Shouting into the Wind Saying my piece in a windy world.

I moved over to WordPress from Blogspot over two years ago, and I JUST NOW realized that a huge number of my internal links don’t work — if you search a tag or keyword, which I have diligently added to most posts, you’ll get an old blogspot link URL – which when you click it directs you back to the homepage, since the blogspot address defaults to the domain.  So, search is pretty much useless unless you want to cut/paste/edit the URL into the address bar.

I don’t know when I’ll find the time to fix this, but I will fix it.  I actually would like people to find a few of the things I’ve written over the years.

Sigh.  I need an army of clones, preferably ones who don’t procrastinate as much as I do.

Posted under blogs

I can’t say I was really surprised by the results of my informal survey early this week.

I asked the question ‘Do you watch webseries?’

I figured that based on the percentage of views to actual comments that 90% of the people who read the question and didn’t answer WOULD answer in the negative.  The remaining 10% who did comment split about 7%/3% yes/no.

So 93% of my readers (or so) do not generally watch any webseries.  That’s what I gather.

As I said this was informal, and just because someone didn’t comment doesn’t mean they don’t watch, but I’m gonna assume that, because…well, just because.

That means I have 7% who might care about this post.

The reasons stated for why you don’t watch or what is frustrating are all valid.

The quality isn’t there.

I can’t dispute this.  The internet is a firehose.  Finding the good among all the bad…the signal to the noise — it’s not easy.

Still let’s face it, the web is democratic.  You create a vision, you distribute it, and the people decide to watch or not watch.  There are however ways to get improve your chances that someone will watch it.

I don’t know where to find webseries to watch them.

Also valid.  Much like the cable TV landscape, there are dozens and dozens of websites that act as distributors for web content, and that doesn’t count those who just put up a website to host their series without any distribution platform (although, to not use Youtube at a bare minimum seems a bit short sighted)  There are sites you’ve heard of, and a whole lot you haven’t heard of.  There are original web series – documentary, mockumentary, reality, drama, comedy, horror, animation, news…it’s just like any other “older” medium – a wide variety of series for people to enjoy.  A few are studio produced and distributed, many webseries are independent productions.  There are webseries which are directly tied to other content, whether it is a film or tv series – “The Office” and “Battlestar Galactica” are known for having webseries that run alongside or tie into their main shows.  Some have spin-off type content for web.  Some web shows have even made the jump from the web to television — “Sanctuary” started out as an episodic series on the web before Sci-Fi (pre-name change) picked it up and made it a television series.  “Children’s Hospital” on Adult Swim was a webseries on WB.com first.

Probably the best known independent productions don’t have huge stars, but have quality and devoted fans.  “The Guild” has managed to attract a large audience, which got attention from Microsoft.  Now that series is exclusively released on Microsoft XBox and MSN platforms before it hits Youtube.

Of course, most writers know about Whedon’s foray into the web during the Writer’s Strike a couple of years ago, and “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog” was born.

A series can be three episodes, or eighty.  It can have seasons or cycles, or it can stand alone, as a one shot.

The variety and flavors of webseries are vast, but the issues remain: How do I find the good ones?

Well, how do you find anything “good”?  You rely on word of mouth.  A video goes “viral” when it is shared and distributed by a swarm of people.  You post it or link to it and then some else sees it, does the same and so on… There are a few aggregators out there now, and sites like tubefilter.com try to cover the landscape of web entertainment.

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to start highlighting blogs, twitter accounts, facebook pages, and websites which try to highlight the good, find the signals among the noise.  They don’t always succeed, but you stand a better chance of finding something you like after you investigate them.

Why do I care?  No matter what, I am a storyteller first – if I can tell a story on the web and make it as good and as interesting as any independent film or tv series, I have a better shot at getting it seen eventually by a larger audience.  The power is no longer in the hands of gatekeepers – it’s in your hands, you as a creator and you, as an audience.

It’s a wild, uncharted landscape out there.  You can stake a claim.  What are you waiting for?

Me, I’m not waiting.  I’m writing a webseries.  So yeah, some of this is self-interest; I want an audience for what I make.  I want YOU to see it.  I figure I start with talking about webseries and finding some other good ones to share with you.  Then maybe together we can start making some magic happen…

Stay tuned.

Posted under writing

I won’t be making the trek to Austin Film Festival this year.  Yes, this would be the first time in 5 years I’m not going.  No, I’m not particularly happy about it.

The upside is that the day before AFF begins, making it somewhat difficult for me to travel for it, I will be returning from SOUTH AFRICA.  My friend Joe won a trip, and for some crazy reason he wants me along, so I’m going to South Africa.  I’ll probably post pictures upon my return.

Geekerati will return on nights to be determined.  We’ll be focusing more on TV.

My TV show reviews occasionally appear on Seat42F.  Enjoy.

Posted under randomness

I gave up doing the watch list, because there are now like a billion TV blogs who do this coverage better than I do.

That doesn’t mean I’ve lost interest in the numbers, the new shows, the cancellations…

So far the Cancellation Grim Reaper has claimed 2 scalps:

LONE STAR (FOX)
MY GENERATION (ABC)

Ratings are low enough that the following shows may be in danger:

OUTLAW (NBC)
THE WHOLE TRUTH (ABC)
DETROIT 1-8-7 (ABC)
LIFE UNEXPECTED (CW)
MEDIUM (CBS)

You’ll notice the last two shows on that list are returning shows.  Unfortunately their ratings indicate this may be their last rodeo.

Posted under tv news, watch list

First off, huge gratitude for those of you who were good enough to respond to my survey request – obviously this is the least scientific survey in the history of surveys, but I was happy to get any responses at all, so thank you.

Here’s the thing: I figured most of the responses I’d get would be people who do actually watch or have watched webseries.  Only a couple of people admitted to not watching them, either because of lack of interest or inability to find them.  I can only assume that the reason more people didn’t comment on the survey is that they don’t watch webseries either.  Based on the non-responses, and the actual number of page views I received since I posted the survey, it’s fair to say 90% of my visitors DO NOT WATCH WEBSERIES.

And this leaves me with a dilemma.  I have a lot I want to say about webseries, but is there an audience interested in hearing about what I have to say?  The stats say ‘no.’

I’m genuinely concerned about how to overcome the “enthusiasm gap” for scripted series which premiere online rather than on tv, in theaters, you know, “old media.”

Still, I’m gonna talk about it.  Because that’s what I do – talk about stuff.  I can’t control whether you read obviously, but I actually hope you do.

Yes, this is also my way of telling you I need one more day to begin this new series of posts.  Consider it time you can use to remind people this long dormant blog still exists.  I mean, we’ve been in the trenches a long time.

I’d do it for you…if you asked.

Posted under analysis, writing

I’ve got some posts coming up in the next few days – expect content to start flowing here again as I have a lot of different perspectives on things.

The question is this: How much attention do you pay to webseries?  Which have you watched?  Which did you like/dislike?  If you don’t watch webseries, why not?

These may lead to more questions, but I have specific reasons for asking.

Posted under analysis