Article published by
Jeremy Campbell who's the Founder and President
Spidvid. Spidvid is where video producers hire cast, crew, pre-production, and post-production talent, manage projects from start to finish, and network with thousands of individuals in the video production space. You can grab a free profile at
Spidvid.com now!
The 12 Step Process To Successfully Producing Web Series:
1.
Be passionate about the story you want to tell. Don’t
create something just because you think other people will like it. In
other words, if you hate Musicals, don’t make a “Glee” style program
because it’s popular.
2.
Don’t try to do every job yourself. It sounds prestigious
to be a Writer-Producer-Director-Actor-Editor…until you realize that if
no one else is a part of your project it means either a) you’re a
control freak, or b) you couldn’t sell anyone else on your idea. Your
project WILL be better if you use your passion to bring others together
to create it–provided that you:
3.
Assemble the right team to bring your project to life. That
doesn’t mean find people who think exactly like you, and who know
exactly what you know. It means find people who have complementary ideas
to yours and skills that you don’t. It’s scary to do this–you’ll see
your project become something different from what you first conceived,
but its life force will grow exponentially as more people add their
inspirations to yours.
4.
Organize the team like a business. Define roles clearly,
have regular meetings with agendas, action items and deadlines, and
create a level of accountability. Even if no one is getting paid,
setting a professional tone will help keep things on track and encourage
the team to continue to take their jobs seriously.
5. S
et a schedule, and do your best to stick to it. As early
as you can, decide when the key steps of production will be done: When
will the script be finalized? Pre-production begin? Principal
Photography? When will the final product be ready to post? Of course,
things will happen that may change your schedule, but creating a
timeline and setting goals will keep you and your team from losing
motivation, and it will prevent having an unreasonable number of steps
to take all at once.
6.
Research where you want to publicize your finished product.
You may think it’s too early to worry about that if you’re just
starting pre-production, but it isn’t. There are dozens of sites that
host and promote independently created content, and they are all
different. Some will allow anyone to post, whereas others require
submission and acceptance like a film festival. Some are considered more
prestigious than others, or specialize in specific genres (Like
www.Scifinal.com.
They stick to Science Fiction, obviously.) Knowing your target
distribution site(s) will help you plan, and remind you to keep the
genre and/or quality requirements in mind, so that when you’re finished
you can post your project in the most prestigious locations possible,
draw a large audience who likes your topics, and potentially court
sponsors.
7.
Develop a community around your project from the start.
Even back in the days when film festivals were the only way to get your
work seen, smart producers spread the word about their films whenever
and however they could That way, there was already an audience waiting
to get into their screenings when they played at festivals. It was much
harder then, but now you have the Internet. Use it! A lot. Blog,
Tweet, and Facebook, about your project. Be careful not to just barrage
people with promotional messages, but make it interesting to become part
of your project’s community. Have a contest, give away merchandise,
invite others to contribute creatively, offer parts in your show,
whatever you can do without jeopardizing the quality of your work.
8.
Become part of the community of creators. The mechanics of
production have become much easier since the advent of consumer cameras
and editing systems, so a heck of a lot of people are making things and
posting them online. Quality and professionalism varies quite a bit, so
find some shows/films/sites that you respect, and develop relationships
with the creators. Most of them are doing what I recommended in step 7,
so you can find them all over the place, like Twitter, Facebook,
Spidvid, etc. At
this point in the evolution of online entertainment, we all want to
encourage the world at large to take us seriously and introduce more
people to quality independent online productions. So, even though there
is an element of competition, most creators are excited to connect with
others who have a similar goal.
9.
Use resources where you live. Many large and mid size city
governments have a Film Commission or Media department that can help
with locations, permits, etc., and many places have private
organizations that are dedicated to helping artists. I live in Toronto
where we are lucky to have several places to look to. Look around– it’s a safe bet that no matter where you live, there are places not too far away that can offer some support.
10.
Don’t spend all your own money! If you’re trying to be a
professional, you can’t just self-finance your work. If you want to
build a career, you need to show that you can convince others to invest
in your vision, and spend that money wisely. Unless you’re established
already, or have lots of wealthy patrons, you will likely have to spend
some of your own money; but don’t neglect crowdfunding outlets such as
indiegogo.com and
kickstarter.com.
There are other creative ways to raise funds as well, including
pursuing product placement sponsorships. So see what others are doing,
and decide how you can preserve your own Retirement Fund and still make
your project.
11.
Don’t get discouraged. Things will not always go well.
People you were depending on will back out, time and money will be
limited, shoots will go poorly, and you’ll wonder if anyone really cares
about this thing you’re making. That’s a normal part of production, so
roll with it. I don’t mean keep a false sense of positivity–recognize
what went wrong, figure out why, and take steps to prevent it from
happening again. But don’t let it derail your project. Leadership is
very important. If you can show that positive action is being taken to
make things better, your team will stick with you, and help you move
forward to better days.
12.
Expect Success. This is your chance. If you followed Step
1, you chose to commit to making something that you dream about a
reality. Don’t skimp on that. Use your passion to draw together the most
talented collaborators and know that you CAN find the time and money
that you need to produce your project. Don’t let people tell you what
can’t be done. Evaluate challenges realistically, but keep the attitude
that you WILL do what you set out to do. If you find you can’t go over
an obstacle, go around it. Expect to complete your project, draw
millions of fans, and get funding for your next idea. Take comfort in
the fact that many before you have done it, and strive to do it even
better than they did.
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