Original and Online
12/11/08
The number of original online productions launching every day is astonishing, switch off the Internet for a few days and you¹ll lose track; the world of original web series is becoming one of the fastest growing parts of the international content industry reports Peter White.
Until recently, it was left to young, predominantly American, film graduates to develop and create cheap serial content for the Internet. The Screen Actors¹ Guild (SAG) estimates that over 600 web series have been produced in the US under the industry body¹s new online agreement with more than twice this number having been produced without contracts.
However, the explosion is also happening worldwide with international broadcasters and producers stepping up and developing their own series.
The addition of a few A-list stars, thanks in large part due to the Writers¹ Strike, and the early signs of corporate consolidation, have helped speed along developments.
Social networking site Bebo is leading the charge from the UK where it has launched a number of successful online series including KateModern and a local adaptation of Portuguese hit Sofia¹s Diary.
Ziv Navoth, senior VP, business development, says that at the beginning of last year, it noticed that around 1 billion videos were being screened by its users and it decided to hunt for some original content. ³There was hardly any serial content, there weren¹t a lot of storytellers that wanted to tell their stories via this medium
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12/11/08
The number of original online productions launching every day is astonishing, switch off the Internet for a few days and you¹ll lose track; the world of original web series is becoming one of the fastest growing parts of the international content industry reports Peter White.
Until recently, it was left to young, predominantly American, film graduates to develop and create cheap serial content for the Internet. The Screen Actors¹ Guild (SAG) estimates that over 600 web series have been produced in the US under the industry body¹s new online agreement with more than twice this number having been produced without contracts.
However, the explosion is also happening worldwide with international broadcasters and producers stepping up and developing their own series.
The addition of a few A-list stars, thanks in large part due to the Writers¹ Strike, and the early signs of corporate consolidation, have helped speed along developments.
Social networking site Bebo is leading the charge from the UK where it has launched a number of successful online series including KateModern and a local adaptation of Portuguese hit Sofia¹s Diary.
Ziv Navoth, senior VP, business development, says that at the beginning of last year, it noticed that around 1 billion videos were being screened by its users and it decided to hunt for some original content. ³There was hardly any serial content, there weren¹t a lot of storytellers that wanted to tell their stories via this medium
< Back to main
Email this article >
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