Lots of folks have ask us why we made "Pink" into a web series instead of a traditional TV show or a feature film.
The obvious answer is that it's very, very difficult to get a TV show on the air as an independent production - and the same goes for feature films - very challenging to get films distributed. Oh, and not to mention, VERY expensive.
But the not so obvious answer is that web series are THE FUTURE. We don't look at the Internet as a red-headed step child to television or film. We look at the Internet as a THIRD MEDIUM. Of course the lines definitely blur here. You can download an episode of "Lost" or download many feature films these days and watch them on your computer. So in that respect the mediums sort of combine into one (which is what we believe the future of watching shows will be - heck, it's already getting there now - think Apple TV or Tivo's partnership with Amazon Unboxed where you can download movies from Amazon to your Tivo).
However, what we're talking about is ORIGINAL CONTENT made exclusively for a web-based audience (and/or mobile devices like iPods and cell phones). This point is important. We created "Pink" as a true short form show. It was written in roughly three-minute "webisodes" that together tell the entire story through a serialized format. This was NOT a TV pilot or movie we "chopped" up into segments and release online. There's nothing wrong with doing this by the way, but it's just not the way we did it on this project. This was created as an original web series.
The other extremely cool thing about producing a web series versus a traditional show on TV (or movie) is that it can be released to the audience much quicker, and on a world-wide scale almost instantly (in only a few short months we've had rougly 3 million viewers). Also, the producers (us) are not dependent on a distributor to release the show. This is very liberating. This puts a lot of control in the content creator's hands. And it really democratizes the entire filmmaking process.
Of course to succeed you need to make money, and that's where we are right now with "Pink". What is the best way to monetize our show and keep the series going? We'll let you know how it works out...
In the meantime, please tell a friend about the show! :)
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Why A Web Series?
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8 comments:
Currently the show is only available in English with no subtitles. We do expect to offer subtitled versions though in the future. Italy might be first as that territory has expressed interest.
Hi, Blake.
Considering monetizing Pink:
I wonder if the iPod appearing in "The Big Date" webisode was a free product placement, or it was sponsored by Apple, or you had to pay Apple to shoot iPod?
Were there any other brands in the webisodes that i didn't notice?
Do you think it is possible an feasible to monetize Pink webisodes by seamlessly placing some brands and products the fans of Pink identify with?
Thanks.
Dimvidim
Sorry, i meant iPhone of course.
Thanks for your comment.
The iPhone was not a paid product placement. One of the crew happened to have just bought one and so we used it. Actually didn't mean to show the Apple logo quite so much... :)
We definitely considered product placement in the beginning, but since the show was an unknown entity we didn't have much leverage. However, now that it has built an audience we have some potential sponsors approaching us along with some potential product placement deals.
So in the end, yes, we are very much looking at product placement and very likely pre-roll or post-roll advertisements.
Greeting Blake Calhoun,
If possible I would like to ask you some questions about marketing. I am involved with a new webseries(content very different then yours) and need assistance getting it out there. You guys have done an excellent job. Your project looks great. If you are open to speaking, please email me at zodiv0@gmail.com
We'd be greatly appreciative if you could give us a little advice.
Thank a bunch and good luck with the show.
D
Hi Zodiv-
Thank you for watching the series and thank you for the comments. I'm happy to answer some marketing questions. Would you be open to sharing them here on the blog so others might benefit too?
Hi Blake,
I really enjoy your blog. I too am a big believer in web content that can stand on it's own two feet. That's why I set out to create "Get A Clue", a serialized comedy/mystery web series. We wrote 50 3-minute episodes. So far we've shot 10, but we're hoping to shoot the next 40 soon. I have the same question that Zodiv has below: we made it through the production stage & now we need some serious advice on marketing. If you're open to it, I would love to get some advice on marketing "Get A Clue". Thanks in advance for any and all help!
Thanks,
Jill
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