Television shows, feature films, live sporting events - just about anything can be watched on phones, computers, tablets and a host of devices. As the new media marketplace continues to expand, so does demand for original content and opportunities for filmmakers. Online distributors such as Youtube, Hulu and Funny or Die are interested in aquiring web series that attract audiences and appeal to advertisers. Finally there is a book which provides advice and expertise to help readers create their own original, successful online series, and then market it.

Up-to-date resources for both new and professional filmmakers, specifically focused on web series productionsToday, people can watch television shows, feature films, live sports events, and just about anything they want on their computers, tablets, or phones, and as the new media marketplace continues to grow, so does demand for original content and opportunities for filmmakers. Online distributors such as YouTube, Hulu, and Funny or Die are interested in acquiring web series that attract audiences and appeal to advertisers. This guide provides advice and expertise to help readers create their own original, successful online shows—projects that can be profitable, potentially be developed into film or television properties, and help their creator to start a career in the industry. Readers will learn how to develop characters and stories designed for new media platforms, and will find tips for planning, shooting, and editing that are tailored specifically to web series production. This book also extensively covers the latest distribution platforms and social media marketing strategies, as well as examples of how to find financial sustainability through advertisers, branded content, and sponsorship partners. It has all of the tools necessary for both aspiring and experienced filmmakers to make the most of this growing new medium.

Written in a hip and entertaining style in the language of the Web generation, this book guides the aspiring videomaker to create his own series for the Internet, from an initial series idea through writing, production, and uploading and marketing a polished pilot.

Created around the world and available only on the Web, internet "television" series are independently produced, mostly low budget shows that often feature talented but unknown performers. Typically financed through online crowd-funding, they are produced with borrowed equipment and volunteer casts and crews, and viewers find them through word of mouth or by chance. The second in a first-ever set of books cataloging Internet television series, this volume covers in depth the drama and mystery genres, with detailed entries on 405 shows from 1996 through July 2014. In addition to casts, credits and story lines, each entry provides a website, commentary and episode descriptions. Index of performers and personnel are included.

Introduction: independents change the channel -- Developing open tv: innovation for the open network, 1995-2005 -- Open tv production: revaluing creative labor -- Open tv representation: reforming cultural politics -- Open tv distribution: struggling for an independent market -- Scaling open tv: the challenges of big data television -- Epilogue: open tv and the future of the networked era

How the internet transformed television Before HBO’s hit show Insecure, Issa Rae’s comedy about being a nerdy black woman debuted as a YouTube web series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, her response to the absence of diverse black characters on the small screen. Broad City, a feminist sitcom now on Comedy Central, originated as a web series on YouTube, developed directly out of funny women Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson’s real-life friendship. These unconventional stories took advantage of the freedom afforded outside the traditional television system: online. Open TV shows how we have left “the network era” far behind and entered the networked era, with the web opening up new possibilities for independent producers, entrepreneurs, and media audiences. Based on interviews with writers, producers, show-runners, and network executives, visits to festivals and award shows, and the experience of producing his own series, Aymar Jean Christian argues that the web brought innovation to television by opening up series development to new producers, fans, and sponsors that had previously been excluded. Online access to distribution provides creative freedom for indie producers, allows for more diverse storytelling from marginalized communities, and introduces new ways of releasing and awarding shows. Open TV is essential reading for anyone interested in the changing environment of television and how the internet can inspire alternatives to what’s on TV tonight.

Russian TV Series in the Era of Transition examines contemporary Russian television genres in the age of transition from broadcast to post-broadcast television. Focusing on critical debates and the most significant TV series of the past two decades, the volume’s contributors—the leading US and European scholars studying Russian television, as well as the leading Russian TV producers and directors—focus on three major issues: Russian television’s transition to digital post-broadcast economy, which redefined the media environment; Russian television’s integration into global television markets and their genre systems; and major changes in the representation of gender and sexuality on Russian television.