Actors: How To Book That Web Series
I think we all dream of being the type of casting director that’s open and imaginative enough to find that diamond in the rough. We want to believe we have the vision to recognize the next star when they walk through the door (or at least, the next web star). Maybe it’s just my naiveté, but my mentality about casting is the last bit of “you can break the system” thinking I’ve managed to cling to. But here’s the deal, for as much as we all want to keep an open mind and be creative in the casting room, we don’t have the time or resources to dilly dally. During yesterday’s session I kept thinking a few things to myself over and over. Things I wish I could’ve told all the talented young hopefuls that came in.
So I reached out to two friends of mine, Stephanie Thorpe and Jenni Powell, experts who I knew had a thing or two to say about casting… Read more…
The New First Step – Enlisting A Site Producer
I had my first official, face to face Squaresville meeting a week ago. It wasn’t with my DP, any other producers, financiers, or cast – it was with my site producer. A good bit of my day job is spent producing web pages, and we’re all becoming increasingly aware of how important a great site is. The fact is, though, if you’re trying to produce and direct a show at the same time, adding site producer to your resume just doesn’t make sense. Though we’re working very closely together, I’m going to be immensely relieved that the site is going to be someone else’s responsibility.
Early on I realized that the show’s social and interactive elements were going to be too big for the web solutions I’ve had before. Though in many ways I’m approaching Squaresville’s story as primarily a passive, traditional experience, it’s a much bigger project than I’ve tackled before. Sure, I could try and do all this junk myself, but with all the pointing and talking and lifting I tend to do on shoot days, I knew I wouldn’t have the mindshare to make sure everything gets done the way it needs to.
Here’s what my wed producer will be doing while I’m off pointing cameras and shouting action:
- Conceptualizing site structure and wire frames with me
- Sourcing and hiring a web designer (e-mail me up if you’re interested in helping out)
- Coordinating with our web developer to wire up the back end
- Mapping out the social media and marketing strategy for the series with me (and then executing it with me)
- Coordinating with the set photographer to grab both on set and publicity photos of each cast member while they’re together and in costume.
- Shooting behind the scenes set footage
- Shooting behind the scenes interview footage for multiple behind the scenes vignettes (both pre-planned and improvised)
You’ll notice that most of these tasks are limited pre-production and actual production. Once all the assets are gathered, tagged, uploaded and implemented, the web producer’s job is far from done, but most of the heavy lifting will be taken care of. At that point we’ll reassess what it is the Producer is getting out of the gig (it’s that old money vs. time thing). At that point, we’ll see whether it makes more sense for me to take things over or not.
As the medium grows (or should I say, as I grow up in this medium), the specialty aspects of a showsite are going to grow ever more complex. I hope that in the near future, just directing a URL to your show’s youtube channel doesn’t cut it anymore. Moreover, I hope that we find the cash and resources for our filmmakers to specialize more. Yes, I could write the show, produce it, shoot it, and then build it’s web-site (I know many of my uber-talented peers do) but I’d rather leave the coding to the pro’s and try and become a better filmmaker and producer.
What about you? I know there a ton of great shows that use out-of-the-box templates that look and work great. Is a specialty site necessary? Is it over kill?
Web Series Rising
I’ve played this whole thing pretty close to my chest, but it wont be too long before I’m asking people for help, so I might as well finally announce that I’m in pre-production on a new series, and I’m calling it Squaresville. Briefly; it’s a quirky coming of age story about two young nerd-girls struggling to follow their dreams in a town of people who’ve settled prematurely.
That’s plenty for now.
For the immediate term, I’ll be blogging more from the perspective of a second term web creator. Certainly there are a number of great blogs that track the production of a first time series creator, but not too many of us are blogging about our second spin. What did I learn on Mountain Man, Engaged and at Atom? What mistakes did we make last time, and what am I repeating? How do you transfer corporate experience into the independent world? It should be fun, informative, and probably too self indulgent (this is my blog, right?). So stay tuned.
Undercover Hits The Mark
Have you guys seen A.V. Club’s Undercover series? I think it’s probably the best example of branded content I’ve ever seen. I’m pretty obsessed with it right now. As the video states, AV club invites touring bands to cover seminal songs in their studio. Great bands sing great songs, and Budweiser pays to be associated with an awesome project. It’s simple, clean and perfect.
Thankfully, Budweiser had the wisdom to keep themselves out of these videos, trading instead, for a mega-branded site to host them. Sure, the site itself SCREAMS Budweiser, but the videos are pristine. Though it would have been tempting to slap a Budweiser logo on the wall in the background, these videos get to be themselves. As a result, Bud benefits from untouched, effortless videos, and so I forgive them all the branding elsewhere.
I really hope we see more series like this one and more brands with this sort of forward thinking. Though brand integration can be a great revenue stream for independent content creators, there’s real value in regular old brand association. Too often, series become encumbered by all the branding a sponsor brings to the table; not so here. It would have been easy to have each band chug a Bud during each interview, but I appreciate that the brand had the presence of mind to recognize that integrating their product into the videos would’ve made the series lose credibility. The power of these clips is in their simplicity, and I’m genuinely entertained and grateful for a series like this.
Oh, Hello! (Is What I Would Like You To Say To Me)
In the wake of the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about the way our community has changed over the years. I can remember a time when I didn’t know anyone and well before any of us were accused of being a part of any “LA bubble”. I was intimidated by the people I admired and uneasy that I didn’t know anyone. Now that I’ve made some friends, I know that I tend to hang out with the people that I know. So I just wanted to say, if you see me at a mixer (not unlike the New Media Vault I’m missing as we speak), come say “hi”. I’m nicer than I look*.
* I mean that. I kind of scowl naturally, but I’m not unhappy, I just naturally frown and look aloof!
My Favorite Thing About The Streamys
For Your Consideration: Mountain Man
By now, most of the IAWTV members have probably cast their Streamys ballots. They knew who their favorites were shortly after seeing the nominations go up, and it was only an issue of filling out the form before their duty was complete. But for the procrastinators, the worriers, and the undecided, I thought now would be a good time to state my case on Mountain Man.
We’ve sat through screeners, screenings, blog posts, e-mail campaigns, pod casts, and video presentations in preparation for the Streamys. Now that Streamys voting has started, I thought I’d elaborate a bit with words (rather than beard hair) on why it’s uniquely deserving of the 3 awards (Sound Design, Cinematography, & Art Direction) that it’s nominated for this year. It’s also no secret that we all would love to turn a few more people on to the show, and that the Streamys help do that. Now, I can’t vote for M0untain Man for anything in the Streamys. It may be an unpopular thing to say, but if I could, I would. I love our show, and I love the people who helped make it. And this is why I would vote for us:
Mountain Man was made by a small group of friends, banding together to make something no one else would pay for, but that we all loved and believed in. We knew that the web was the only place for this story. We loved the idea of a strange rebel, haunting the internet, ranting about his lost fame, and preaching his message from a hidden bunker in the woods. He’d upload communiques to YouTube from somewhere deep in the woods. We knew we could make it cheap, and if we invested enough time, make it look good. It was a show made of patience, found objects, and insanity. Jonas was a man gone feral, and we were intending to join him.
SOUND DESIGN:
Our hero Jonas is a hard guy to sympathize with. In an effort to draw the viewer into his world, our sound design is as dense, subjective and immersive as web shows get. The sound designer, Mike Miller, painstakingly plants the viewer smack dab in the middle of Jonas’ consciousness, aided by the fact that our he also happens to star as Jonas. Listening to our show is like being Jonas, it’s otherworldly, bizarre, and even a little scary.
ART DIRECTION:
When building Jonas’ sanctuary set, we knew that it would have to be shootable in a full 360 degrees, cost almost nothing, and act as the fourth member of Jonas’ band of misfits. As a result, it was quite literally built out of chicken wire, paper mache and spray paint. We scrounged through thrift stores all over the county to match the retro/detritus/garbage-punk feel of the Mountain Man world. The vibe, the energy, the mood are all instantly set when an outsider steps foot in that strange hole in the ground. Every piece of super computer technology, mossy overgrowth, or psuedo-herbal-alchemy, was meant to personify Jonas as the mad genius we needed him to be.
CINEMATOGRAPHY:
The decision to mix omniscient and first person cameras was especially complicated for our DP. In order to contrast the loose, wild feel of a first person documentarian, we knew that the omniscient (we called it Gaia Cam) view point had to be especially cinematic and polished. Rough is hard to do well, without a budget, but polished is nearly impossible. I like to think we pulled it off.
It may not be apparent, but most of our locations were mere feet from civilization. If one were to pan a few inches more in most of our shots, you’d find a road, or a building, or a car. It’s not something you think about much, but even the wild is filled with man-made objects. It’s that sort of careful framing and execution that makes the cinematography all that much more amazing. Sure, we’re lighting with China balls, and source lights, sure the power grid wouldn’t support more than a few lights at any given time else we’d blow a fuse, and sure, we shooting with a bare bones camera package, but somehow we pulled off a show that (I think) looks pretty great.
So that’s my case. It’s a show that we love, and I hope that you do too, and above all the Streamys will help elevate it to another level.
Go with Gaia!
Chatroulette, Y’all
In the early days of flash video I was working for a smaller, less successful, now defunct competitor to youtube. Though the google buyout was the death rattle for that company, an earlier sign stands out clearly in my head: the first time Leno mentioned Youtube on the tonight show. It signified the moment (for me at least) that YouTube went mainstream. Earlier today I had a similar moment.I’ve watched as Chatroulette go from a creepy chat site riddled with weiners, to a media story, to a viral video phenomenon. I’m of course, talking about the hoodie clad, piano impresario, Mertron, whose video has gone viral and racked up 3.7 million views. According to commenters, whose observations are always astute, Merton bears a strong resemblence to Ben Folds. I guess Ben agrees, because he’s uploaded his own chatroulette improv session, this time live from a concert in NC, that’s racked up 20k in 12 hours. What I’m saying is: prepare to have a conversation about this with your parents, cause they’re gonna see it on Leno (or the Today Show, or The View, or The Local News or whatever).
Is this the point where people realize that chat roulette could actually be used for something cooler than wankin’? There’s something really great about spontaneously being connected to strangers, and I’m sure there’s some hamfisted metaphor I could draw about the nature of online connectivity and isolation and whatever. Maybe we’ll look back on this moment as Chatroulette’s tipping point, the moment it’s destiny was set as the new standard in online cam chat. Or it could just be another funny video we watch in between checking facebook updates at work. Either way, these videos are a thumbs up situation, and reason enough for Chatroulette to stay relevant for at least a few weeks longer.
Amidst all the controversy surrounding this year’s Streamy Awards, it’s easy to get a little discouraged at the thought of this industry becoming more competitive and insular. Sometimes it feels like we’re all so eager for the industry to catch up with our ambition, we lose site of our patience. In spite of these developments, we need to remember that there many, many positive developments that have occurred even within these few short weeks of Streamy fever. Here are four super awesome things that have already come out of the Streamys regardless of who wins what.
1. I Found Flying Kebab
Have you guys seen this show? It’s so great! How come nobody told me about this show? In a period where people are really starting to voice some negative opinions about each other’s shows (which is ultimately a good thing, thought it may not feel so hot right now) it’s great to discover a show that I have only good things to say about. Sure, the Streamys still have a ton of high profile shows on the list, but Flying Kebab is but one of MANY awesome, independent, starless, innovative, fresh shows reminding us why we’re in this space in the first place. What’s your Flying Kebab?
2. Conversation Was Sparked
Do you guys remember last year? You know what was sparked? Arguments. It was a mess!
This year, despite disagreements and complaints about the way the IAWTV has handled entry into the group, nominations, and the FYC campaign debacle, I’ve seen a predominantly constructive attitude prevail in this community. Things may have gotten heated, and people have the right to express dissatisfaction, but ultimately, these ideas have resulted in a positive discourse that’s been very encouraging. That’s going to lead to more transparency, a more active member base, and more progress.
3. Galvanized Interest In The IAWTV
This is the year we see the IAWTV emerge as an actual political body, an entity with an agenda beyond voting on a few web shows and partying. As that membership solidifies in the coming months, we’re going to see some actual, honest to goodness progress from this group through peer mentorship, support groups, outreach and education.
4. Level Playing Field
Yeah, at first blush, it’s kind of a bummer for us indie-folk that so many high profile, star-studded shows are on the nomination list. But, if the Streamys are an avenue for smaller series to become better known and acknowledged by traditional media companies, then we have to accept the idea that the studios are going to want to play in the sandbox. Though studios might not like the idea that their content could be considered on par -or even less deserving than- an independent, is cause for them to reconsider the way they’ve been doing things. The mixture of budgets and backers is less a story of underdogs, and more a reinvention of what it means to be a dog in the first place. If a show like Mountain Man, which I can say first hand spent more money on spray paint and paper mache than it did on… well, anything else, can be up for a Streamy against the big dogs, then anything is possible*.
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*That being said, our ambition may have gotten the best of us. It may not be the best idea to send some of the most powerful people in the industry baggies of hair like we did. Sorry George Ruiz, I didn’t mean to gross you out (I mean, I did a little, but not that much).
For Your Consideration: The Mountain Man Communique
After a few long nights of envelope stuffing, paper cuts and some likely harmful spray paint inhalation, here it is. Unintentionally controversial Mountain Man For Your Consideration Communique is ready to ship! When it came time to conceptualize our FYC campaign, we knew we wanted to make a mark on the IAWTV. Sure, we made a web show, and it would make sense to stick with a web campaign, but so much of what makes Mountain Man special is the real world, tactility of everything in Jonas’ world.* We decided to play to our strengths, and do some Mountain Man style DIY packaging. As I said before, this packet is from the Mountain Man world, and should exemplify why we deserve your Streamy nominations. For the uninitiated, the packet serves as an introduction to the world of Jonas. Fans will be pleased to find unique, as-yet-unrevealed external details about Jonas’ story. Overall, the packet should leave you with a sense of detail and the fleshed out world that makes Mountain Man so special.
The Communique includes:
- A hand stamped communique from the (fictionalized) bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, documenting all of Jonas Hawkinus’ (the Mountain Man) exploits.
- A hand stenciled FYC screener DVD with a sizzle reel, the first four episodes of the series, and a slideshow (backed by the hit single “The Duffel Bag Shuffle”)
- A dossier containing:
- A mug shot (in case you’re tracking the Mountain Man on your own)
- A FYC post card and photos of the man himself (illustrating our design and Jonas’ lair, the Sanctuary)
- A piece of the alarm system Jonas has rigged in the forest.
- A DNA specimen from Jonas – a clump of his beard!
- A vintage newspaper clipping chronicling the initial disappearance of our hero.
- A hand written note from Producer (Matt Enlow) and Director (Matt Mangs) to you!
If you would like to make sure you get a copy of a screener, please e-mail your address to Contact@watchMountainMan.com and be sure to remember us during your nominations.
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* If the set hadn’t burnt down, we were intending to give people tours! Maybe next season?
