"When Joss Whedon launched made-for-Internet tuner Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog last July, it repped a landmark in the development of the online economy.--------------------------------"It was the first significant example of a creator bypassing traditional network outlets and bringing high production values to the Web," says Arash Amel, head of broadband media at Screen Digest.
Users flocked in the hundreds of thousands to watch the three-parter and paid $1.99 an episode for the privilege. Demand was so great -- some 200,000 hits per hour -- that the website crashed a few hours after the launch.
It had been generally assumed that consumers wouldn't pay for made-for-online content; the success of the show made it clear that they would.
But sadly, most creators of online content don't have the pulling power of Whedon, and for them, other rules apply."
Okay, does one imagine that Sam Raimi was "Sam Raimi" when he first unleashed the Evil Dead franchise?
Or Wes Craven when Freddy Kreuger was born?
Or Stuart Gordon when Re-Animator re-imagined the "walking dead?"
So because they didn't have a "name value" - did that stop them from trying and succeeding? No! What they did was work harder, did more press interviews, took meetings, and so on. In fact, the first Evil Dead movie didn't make any money for Raimi's investors so he made a deal with Dino DeLaurentis for them to be paid on ED2.
They kept at it. They worked it.
And these days - it's a hell of a lot easier. You CAN do it yourself and not have to pay huge percentages for distribution, promotion, marketing, publicity and so forth.
You're not Joss Whedon. So what?
That doesn't mean you can't make something cool and make money off of it. It just means you'll probably have to work harder and longer and yes, smarter.
If you can't do that. If you don't want to do that - then please - get the fuck out of this business right now, you pussy. You're clogging the system. You're stealing from the rest of us - our energy, our resources and our reputations.
People don't care when they click on that little play button. They want to be entertained first and foremost. If it's from someone who's entertained them before - it's a little easier, but it's not the most important.
Entertain first. The "name value" will come later.
