Web video content has evolved over the past couple of years and is now of much higher quality than ever before. Forget videos of dogs chasing frisbees, the future is high-quality, professionally produced Web content.
The Web is now chock-a-block with video of all sorts. From the virals on YouTube, the television content on sites such as Joost and Hulu, to embedded video commenting.
Original Content
But by far the most exciting element of the current surge in online video is originally produced content. I actually think this is where the money is, with producers able to generate revenue directly or indirectly from their Web productions.
We’ve already seen how Fred has become a Web phenomenon due to the viral nature of the quirky clips from youngster Lucas Cruikshank. Though currently only on YouTube, Cruikshank has earned well over $30,000 for his efforts so far.
Doctor Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog
But while Cruikshank is just an amateur, the man behind Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon, certainly isn’t. Which means his new Web-only show, Doctor Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog, has a chance of making some serious money.
Whedon decided to make the show when the recent writers strike prevented him from writing for any Hollywood studio. Instead, he decided to finance and produce his own show purely for the Internet. An interesting decision seeing as the writers strike was mainly over concerns from writers about their content being put on the Web, and them seeing no revenue from it.
With help from his brothers and friends in the industry, Whedon produced the three-part 40 minute long Doctor Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog – a pop culture reference laden comedy musical.
Streaming Free – Pay To Download
Whedon put the show on its own website for free in the middle of July and the response was so phenomenal (200,000 hits per hour caused the servers to crash) that Whedon decided there could actually be some money in this venture.
The show is still available to stream for free through drhorrible.com, which redirects to Hulu, but it is also available to download through Apple iTunes. Each episode costs $1.99 or the whole thing is available for $3.99.
Web Breeding Ground
While this alone may not be enough for Whedon to make the estimated $100,000 he invested in the show, a proposed DVD release of the show certainly would. Not bad for a show that was made due to boredom, and not for profit.
The success of Whedon’s show will hopefully inspire other producers to use the Web as a breeding ground for new shows. While the productions may end up on other mediums, if the Internet is used as a starting point then the future of Web TV is assured.
Related Ad
Buy ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer – Collector’s Set’ from Amazon
