series The Future of Web Series?

[Kholi]

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.

Right. There are a lot of them out there. Take RED VERSUS BLUE for example (or is it RED and Blue? Can't remember). That's a Microsoft sanctioned production and I've heard their operation's pretty huge now.

Crowd-funding's a good source, but the smaller the idea or the less familiar, the less money you get from your wide audience.

On crowdfunding, go to Kickstarter and search: Freddie Wong... thay've raised over 100K for their new web series, which is narrative and video game related. It's crazy.

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.

60K's nothing to scoff at, at all. I think crowdfunding's a GREAT avenue, if you can get it to that level.

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.

I think part of my own issue is that I can't ask people to work for points. I'd rather do that on a feature, which is more potential to actually recoup something. And, the points system just doesn't exist in web space.

We were looking at a 13 Episode Season (Once a week for three months, and then a longer finale) to push, and right now I've only got a thirty-thousand dollar budget I could pull for that. The budget was along the lines of 4000 an episode (production and post--sound design, color, etc), so 50 is the magic number.

May very well start with 20K, shoot out the entire sequence with a promise to pay once we raise the remaining 30, and start crowd-funding as well.

Are you working on original content, Cameron? Or, something IP based?

By the way, we ran across your Google+ post on Superseeds, thank you for sharing it!

 

[cameronchapman]

I think part of my own issue is that I can't ask people to work for points. I'd rather do that on a feature, which is more potential to actually recoup something. And, the points system just doesn't exist in web space.

We were looking at a 13 Episode Season (Once a week for three months, and then a longer finale) to push, and right now I've only got a thirty-thousand dollar budget I could pull for that. The budget was along the lines of 4000 an episode (production and post--sound design, color, etc), so 50 is the magic number.

May very well start with 20K, shoot out the entire sequence with a promise to pay once we raise the remaining 30, and start crowd-funding as well.

Are you working on original content, Cameron? Or, something IP based?

By the way, we ran across your Google+ post on Superseeds, thank you for sharing it!

I guess I feel kind of like a web series has an equal chance of making money as an indie feature, because the market is less saturated. I'm also looking at working with other people who don't have a ton of experience (I'm hoping I can tap into the TV arts majors at my local state college for some positions), so will be willing to work for points (and I'm also hoping I can come up with money to at least cover transportation and catering).

The content is original, but it's based on two very well-known tropes, that have hardly ever been combined (there are two examples I could find, one is a novel and one is a recent movie). I'm actually hoping to turn it into an entire franchise, with novels or short stories, web series, graphic novels, maybe a feature or some longer shorts, etc. And lots of opportunity for merchandising (which also seems to be a good money-maker for web series). After the first season, I'd hope to be able to raise enough funds to pay everyone on the cast and crew a decent wage.

I thought about doing a longer season, but I feel like 6 is going to be ambitious enough, and asking people to work for free for longer than that would be tough. Right now I'm guesstimating a budget of around $5,000 for all 6 episodes (though it could probably be done for less), so anything raised above that would start going toward paying people, even if it's just a token payment. And it's also going to require asking for a TON of favors from people/businesses to try to get things for free. I'll keep everyone posted on how that goes...

 

[Kholi]

I guess I feel kind of like a web series has an equal chance of making money as an indie feature, because the market is less saturated. I'm also looking at working with other people who don't have a ton of experience (I'm hoping I can tap into the TV arts majors at my local state college for some positions), so will be willing to work for points (and I'm also hoping I can come up with money to at least cover transportation and catering).

It is kinda oversaturated, though. If you haven't gone to WebseriesNetwork, take a look over there. He runs a nice little website that amortizes a lot of web series data. EVERYONE is doing a web series. Teresa, the producer on Superseeds, was cast in three this past year, one of which has seriously high production values.

Mostly, the trick is to spend nothing or spend money you don't have to earn back. That's why Kickstarting works out so well. You just deliver the series and you're done.

The content is original, but it's based on two very well-known tropes, that have hardly ever been combined (there are two examples I could find, one is a novel and one is a recent movie). I'm actually hoping to turn it into an entire franchise, with novels or short stories, web series, graphic novels, maybe a feature or some longer shorts, etc. And lots of opportunity for merchandising (which also seems to be a good money-maker for web series). After the first season, I'd hope to be able to raise enough funds to pay everyone on the cast and crew a decent wage.

Definitely ideal. It's as much work as a feature, with less potential to return or make anything at all. You need to be set in the 10M views mark to even start getting anywhere on anything, and have a life-long venture.

Sounds like you've got an idea you're confident in, though.

I thought about doing a longer season, but I feel like 6 is going to be ambitious enough, and asking people to work for free for longer than that would be tough. Right now I'm guesstimating a budget of around $5,000 for all 6 episodes (though it could probably be done for less), so anything raised above that would start going toward paying people, even if it's just a token payment. And it's also going to require asking for a TON of favors from people/businesses to try to get things for free. I'll keep everyone posted on how that goes...

Good stuff.

If you can do something for that amount and be safe doing it, that's pretty sick. I wish I had something smaller, and I do, but I can't justify spending my time or money on it knowing it won't get huge numbers and really catch eyes.

It's pretty obvious, I think ,but I envy Freddie Wong: when Jon Favreau shows up in your youTube video.. you know people are paying attention.

 

[cameronchapman]

Sounds like you've got an idea you're confident in, though.

Good stuff.

If you can do something for that amount and be safe doing it, that's pretty sick. I wish I had something smaller, and I do, but I can't justify spending my time or money on it knowing it won't get huge numbers and really catch eyes.

My biggest issue at this point is finding a main location. The good news is that I can be somewhat flexible on exactly where it is, and could even build some kind of set (though obviously that would increase the budget). My goal at the moment is to find a sympathetic commercial/industrial property owner who might be willing to let us film in their basement on weekends...

 

[trueindie]

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.

How did Freddie Wong do it. I like his stuff, but the material doesn't seem viral, and so I don't understand the huge following. I know why I follow it, its good and I learn from watching his stuff. But I was under the impression that such audience was limited.

Is there any other way to explain his numbers?

 

[cameronchapman]

How did Freddie Wong do it. I like his stuff, but the material doesn't seem viral, and so I don't understand the huge following. I know why I follow it, its good and I learn from watching his stuff. But I was under the impression that such audience was limited.

Is there any other way to explain his numbers?

See, I get the exact opposite feeling from his stuff: that a lot of it does have the potential to be viral. All viral means is that it's something a lot of people want to pass along to their friends/network. His stuff definitely fits that criteria, it just has more production value than most "viral" content.

He's also been at it a long time (I think it's been around two years since he started on YouTube), and that helps. Pop-culture references contribute, too (like the Cowboys and Aliens scene he did), because people are actively searching for those things.

Also, educational content online is some of the most popular. Look at things like the videos from the TED conferences, and see how incredibly popular they are. And there was that grammar show on YouTube (I can't find it now, or remember what it was called) that was in the top 10 channels at one point (though that might have had a lot to do with the woman hosting it...)

 

[PaulGriffith]

Freddie Wong was one of the first guys doing quality action and effects on YouTube. He also does videos about stuff that's popluar online: video games, cats, etc...

He also gives back to the community a bit with tutorials and such.

His audience is mostly 14 year old boys, but it still gets him somewhere between $80-300k a year off his YouTube partnership and a fanbase willing to donate close to a $100k (or more now?) for a web series.