Celebs or Cewebs?

Stunt casting is old hat, even on the Internet. Whether you're friends with Will Ferrel or Michael Buckly, star power pulls in views. Liz Miller wrote a piece for NewTeeVee a while back that asks whether it’s better to cast cewebrities or old media celebs. The article stuck with me, and as a person who’s intimately aware of the pros and cons of both Independent and Hollywood content production, I thought I’d weigh in.

Star power is a time tested tactic old Hollywood knows too well, so of course Strike.TV, a Hollywood organization (with a capitol H), would go with what we know. Has it worked for Funny or die? Either way their model appears to be structured around one off skits, not full blown series (for now). 60 frames hasn’t seen anything take off and Strike.Tv hasn’t found the smash hit we’re looking for ( I don’t see anyone wearing a House Poor t-shirt yet). It’s interesting that My Damn Channel’s biggest hit, You Suck at Photoshop found it's audience without proper star power.

So why do we keep hedging our bets on Hollywood types? You can’t turn around without seeing another web series starring Jessica Rose. Shouldn’t Strike.Tv wise up, cut costs, and start turning out the next Hooking Up? I’d love to say that it has everything to do with creator rights and artistic integrity – and it does. But the ruthless business person in me wouldn’t be a part of an outfit if it weren’t for the fact that those ideals work in conjunction with business sense.

If this “new media” space is to be supported by advertising, then we need to make it friendly for advertisers. Just as the likes of Ask a Ninja and French Maid Tv have done a great job paving models for distribution, marketing and merchandising, we’re doing our part to make it easy for Advertisers to get comfortable in the new media space*. It's one thing to pitch a solid new show to an advertiser as a web producer, it's something else entirely when Kristen Wiig stars in your show. The more advertisers spend here, the more comfortable they'll be, and the more money we'll all see.

It’s clear to anyone paying attention that there’s plenty of room for content so long as it's quality. For all the press that Strike.TV has received, if we’re not out busting our asses 17 hours a day to build an audience, then that early surge of views isn’t going to earn us more than a bar tab at the next Digital LA mixer (at least the way I drink).

Pretending that it’s an “old media” vs. “new media” world is counter productive. Just because we Independents have been kept out of the game for so long, we think that Old Media is going to get hip to whats up and sidle us out of the game. Some would like to, believe you me, but they can’t. And even when they figure out how to play the game right, they still wont be able to keep independents from making a splash. Content is now, and will always be king. So let’s acknowledge that we’re all figuring this out together.

And if anyone can get me a meeting with Fred's people, I’d really appreciate it. I’ve got a part in my next project that’ll just knock his block off ;)

* Not that Kent Nichols and Tim Street haven't set their own precedent with advertisers as well.

Why we Follow Felicia: Analysis of The Guild's Success Story

Today marks the announcement of the sponsorship deal between Microsoft and Felicia Day’s The Guild. Being the smarty pants marketing genius lady she is, this announcement arrives just a day before the launch of season 2. Everyday there are a plenty of great new web shows being released, but time and again I find myself skimming through an RSS feed filled with stories about Felicia. So why, why do we (creators, fans, media) go crazy for all things Felicia and what makes her so gosh darn successful?

1. We need a Star to follow…

While web video has had seen its share of fairy tale success stories, the “happily ever after” is offline. TV gigs, feature films, that’s what the dream used to look like. It’s the dream we’re familiar with. When Felicia achieved some mainstream success in Dr. Horrible, she still continued to sweat through the little show that made her a web star to begin with. The Web community loves Felicia because she’s web grown and she’s staying here (though not exclusively). She’s the face of the new web celebrity.

2. We need precedence…

So much about the Guild sets the standard for everyone who follows. While the rest of us have floundered in a rev-share nightmare, Felicia did it right. From building an audience, to winning awards and securing sponsorship, Felicia has taught us what success on the web looks like.

3. She brought an audience with her…

It doesn’t hurt that Felicia had a multiple episode run on Buffy. Those fans are crazy! And while plenty of Buffy and WoW fans were already online, they weren’t necessarily keyed into the web video thang. With the advent of the Guild, a whole fan base of people from differing interest vectors aligned behind their new favorite show.

Youtube pulls so much traffic, it seems reasonable to concentrate on their user base exclusively. Why not? There are millions of people there already! If Felicia had been happy with the viewers the Guild gained organically through search and discovery on youtube, we wouldn’t be talking about the show today. Reaching out to different niches has been the key to success, and it’s brought a whole batch of new nerds over to the indie web scene. Thanks.

4. She’s got the right team…

Sandeep Parikh, Kim Evey and George Ruiz are all web personalities in their own right, but they’re also key members in the Guild team. Starring, producing and… agenting respectively, these three have been crucial to the Guild breaking out and becoming a full blown hit. But the help doesn’t stop there. Famously, the last half of Season 1 was financed by rabid Guild fans after initial funds dried up. Felicia may be party leader, but she’s shown us how to mobilize an army… or at least a decent sized raid party.

5. And she makes it look so easy.

Above all, Felicia brings savvy and grace to web video. She knows her stuff, hell – she helped invent it. She’s notoriously protective of her work, bargaining for the very best deal she could possibly make. It’s inspiring to listen to her tell her story, so of course news outlets love her. Seeing a well spoken, attractive, successful young woman speak on a new media panel sure as hell beats the alternative. That’s what you call star power.

The Guild may get plenty of fan and press attention, but it’s well deserved.

I guess what I’m trying to say is: Codex FTW.