Webisodes Dossier

1. Webisodes Dossier Michelle Dunlap Jonathan Masters Brie Manakul Lauren Quirolgico Tera Simon 5/5/2010

2. About Our Domain • Creation and Marketing of webisodes • What format "sells" the content and gets the content out best • Episodic video content • Low cost ways to distribute video • YouTube, podcasts, websites, iTunes, aggregators

3. Status • Digital video is rapidly outrunning network media • Major issues with Webisodes • target the right audience • hold their attention enough to bring them back • video quality • Major Players: YouTube, NBC Digital, and Funny or Die

4. Trends • Webisodes are short form pieces amateur and professional creators. • Developments in mobile content viewing will change the viewing

5. Careers • Convergence of digital technology and online media • Webisdoes being created at a furious rate • Early entrants learned tough lessons Producers Directors Editors Assistant Editors Assistant Producers Opportunities Programers Talent Compression Experts Social Media Gurus Marketers Bloggers/Writers

6. Money • Profit is elusive • Cost of production varies • Sources vary • No clear pattern for monetizing sparkcapital 1. Service Sellers 2. Products 3. Affiliate Programs 4. SiteSell 5. Google AdSense 6. GoogleCash 7. Newsletters 8. E-books / Seminars

7. Organizations • Web television is still a very disorganized field • Evolving Field

8. andmore AND MORE Markets, Conferences, and Festivals NAB TechCrunch 50 Conference Digital Hollywood The Ajax Experience • 3GSM World Conference Advertising 2.0  CES SXSW Media Summit Produced by Conference CTIA Wireless  Blog World Expo 

9. Case Studies • VIDEO

10. Case Studies - Productions • The nature of webisodes is varied. In our case studies we have examined productions from a professional TV content producer, a solely webisodes focused company, an open amateur distribution company and a startup for independent company. – • Mutant Enemy, the creator of buffy the vampire slayer, creates narrative musical fiction Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog • Eqal created Lonelygirl15, a fictional video journal series. To this day it is the highest viewed web series to date. • Albino black sheep allows ametuer and independent content producers to showcase their animated webisodes series’.

11. Case Studies - Company financial information • Mutant Enemy began as a traditional television production company and is now creating stand-alone pieces for the web. Joss Whedon spent 200k on his series out of pocket. • Eqal - The creators of LonelyGirl15, who knew nothing about making webisodes, raised $5 million in Series A from Spark Capital and individuals to help officially form EQAL. • Albino BlackSheep pays featured artists to contribute work while paying to amateur creators through contests and open calls for specific pieces commissioned by outside sources.

12. Case Studies – Hiring Practices • Mutant Enemy has a traditional staff and hires through trainee program. • Equal The full time staff for EQAL is at about eight team members. They hire internally or on contract when new projects come in. Because of the nature of their work, they have found themselves needing to adapt their product when necessary. 

13. Summary • Content for webisodes is varied as is the mode of production • They are a high risk investment with little control over the temporal and special viewing possibilities. • They tend to be less formulaic in design than film or television. • They may become the next viable market for content creators as technology advances.

14. Thank you!