According to TVWeek, “It’s a safe bet: The Web-video world eventually will spawn a show that goes big, either becoming the Internet’s first “Friends” or leaping to the television screen and making a splash there. The question is who will be the genius behind the hit.”
TVWeek believes there are 10 web series creators with that certain something that will separate them from the wannabes. Their results are based on an online poll, reader comments at TVWeek.com and a heavy editorial thumb on the scale.
Featuring in their list are Dr Horrible’s Joss Whedon & Felicia Day
Felicia Day
Creator: Felicia Day, actress-writer-Web producer, has become the patron saint of online talent. She has one of the highest profiles among actresses working on the Web and is well-regarded by the online community that’s active on social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.
Shows: A self-proclaimed “rebel at heart,” she wrote, produced and starred in “The Guild,” an independent Web series that has garnered more than 9 million views and numerous awards. She starred alongside Neil Patrick Harris in Joss Whedon’s “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” this summer and played Vi in eight episodes of Whedon’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” on TV in 2003. Her new projects include a sitcom she’s writing for Machinima.com. “I’m most surprised about how much happier I am having my own show on the Web than when I was just another actress in Hollywood.”
Advertisers: “The Guild” is supported by fan donations, and a DVD of the show is available. “We have turned down a lot of deals because we haven’t felt the partner was a perfect fit for our vision of the show,” she said.
Distribution: The Guild is distributed at www.WatchTheGuild.com, MySpace and YouTube. The first season ran for 10 episodes and the second season launches next month.
What’s to like? “The Guild” is a wry portrayal of a group of online gamers whose dysfunctions make them lovable. The writing is tight and actors turn in surprisingly coherent performances.
What’s not to like? The show is still self-funded and has yet to land an advertiser on its own. That model has a lot of street cred, but isn’t financially viable for long. Production values need to improve to hit the level of other top-level Web shows.
Joss Whedon
Creator: Joss Whedon, a director, executive producer and Academy Award-nominated writer (“Toy Story”). He is best known as the creator of TV series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel” and “Firefly.” His newest show, “Dollhouse,” is scheduled to debut on Fox midseason.
Show: Joss Whedon crafted the breakout Web hit “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog,” about a bumbling super-villain and his crush on a young woman. The show is a 43-minute, three-part “Web musical” starring Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day. Mr. Whedon wrote the show during the writers’ strike earlier this year as a statement about “scribes striking back,” he said. “I was surprised the media took it seriously as something other than a lark, because for us it was a lark. It was a deliberate lark and a calculated good time,” he said. But he’s aware that the show has become a measuring stick for the viability of Web video. “This Web series is about the freedom to create what I want to create,” he said.
Advertisers: Advertisers for the show include run-of-site deals on Hulu, from sponsors such as Degree. The show is on track to break even soon. Revenue comes from iTunes, sales of the soundtrack, advertising deals and from an upcoming DVD release. “In a couple months we can start paying off everybody,” Mr. Whedon said.
Distribution: The show premiered in July on DrHorrible.com and also on iTunes. The show was so popular the first day it ran that it crashed servers, yet it still generated more than 2 million streams in its first five days online. The show now runs on Hulu.com.
What’s to like: Because of Mr. Whedon’s track record in Hollywood, he was able to line up top-notch actors at practically no cost for the initial six-day shoot. Both TV and Web critics have gushed over the show.
What’s not to like? The show was a one-shot deal, with no sequel or follow-up planned.
