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Posts Tagged ‘funding’

5 More Reasons To Create a Web Series

August 30th, 2011

More and more traditional and newbie filmmakers are jumping into the web series production world, faster than ever before. You may already know why creating a web series is a good idea, but below I list some reasons that you possibly haven’t considered on why creating a web series is definately a solid idea!

1. You can do a lot with very little – Creating a web series is extremely low cost compared to creating a TV series. With more options than ever before for financing and funding a web series, Kickstarter and other donation sites are becoming (some) filmmakers best friends. Sure, raising hundreds or thousands of dollars is never an easy assignment, but if you have a compelling story to tell and can emotionally connect with funding individuals with money to burn, then crowdfunding may work especially well for your project. If you can’t raise the ideal funding you’re looking for from the outside world, then consider hustling for a few bucks from your friends, family, and out of your own pocket to send things into motion. Be scrappy and creative because entertaining videos can be created for little or no money at all, and have the potential to reach millions of viewers across the world.

2. Cross Promotion – Individuals in the web series space are very open to cross promotional ideas if it means growing their audience. If you create a web series look for other shows in your genre and reach out to the creators/producers to strike up some top level marketing conversations. Don’t go overboard though otherwise your viewers will feel used and abused. Try to come off as offering them value for discovering new entertaining content that may interest them to watch and share. Be authentic, and listen.

3. No gatekeepers –  It seems pretty fun and exciting to think about creating a TV series doesn’t it?! The truth is it’s a tough business to get into, the chances of your show getting picked up are pretty much zero percent, and if it does get picked up the chances of it staying “on air” after just one season are slim to none and slim just left the station. With a web series you have lots of freedom, so put together a tight script, and start building your team with members who can visually execute your story and fulfill your vision. If you need to build a team, then consider posting your project on Spidvid to leverage our community’s unique talents and skills.

4. No rules – You don’t need to worry about securing FCC approvals, or bureaucratic stumbling blocks. As long as you don’t break video sharing website’s terms of agreements, then you’re fine. You may want to read up on them real quick before you film anything to make sure your content will fit within their relatively loose restrictions. There may come a day when more red flags are raised forcing you to tone things down a bit, but that time isn’t happening anytime soon so get creative and push the envelop.

5. You may actually succeed – Let’s be honest here; not many web series see big time success. The ones that do have hundreds of thousands or millions of regular viewers, and manage to secure deals with top consumer brands to bake their products directly into the content. Branded entertainment is a fast growing market, so be sure that your content is “brand safe” and that you can easily accommodate a product in your story without disrupting it.

Have a 6th reason to add on why to create a web series? The comments are all yours below!

If this post inspires you to create a web series, then please contact us and share your story!

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Jeremy Campbell Lists, resources , , , , , , , , , ,

The Spidvid Creator Initiative

December 8th, 2010

Been thinking up creative ways to increase projects on Spidvid, provide some extra incentives for video creators, and get the Spidvid community more engaged with new opportunities.

So today we are launching an initiative for current and future Spidvid creators where we act as a video project producer.

Here’s how the Spidvid Creator Initiative works:

- A video concept or script must be submitted to us and pre-approved.

- Each created video should be 1-5 minutes in length.

- Each video needs to have good original entertainment and production value.

- Each video must be ad-friendly for brands.

- Since collaboration is at our core, each video must be created with at least one Spidvid community member. A team member can quickly and easily get a free Spidvid profile.

- $50-$500 will be provided for each project budget.

- The video creators and his or her teams will be given 25%-50% of the content ownership.

These are the key points of our Spidvid Creator Initiative as of today. There will be likely changes over time, and so updates will be well communicated here on our blog, in our newsletter, and via Twitter and Facebook. If you have any questions please contact us, or post a comment below.

Jeremy Campbell Visionary, community , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Spidvid Crowdfunding

December 1st, 2010

We have donated to many filmmaker’s and entrepreneur’s fundraising projects on IndieGoGo and KickStarter. It makes us feel really good to help fund new ideas, scripts, projects, and most importantly remarkable people making remarkable things happen.

Spidvid is based on the simple concept of people helping people to create new video entertainment. We looked at IndieGoGo and really liked the community of people they have who generously donate to projects of all kinds including web series, short films, new technologies, food, gaming, art, and other interesting endeavors.

I’ve known about crowdfunding for a couple years now, but didn’t really consider applying the model to help Spidvid’s community grow, and invest into new video entertainment development until recently. This is about connecting with good people who want to see Spidvid thrive and turn into something special.

If you want to show your support for evolving the Web’s open and collaborative video production ecosystem then please visit our funding page. If you donate we have some pretty interesting rewards you can earn, including a Spidvid advisor opportunity. If you can’t personally donate then please share our IndieGoGo project link with your friends, colleagues, followers, and fans. Thanks for investing into the future of open and collaborative video production.

Jeremy Campbell New Project, community , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Donate to Missed Connections Live

June 18th, 2010

Many video creators and filmmakers struggle with raising funds to fully produce their video, film, or show. KickStarter is a brilliant one year old platform (it’s still a baby) that allows individuals to raise money for their projects, and offer gifts and rewards to the funders for their contributions.

Melissa Center is a Spidvid member who is seeking to raise $8,000 to create new episodes to compliment the 10 she has already produced on a $0 budget. She also wants to further brand, market, and promote her Missed Connections Live web series. $4,660 has been raised to date with another $3,340 to go with just 64 hours left to raise that amount. You can give as low as $10 to help make the show bigger and better. She has done very well with no money at all, so just imagine what she could do with a few thousand dollars, the possibilities are endless.

I think the show idea is brilliant because I’ve also wondered if the “Missed Connections” section was worthwhile on Craigslist. Each episode examines a unique situation, in some cases for romance, and in some cases for road rage as shown below.

Supporting good people is a core value of Spidvid, so it feels really good to have donated to Melissa’s project so she can make Missed Connections Live episodes well into the future. If you have a couple minutes, and a little money to help make dreams come true, then please donate to this KickStarter project now. Good luck Melissa, Spidvid salutes you.

Jeremy Campbell Good Wishes, community , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,