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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 »

Hot off the heals of his Kickstarter success, video blogging pioneer Ze Frank has raised an additional $756,000 from Marc Andreessen and others. His declared goal: To build “a new kind of media company” with a number of shows and active audience engagement. Read More »

 
 

Blip is geting rid of more than half of its distribution partners, including a number of Smart TV platforms like Boxee, TiVo, Samsung and Vizio. Blip explained its video producers that it simply didn’t make any revenue with any of these platforms. 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 »

JTS.tv is launching a subscription video service for independent web series. That will bring ad-free versions of a number popular web series online for the first time ever, with plans to make them available on multiple mobile and other connected device platforms. 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 »

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 »

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 »

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 … 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 … Read More »

Yahoo is doubling down on quality video, relaunching its video site as Yahoo Screen, a hub for original programming including eight new shows aimed at women along with a host of licensed content from Hulu, Discovery, Fox News and others. Read More »

AOL has seen a ton of growth in its video properties over the last year, and is looking to bolster that part of its business even more, with a slate of web original content designed to capture viewer attention and steal TV ad dollars. Read More »

More Must Reads

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 … Read More »

Over the past few years, a lot has been made of “crowdsourcing” trends. It seem like everything — from graphic design and logos to funding — can be made better, faster, or cheaper thanks to crowd. But can crowdsourcing work for creative content? 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 »

For Solo creator Jonathan Nail, producing his own web series was an opportunity to create a showcase for his acting. But after two years of hard work and thousands of dollars, he found that the rewards of independent production are not universal. Read More »

The Streamy Awards are returning for a third round sometime in 2012, thanks to a partnership with Dick Clark Productions, which wants to build the show into a franchise honoring web content. But after the failure of the 2010 awards, will the Streamys be welcomed back? … Read More »

While this year’s Emmy nominees once again neglected to recognize any web originals, that hasn’t stopped Hollywood from enlisting Internet-originating content for adaptation. But is Rhett and Link hopping to IFC and Lisa Kudrow moving Web Therapy to Showtime good or bad for web series? Read More »

While canceled on broadcast TV, daytime soap operas All My Children and One Life to Live will continue to live on online. The strategy of distribution hasn’t been made clear yet, but the bigger question is: Will TV audiences follow those soaps online? Read More »

In what might be a first in the digital space, Break Media has signed web actress/writer/producer Taryn Southern to an overall first-look deal, and will work to not just strengthen her brand, but push it out on other platforms beyond the web. Read More »

Five years ago today, the first ever video of lonelygirl15 was published on YouTube. Back then, many YouTube users thought lonelygirl15 was just an average teenager — but the character was part of a scripted show, which eventually became the first major web series success story. Read More »

What happens in Vegas… may lead to new alliances between web series producers and CE makers: The IAWTV will be hosting its first awards show for web content makers conjunction with the 2012 Consumer Electronics show. It’s also the first post-Streamys awards show for IAWTV. Read More »

In the web series world, creators often rely on brands to get their content funded. But why do brands sign up for these series? And how do they measure their return on investment? We set out to find out. Read More »

Blip.tv has launched a redesigned site, seeking to become the destination for independent web series. While others host a mix of professional, semi-pro and UGC content, with the redesign Blip.tv is focusing solely on bringing out only the best series content made strictly for the web. Read More »

Suprnova.org used to be the Internet’s biggest torrent site, and it inspired countless others to start sites like The Pirate Bay and Mininova.org. We sat down with the site’s founder to talk about lessons learned from the past and his plans for Suprnova’s future. Read More »

In the web series world, success can be tough to define — for every Guild there’s the series that did help its creator land a more prominent gig, or led to a bigger deal. So what are some wins for the space? Read More »

A behind-the-scenes book detailing the production of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog has just been released, a few months shy of the seminal web series’ three-year anniversary. But looking back at the last few years, what did Joss Whedon’s “lark” really do for the web video world? … Read More »

Revision3 published the first episode of its new weekly Lifehacker web series today, produced in cooperation with the popular Gawker blog. The show is just one attempt to tap new audiences, and Revision3′s Ryan Vance said shows targeting sports or car geeks could be next. Read More »

The indie series Asylum is off to a very intriguing start on Blip.tv, but while the first season does a great job of hinting at the mysteries lurking in an isolated mental hospital, it ends with little resolution and a definite need for a season 2. … Read More »

In the world of independent production, there’s a lot to be said for keeping one’s concept in scale with the production value available. Today’s example: the action comedy miniseries Today of All Days, which pulls off its objectives with flair and originality. Read More »

The series Oh, Inverted World represents exactly what I love about covering web original content. While not perfect, it’s a show that resists predictability and features the kind of unique voice that may struggle to find a foothold in mainstream entertainment, but thrives online. … Read More »

The former Family Matters star’s take on Hollywood’s less glamorous side has solid production value and a great central performance from White. However, while there’s a wry tone that sometimes works in a laughing-on-the-inside way, many of the jokes and plotlines fall flat. Read More »

Given how overplayed roommate comedies are in the web series world, a show about wacky dudes who DON’T have an apartment is a definite improvement. Dailymotion’s first comedy is relatively clever and definitely well-produced, despite occasionally feeling like it’s trying too hard for the funny. Read More »

It’s hard to get more indie than a show shot on $300 by a team of three friends, and thus give the crown to this five-episode drama, which features great cliffhangers and a cool polish that’ll appeal to any Bannen Way fan. Read More »

Set in a Dallas-area comic book store, this independently produced web series about those who sell sequential storytelling features relatively polished technical specs while invoking the best aspects of nerd-oriented comedy favorites like Clerks. But, you know, with comic books instead of coffee. Read More »

In the web video world, it usually takes the words “off the record” for a journalist to get any real understanding of what things cost. But for GigaOM Pro this week, we tried out some other words — “completely anonymous” — and had … Read More »

CJP’s The Temp Life is one of those on-the-nose sponsored series, being as it is a comedy about the abused life of the temporary employee, sponsored by actual staffing company Spherion. But as an early adopter in that world, the series has proven … Read More »

While Felicia Day and her web series The Guild may have scored a great deal for distribution on the Xbox and other Microsoft platforms — which involved promotion to a massive audience, a Sprint sponsorship, and allowed her to keep her intellectual property — … Read More »

Let’s just get this out of the way. Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible was an important (and entertaining) moment in web video. It helped legitimize the medium and showed the world that you could make a successful show outside of the Hollywood system. But that was Read More »

The newspaper industry has been battered over recent years, as people migrate their reading online and sites like Craigslist steal classified dollars. Now newspapers may need to defend another revenue stream — the Sunday circular — as Office Depot has decided to take some of the … Read More »

Truth be told, what your average online video fan knows about Mormonism is probably about enough to fill an episode of South Park. So a web series produced at Brigham Young University, based on themes from the Book of Mormon, and aimed at Latter-Day Saint audiences doesn’t … Read More »

Don’t you hate it when you move into your college dorm room only to find out that it was previously inhabited by a girl who looked just like you and died mysteriously the previous spring?  I mean, gag me with a spoon, totally! In fact, the above … Read More »

Are those wacky Tiki Bar TV folks drunk? The 4-year old (!) web series launched Tiki Bar TV Club Memberships yesterday (hat tip to Tubefilter), hoping to cajole some coin out of fans in exchange for extra goodies. The Tiki Bar TV Membership costs $49 … Read More »

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