The Pitfalls of Independent Webseries Production
Somber news rumbled through the stratosphere of the Internet in July 2011 when actor Jonathan Nail announced that he was shutting down his webseries SOLO. The professionally polished, well-written and highly entertaining effort followed the misadventures of Scott Drizhal (portrayed by Nail) as he finds himself stranded in space when his one-man mission to Mars reality show is cancelled after a mere thirty days. While poor ratings led to the faux series-within-a-webseries to bite the dust, an equally real world reality led to the demise of SOLO—money.
“I knew there was going to be some loss, but I was only looking at the success that The Guild was having,” Nail told NewTeeVee in early August. “I wasn’t paying attention to the fact that no one is really making money in this space. Naively, I though that this could get picked up somewhere like SyFy and I would make my money back, or that the audience would support it so I wouldn’t have to invest any more of my money.”
In 2010, Jonathan Nail originally constructed a novel approach to webseries creation. Instead of filming an initial first season with the funds available, he invested his resources to produce three quality episodes to both showcase SOLO to perspective investors as well as create an early buzz for the project. “We are currently looking for more sponsorship, but the hard part right now is proving return on investment,” Nail explained to Clicker at the time. “Our show is created in a way that it is a welcome opportunity for sponsors to jump in at this moment. Now that we’ve created these three episodes, anyone could become a sponsor of the show with very little money and get a lot of coverage.”
While DataDirect Networks did provide some financial support and fan donations added an extra layer to continue production, in reality Nail was never able to recoup his initially substantial investment. “Here’s the thing most people don’t understand about sponsors,” he told NewTeeVee. “They don’t deal with budgets that small, and if you can’t show them that you’ve got 100,000 views, they’re not interested in talking to you. You pretty much have to have proven yourself already.”
Following the success of The Beatles in the early 1960s, a slew of music industry professionals descended upon the Mersey River region of England and signed such bands as Gerry and the Pacemakers and Herman’s Hermits in the hopes of capitalizing on the Fab Four’s newfound fame. Decades later, their contemporaries likewise descended upon the city of Seattle in order to find the next Nirvana. Despite the success of Felicia Day’s The Guild—which Jonathan Nail confesses to be an inspiration for his decision to produce SOLO—various Hollywood and Madison Avenue bigwigs did not open up their pocketbooks for webseries creators in the same fashion that the music industry has done in the past.
That is not to say that potential sponsors do not understand the growing benefits of social media marketing, only that they have been selective and are sticking with the tried and true. IKEA, for instance, approached Illeana Douglas in 2008 about transforming her successful YouTube-exclusive webseries Illeanarama—Supermarket of the Stars from taking place in a fictional supermarket to an IKEA store and renaming the series Easy to Assemble.
Other companies, meanwhile, have approached reputable marketing firms to produce new webseries specifically designed for sponsorship purposes. CJP Digital Studio is one such establishment and not only assisted in the transition of Easy to Assemble into an IKEA-sponsored webseries but developed similarly themed online narratives for the likes of Spherion Staffing Services, Trident and Lifetime. The resulting creations—which include The Temp Life, The Webventures of Justin & Alden and Suite 7—feature such actors as Felicia Day, Shannen Doherty, Brian Austin Green and Milo Ventimiglia.
Adding to the potential frustration of independent Hollywood outsiders is the growing number of Hollywood insiders getting involved in the webseries medium. With the relatively cheap cost of equipment and relative ease of distribution on the World Wide Web, the webseries initially appeared to be the perfect avenue for wannabe television-style creators to realize their dreams and ambitions. While short blurbs about those efforts continue to appear in such mainstream media as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times, in reality the bulk of the attention falls on such high profile concepts as Kiefer Sutherland’s The Confession. And in the opinion of at least one writer, the imbalance between Hollywood insiders and outsiders extends further than mere press coverage.
“Take the recent contest put on by Metacafe and Strike.tv to find the next great webseries,” Corey Kronengold wrote in an article entitled “Web TV’s Talent Problem” for DiGiDAY in July 2011. “It wasn’t won by some up-and comer who found doors slammed in his face when trying to sell scripts to Hollywood. Instead, the winning series, Dwelling, written by Anthony Q. Farrell, a writer for NBC’s The Office and a three-time Writer’s Guild Award nominee. In fact, the entire contest featured original webseries from TV and movie writers including those who worked on The Office, Malcolm in the Middle, Knight Rider, The Simpsons and Die Hard.”
That same month, ReelSEO unintentionally eluded to even more bad news for small-time webseries creators. While the bulk of the article centered on recent productions by the Michael Eisner-owned Vuguru—such as The Booth at the End starring former 24 actor Xander Berkeley and The Millionaire Tour with Lord of the Rings/Lost thespian Dominic Monaghan—it also suggested that “great stories are now being told on the Internet and good actors will always be drawn to good material. While many actors may be in the business to make lots of money, there will always be those that just want to be part of something good and showcase their talents. This is why you see Hollywood actors gravitate towards Broadway or cable. Webseries are becoming a new medium for actors to be artists.”
Given such obstacles, it should be no surprise that webseries like SOLO have struggled in relative obscurity and financial uncertainty. Despite the promise of the Internet to be the great equalizer, in reality it takes more than a good story to find success. Felicia Day commented to Paste back in 2009 that “the thing about web video is that we’re not rolling around in money like most TV and film, and by necessity we have to wear a lot of hats. So, you know, not only do I write all the episodes, but I star in them, and I co-produce them, and I manage the Web, and fan correspondence, and I do to conventions and meet our fans and down the line to Photoshop and Excel.”
Jonathan Nail pretty much said the same thing to NewTeeVee in August 2011. “You have to be aware that you will be biting off more than you can chew,” he said in regards to independent webseries production. “If you want to be an actor, act. If you want to be a producer, produce. I don’t want to discourage anyone, but there’s more work than you’ll expect there to be.”
Jack Nicholson moved to Los Angeles from New Jersey in the late 1950s. For over a decade, he also labored in relative obscurity and financial uncertainty and eventually decided that after giving Hollywood ten years of his life, it was time to move on. As a favor to producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, however, Nicholson agreed to one final acting job in the film Easy Rider. Being close friends with the main stars of film—Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper—it was hoped that Nicholson could help keep the peace between the two actors, who were continually fighting during production. For his efforts, Jack Nicholson received an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor and remained in Hollywood for the rest of his illustrious career.
The odds may be long and the road filled with pitfalls, but independent webseries creators would be wise to remember that talent is not always enough—sometimes it takes a lot of patience and little bit of luck as well.
Anthony Letizia (August 22, 2011)
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