Tubefilter Has Ten Lessons For You

Tubefilter should be called Tube U as lately it has been offering lessons on web series from people who are out there making them. (Important as Apple announces its ITunes Studio for original productions) This time, the nuts and bolts advice comes from Steven Hein who is VP of digital and short form content at Fox.

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?

Like maybe it could be good? Surprising? Unusual?

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.

Right. But you have to make destination viewing. Make your show an event. (See: Dr. Horrible, Season Premiere of The Guild). Even if they don't watchit right then - they should know when new episodes are on and running and how easy it is to catch up with the rest of the cool kids.

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.

Plain, old-fashioned business sense that is often lacking in plans for web series (or movies).

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.)

Build enough to release one DVD with added content. That has to be part of your monetization plan. Figure out your "season". When/where is your audience hanging out and receptive?

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.

(See Mercury Men)

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.

It's called creating a "professional product" - it has to have a compelling reason for people to watch. Making a show look good isn't just 'point and shoot.'

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.

Every. Freaking. Webisode there should be something that makes the viewer go, "I can't believe I just saw / heard / felt that." (preferably all three)

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.

Perspective is everything (See Memento)

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.

Find a specific niche within a wide audience. It can't be you are going to do a show to appeal to horror fans. It has to be a show that appeals to zombie fans.

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.

If you are just on the web you are neglecting many people who may become part of your audience. Merchandise helps. Publicity helps. Your job is to make sure everyone who could ever potentially love your series - who would kill their parents for it - knows about your show.

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I'm going to come back to these comments after I take a little break. There's some "playing room" within the parameters Mr. Hein sets forth.

Budda Budda Buck!

Produced in a classic Dick Calkins style no less! (with a heaping spoonful of SKY CAPTAIN thrown in for good measure).



From the YouTube page:

This is a 5 min. short film I did for my Intermediate Editing class at the Art Institute of Colorado where I am majoring in Visual Effects. The movie is inspired by the way Buck originally appeared in the early Twentieth Century,and has several nods to my fav movie Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow by the awesome Kerry Conran. This film took a total of four weeks to complete from start to finish. Everything was filmed in front of a green sheet thumbtacked to my living room wall, and the models/animation was done in the 3d studio max. Compositing was done in Adobe After effects.
The Buck costume was based on the soon to be released Buck Rogers 1/6 figure by Gohero.com's Steve Forde. Major kudos to Steve for reviving Buck as he first appeared back in the 20's/30s.

Gee- what will those kids do next?

Danny Boyle on Pulp Filmmaking...

From Anne Thompson's interview in Variety:

"The more money I take that is not restricted, which technically gives you freedom, equipment and more days, the more the spirit of the film dies, falls flat," he says.

After "The Beach," Boyle says he decided "not to do huge-budget films anymore." He returned to making tiny British TV movies and felt the excitement again: "This is what I should do."

It's not that the Brit helmer hates Hollywood studios. They've been very good to him, he says, especially 20th Century Fox and its specialty division Searchlight, which backed the low-budget pics "Sunshine," "Millions" and "28 Days Later," and is releasing "Slumdog" in partnership with Warner Bros.

And Boyle wishes he could make films like "The Dark Knight," he says, "but I realize I am not very good at it."

Boyle was tempted by, but turned down, an f/x-crammed David Benioff script. "James Cameron, David Fincher and Ridley Scott do battles with the studios," Boyle says. "You have to be difficult to do that. On those huge movies it's like Aztec sacrifices, where the cameraman gets sacked by the third leading actor."

But restrict and limit Boyle's options, and his spirit flies.

"That's where I come from," he says. "Where you make the best with what you've got. That's what I am. I've never done commercials or big videos where they throw money at you. I am a bit difficult, but I like harmony. I like a smaller group of people all pulling in the same direction toward the same thing. I get rid of them if they're not."

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Boyle's challenge -- one happily embraced -- was to make $15 million look like a whole lot more.

"I like that tension," he says. "I don't want to make a dirty indie film struggling with paltry resources. I want to make a film that looks like it cost $50 million or $60 million."

To do that, Boyle jumped into a 12-week shoot on crazy Mumbai locations that changed overnight, deploying a nimble cameraman with a hard drive in a backpack and a gyro with an attached camera lens in his hand.

"It's a different way of grabbing reality and it has an intensity to it," he says. "It lets the mind float off places."

Boyle, who had earlier used mini-DV on "28 Days Later," says the technique allowed his crew and second unit on "Slumdog" to act instinctively and grab shots wherever they could.

But amid all the roaming, Boyle followed a strict rule: Cover the script.

"These instincts you have when filming sometimes are often indulgent bullshit. You feel like a spoiled prince with a hundred people asking you what you want."

Boyle's touchstone: "A heightened realism," he says. "If it doesn't feel real to me, then I don't do it."

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Go see Boyle's latest pulp movie, SLUMDOG MILIONAIRE ( an English-Hindi hybrid shot mostly with handheld digital cameras on location in Mumbai for $15 million) at theaters near you.

I See How They are Achieving This...

with the new Phantom Highspeed HD camera. However, my question (challenge) is:

Who can achieve a similar effect with an off-the-shelf consumer camera (DVX-100) and software?



I want to meet that guy (or gal). Seriously.

Video courtesy Chase Jarvis.

Oh, Peter...

Did you think I wasn't going to share this with everyone I possibly could?

(from the wicked Peter Mohan, producer of BLOOD TIES and fellow lover of the pulp)