Comments on: How Do You Define Web Series Success?

By: Don

Don — Thu, 26 May 2011 18:55:04 +0000

There’s a new web series that recently wrapped up it’s first season. Video Game Reunion, vgr.atom.com , is a mock reality show featuring the 8 bit video game characters 25 years after their success. Let’s just say that for some of them it hasn’t been a kind 25 years. Definitely not family friendly as even the preview has warnings on language. Video Game Reunion is AN ABSOLUTE RIOT! The jokes come hard and fast with little room to breath in between. It’s well cast with Tonya Kay as Princess Peach (my personal favorite), Britain Spellings as the hero Mario, and PJ Marino as Luigi. There are a lot of other cast members I should mention, each of them deserving praise, but this comment is already too long. VGR.Atom.Com Put it in your address bar and hit enter! You’ll laugh your a_s off!

By: Matthew Arevalo

Matthew Arevalo — Thu, 12 May 2011 17:04:33 +0000

Yup.

By: Matthew Arevalo

Matthew Arevalo — Thu, 12 May 2011 17:01:59 +0000

Very honored to be among many great series here.

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:40:34 +0000

Great article and very true that success can be an individual definition. I’m one of the producer’s for a web series (THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF CUPID AND EROS – http://www.cupidanderos.com) and we’ve got season 1 online and in development for Season 2. We have been successful in some aspects (finishing a season, building an online presence beyond the website, etc) but we have more aspirations before we say we are a success. I do feel web series (or as some would say “short form” shows) are a vital part of media collective, the distribution model is a challenge and still evolving to a point that independents can at least have enough money to produce something of quality.

By: Aaron Bielert

Aaron Bielert — Wed, 11 May 2011 04:49:33 +0000

Check out VBCtv.com.
It is a Web Entertainment Network that airs WebSeries. In Other Terms, an online TV Network.

By: Rob Michael Hugel

Rob Michael Hugel — Tue, 10 May 2011 16:37:28 +0000

Great list! This is a question I’ve asked myself thousands of times as a web series creator and director. It’s nice to see others feel the same way. It’d be nice to see other series reach the success of “The Guild”. I see The Guild as a great model of how big this could really get if you have a great idea, work hard, focus on quality, content, writing, acting, and marketing. Basically treating your web series as seriously as a network would treat a television show is what looks like the way to rise above the grey area of forgettable web content.

Rob Michael Hugel
Former Director/Editor/Writer Broad City http://www.broadcitytheshow.com
Creator/Writer/Star of I Hate Being Single. To be released Fall 2011

By: Susan Miller

Susan Miller — Mon, 09 May 2011 22:57:24 +0000

Shouldn’t we also parse “success” to include overwhelming positive critical response from new media sites, fan growth and loyalty, consistent quality of production and talent at the highest level, staying power, recognition by peers as in, yes, awards like the first WGA Award for Outstanding Achievement in new media which “Anyone But Me” was honored with this year?

By: Patrick Bardwell

Patrick Bardwell — Mon, 09 May 2011 21:52:22 +0000

This very subject gets discussed a lot during several past #WebSeriesChat s. It seems a lot of content creators, on the chat, measure success by their ability to stay loyal to the independent spirit. They don’t want to be a “sell out” and want to maintain control of most facets of their content.

I would assume everyone does the “indie” thing until they can start making big money from a major sponsor or studio, but others would argue differently.

A big problem I see is most content creators haven’t set their goals before they begin their project. If the goal is to get X amount of fans, then they would know if it was a success. If the goal is to sell the series to a studio, then they would know. If the goal is to simply add something to the reel or resume, then they would know if they succeeded.

Patrick Bardwell
President of Slebisodes Web Series Guide
#WebSeriesChat every Wed. 11am PST

By: Icarus

Icarus — Mon, 09 May 2011 21:01:26 +0000

You forgot Red vs. Blue, which is easily the most successful of the machinima genre, in no small part due to the aid and blessings of Bungie and Microsoft.

By: Jill

Jill — Mon, 09 May 2011 15:51:00 +0000

There are so many different ways to measure success for web series:
Critical acclaim.
Building a big engaged audience.
Making money.
Attracting advertisers.
Getting a TV deal.
Using a new(ish) medium in creative ways.
Telling a good story beautifully.
Web series creators judge their success differently than others. Many of us are trying to do something that we simply cannot do inside the traditional television industry: create a bond with our audience. In the mass media, the relationship between the story teller and the audience is lost. The business of TV is bringing eyeballs to advertisers. The viewer is a commodity and the storyteller is almost incidental to the whole thing.
When you create a web series, you can get to know your audience and tailor your story to them in a different way. You can build an almost intimate relationship with the people who watch your show.
Sure, I’d like to make a lot of money and have millions of people watch my series, but there is also incredible satisfaction in knowing I’ve made a terrific piece of entertainment that the kids who watch it really care about.