Crowdfunding isn’t just a way for big names to raise cash directly from their fans. Here are some samples of the lower profile projects currently seeking funds on the Kickstarter scene, including a video game/fiction hybrid, a documentary about Calvin & Hobbes and a Soviet satire. Read more »
Vidcon serves as a real-time, real life reminder of the vibrant community that cares about online video — a community born in comment threads, response videos, retweets and subscriptions. It’s a young community. It’s a very specific community. But it’s impossible to ignore. Read more »
The rule of thumb used to be that web content shouldn’t be longer than five minutes an episode — a rule that’s pretty much dead here in 2012, with the spread of longer runtimes into least-suspected places, such as YouTube. Read more »
Funny Or Die has never been afraid of diversifying, leading to a history filled with successes and less-than-successes. It’s early to say what category The Occasional, the company’s new experiment in iPad publishing, will fall — but for the right price, it’s worth checking out. Read more »
The independent film’s lifecycle has undergone a lot of upheaval in the last 20 years, but digital distribution’s truly disrupting things. Less than six months after debuting at Sundance, Indie Game: The Movie will be available for sale via iTunes, VHX and gaming platform Steam. Read more »
The Fine Brothers have a long-established reputation for trying new things with web content, and this year, they’re using YouTube’s money to create not just a show, but a fully immersive social media experience and a full line-up of shows surrounding it. Read more »
When we talk about making web content for niche audiences, moms come up a lot. But CafeMom, a web community for moms that is also now one of the latest participants in YouTube’s Made For Web channel initiative, believes that it has a unique approach. Read more »
Think reality TV is saturated with product placement? Meet Escape Routes, which uses large amounts of screen time to sell you on the Ford Escape. But there is some interesting digital innovation involved — in the structure of the show and in the casting. Read more »
Black Box TV has been firmly dedicated to creating quality drama for the YouTube audience since 2010. And now, with support from the YouTube made-for-web channels initiative, the show has brought on C.S.I. creator Anthony Zuiker to relaunch with an ambitious full year of content. Read more »
The word that describes the in-development independent series Drifter, on pretty much every level, is ambitious — ambitious in scope and ambitious in approach. Set to begin production in mid-July, the sci-fi/comedy/drama project is crowdfunding its pilot online — but setting its sights on television. Read more »
As the industry experiments with how to make money off web content, a number of sites, varying in style, approach and pricing, have rejected the idea of ad-supported models in favor of direct payment options. How do these companies match up? Find out below. Read more »
The YouTube talent companies that have sprung up over recent years are no stranger to innovation. What was once called The Cloud Media has been transformed into Big Frame, a hybrid production/management company focused on helping creators find their voices and build their audiences. Read more »
Brands like Nike, Vevo and Fandango now have a new way to integrate into Facebook Timeline. At an event hosted by Facebook in Austin at the South by Southwest festival on Monday, big and small brands mingled and demoed the new wave of Timeline apps. Read more »
The National Film Society channel sounds like it’s hosted by someone with a Ph.D. and a beard. Instead, it’s hosted by two guys with one mustache and barely six months of YouTube experience — who were tapped by PBS to host its first-ever Online Film Festival. Read more »
The Academy Awards tend to favor movies released in the last few months of the year, so many of this year’s top contenders are still in theaters. But some nominees have been out long enough to be available on digital platforms. Read more »
The most notable thing about gamer-focused web video network Machinima isn’t its 1.3 billion monthly video views and 149 million uniques. It’s this — getting people to watch drama online, by making sure its drama series will directly appeal to its audience. Read more »
There are many shows which claim to be “talk shows for the Internet,” but there’s only one weekly hour-long celebration of what’s popular online. And What’s Trending is determined to continue covering web culture while also attempting to grow into a full-fledged media brand. Read more »
In these heady two-or-three-screen days, the Grammy Awards are a classic case study for how an overdose of social media engagement can pay off Nielsen-wise. And this year, the tradition continues — as does the tradition of struggling to get live performances online after the show. Read more »
The current state of social media is sophisticated enough to have a sense of what works but still remain open to experimentation. SyFy’s experiments when it came to launching season two of Being Human included promoted topics on Twitter and trying to tempt Neil Patrick Harris. Read more »
In case you missed it: Feared entertainment journalist Nikki Finke is now using YouTube to personally lambaste Hollywood, Star Wars Uncut gets an official director’s cut, and the guys behind White Collar Brawler find a way to get paid to drink tequila on camera. Read more »
Lonelygirl15 writer and ARG creator Jan Libby is currently seeking Kickstarter funds for a new alternate reality game experience called Snow Town, but the underlying technology could become a secret weapon for creating transmedia experiences. Read more »
One of the more overlooked corners of the YouTube community, it turns out, is also one of the more genuinely useful ones. And in one man’s case, the English-as-a-second-language instructional videos were the key to helping him with a different problem: Recovering from a stroke. Read more »
The IAWTV hit a major milestone in its evolution this week with the announcement of the first-ever nominees for the IAWTV Awards, honoring excellence in web video content and representing the web series world with a strong mix of independent and professionally-produced content. Read more »
We’ve already told you what to get the cord cutters in your life — but what about the web video enthusiast? Here are several suggestions based on ages, interests and more, ranging from toys to T-shirts to DVDs. Read more »
As long as there have been web series, people have debated whether the term is inaccurate and derogatory. But when you talk to those working in the industry, it becomes clear that the term is here to stay — and that it’s a good thing. Read more »
As YouTube continues evolving from a user-generated content repository to a haven for professionally produced content, so do its tools. Thanks to the new Edit Video feature in the YouTube Editor, users have the ability to adjust the quality of previously posted videos, even automatically. Read more »
Premiering this week, Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen is an online-only series in which chefs eliminated from the TV show get a chance to return to the competition. But as a case study in integrating web content into a series, it’s a potential disaster. Read more »
How do you keep buzz going for one of the most anticipated films of the decade, when the film doesn’t come out for over a year? Peter Jackson and the crew of The Hobbit have found the answer — thanks to Facebook. Read more »
Tech blog Betabeat has launched its first original web series, The Pitch, which documents the process of pitching a startup concept to venture capitalists. It’s a story with its own natural drama — funding and a cash prize are on the line. Read more »
Last Tuesday marked the premiere of two very different web series — a teen-skewing action comedy produced by a major studio and an independent sci-fi thriller — with one major similarity: They both chose to debut exclusively on Facebook. Could this be the new normal for web content? Read more »
Connected, currently in limited theatrical release, is about the evolution of human communication and how it has changed our lives for better or worse. It is also about Shlain coping with her father’s brain cancer. It is about a lot of things. Read more »
Once upon a time, “The Guild” made fun of merchandising — but this year, to support ambitious plans for the show’s fifth season, a number of product placement deals were struck. And some of those deals have transformed into a wide assortment of merchandise available to fans. Read more »
The hosts of Diggnation are finally getting off the couch at the end of the year — but what moments were their favorite over the course of the show’s seven-year run? We asked David Prager, Alex Albrecht and Jim Louderback that question. And we found videos! Read more »
Since Kickstarter’s launch in 2009, 3,500 film and video projects have been funded by donors — over $35 million has been raised for documentaries, independent features and web series. But what is it about Kickstarter that works, and what should creators know before seeking out funds? Read more »
There is a subtle genius to the latest iteration of Lucas Cruikshank’s popular (in some circles) manic online personality. While FRED evolves as a cross-platform property, the new series Figgle Chat, directed by Bobby Miller, gives his haters someone to cheer for. Read more »
Vuguru is one of those rarities in the web content world — a company that has been actively financing and producing web content since 2007 without going out of business, thanks to Rogers Media funding and an approach to creating truly multiplatform content with an international focus. Read more »
Jane Espenson is beloved among television nerds for her work on shows including Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Game of Thrones. But while the gay marriage comedy Husbands is her first independent web series, the ambition is for it to find a home on television. Read more »
You think you’ve seen everything? Well, you haven’t. This summer, six Finnish men are competing to see who can live inside a backhoe the longest — an endurance challenge on an epic scale, and one you can follow anywhere in the world thanks to multiple live streams. Read more »
The release of a short film set in the universe of Valve Software’s popular Portal video game series has people excited over the possibility that director Dan Trachtenberg could bring his vision to a full-length version. But is such a move really likely? Read more »
If you’ve made one of the most popular films of all time on Hulu, what’s your next move? For writer Stevie Long and director/producer Joel Viertel, the answer was simple: Keep a good thing going. They’re making a series out of hit movie Strictly Sexual. Read more »
