Launch with a Bang!

[An excerpt from our article in the March/April 2008 issue of Script Magazine.]

As the world of online video becomes more crowded, it is taking more effort than ever to ensure the success of any new web series. A few creators are standing out from the crowd, however, because they are embracing new techniques to promote their work. Gone are the days of “just posting it to YouTube.” These new media producers are learning that publicity is just as necessary online as it is in traditional media. More importantly, they are discovering that marketing can be as creative as the work they’re promoting.

Hayden Black applied the lessons he learned while launching Good Night Burbank, a parody of local news, to his new web series Abigail’s X-Rated Teen Diary to ensure its success. “People still think that you just have to write something and shoot it, but that is about 1/16th of the job,” he says. “Not only are you producing, casting, and directing, but then you have to start working the marketing angle, getting it out there, building up your online presence, and all the rest of it.”

The Guild quickly built a following in late 2007 thanks to the planning and hard work of producers Felicia Day, Jane Selle Morgan, and Kim Evey. Day, who also wrote and stars in the series, focused the story around a group of online gamers in hopes of capturing the attention of millions of hardcore online gaming fans. “You can’t just make something generic and expect it to stand out on the Internet,” she says, “it needs to resonate with someone.”

Start Like a Marketer

In the online world, viewers have short attention spans, high expectations, and infinite choices, so every little marketing decision matters.

In creating Abigail, Black was focused on marketing from the beginning—even when naming the show. He chose the name “Abigail” because it would put the show at the top of alphabetical lists, and despite being named “X-rated,” the show is anything but. “Not only is the show not X-rated, it’s not even PG-rated,” Black says, “I added it to make it sure it caught your eye.”

Abigail is also unique because of its regular delivery schedule and short episode length. With an eye on keeping production costs to a minimum, Black shot footage for sixty one-minute episodes prior to launching the series. “I asked myself, ‘How cheaply can I make these, and how often can I make them?’” Black comments, “I knew that the more content I had, the better I’d do. It gives online viewers a place to go with more regularity, and since it’s only a minute, it doesn’t really infringe on your day.”

For Day, Morgan, and Evey, the concept behind The Guild appealed to an already active online audience. Day, an avid online gamer, wrote a full 22-minute script, and considered shooting it as a pilot for television. “But we thought, ‘let’s put it online,’ because that’s what it’s about,” she says. Morgan follows, “we didn’t have the budget to shoot the whole script at once, so we just decided to shoot the first act of the pilot—and that became the first three episodes.”

The team also balanced production values and affordability. The first three episodes of The Guild were shot over a long weekend at two of the producers’ homes. “At the end of the day, you have to make it worth your while,” says Day.

Read the rest of the article by buying the magazine on your local newsstand or at ScriptMag.com!

See our other work from the March/April 2008 issue of Script Magazine:

• The Future of Distribution
• The Future of Attention Spans

View Related Posts:

• The Future of Attention Spans
• PR Tips Adapated from Tech Startups
• The Future of Distribution