded to start seeing checks, they just stopped airing the episodes. Lost 3 months of my life to those morons.
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Was payment stipulated in the contract. If it was, then you have the legal right to sue. If it wasn't, then you have nothing to complain about.
 
DeJager said:
I totally agree. I'd never spend a dime on a web series that was drama or something boring. I think that the Dragon Age: Redemption webseries looks like it was shot for $1,000 (including wardrobe).
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Hopefully I dont' come off as rude, but you are way way off the mark on your guesstimate.

WAY off.

Also, if you can do that base level of quality for 1,000 you should probably be out shooting and making a killing.
 
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Oh I know I'm way off on that estimate. It was my point. The webseries looks like crap and that I could have made it for $1,000. An average filmmaker could make this series for way cheaper than I'm sure it actually was made for.

Edit * - and I'm a huge fan of Dragon Age so this is by no means an attack on the actual genre and/or style of the series.
 
DeJager said:
Oh I know I'm way off on that estimate. It was my point. The webseries looks like crap and that I could have made it for $1,000. An average filmmaker could make this series for way cheaper than I'm sure it actually was made for.
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Your stuff looks like that? And you spend less?

Do link me to your work, cause if so, then I've been barking up the wrong tree. I need to hire you instead and just make money that way.
 
Kholi said:
Your stuff looks like that? And you spend less?

Do link me to your work, cause if so, then I've been barking up the wrong tree. I need to hire you instead and just make money that way.
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Yes and Yes.

I just finished up my sci-fi feature this September and once it's released - (in my opinion) it will look better than that.


What I'm saying is that for $30,000 the average filmmaker (excluding ones that are filming in CA since everything is x10 the average price) can make something comparable to that Dragon Age webseries.


But back to the original poster's question...

I agree with what everybody has said. I think these types of web series are a great route. I think Directorik makes a great point that it may turn out like the music video and commercial industry where the big shots end up taking over... who knows?
 
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Another thing that's become common with web series is fan-funding. Fans donate to these series to keep them going, sometimes to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. That's how The Guild got some of their initial funding, after the first few episodes and before the Microsoft and Sprint sponsorships.

Same thing with Journey Quest. The producers initially put up their own money, but then fans donated enough that they were able to recoup everything they'd invested. And now, for season two, they're crowdfunding through Kickstarter and have already exceeded their $60,000 goal, with 45 days left.

I'm in the process of putting together a no-budget web series (looking at 6 10-15 minute episodes at the moment). I'll be crowdfunding for a bit of money (to cover things like insurance and some props), but the goal is to get a group of dedicated people willing to work for points (which will be generous, since there won't be any investors). It should be interesting to see if we can put something together for next to no money that can compete with some of the better-budgeted series online right now.
 
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