If You Build It Will They Come? Creating Content in the Online Space by Nathaniel Halpern

In 2007, I first heard about the concept of a web series and at the time it appeared to be a vague and undefined platform for content (not much has changed on that front) – but it also seemed like a great opportunity since it is quite rare for a new storytelling medium to present itself.

What I have gathered from attending new media functions and panels with “experts” is that content creators in general want to know – how can I be branded? How can I sell my content? How many views would my content need to get the attention of film and television studios? These are valid questions. But I find they are more often than not asked prematurely. In today’s do it yourself environment it is important to be as business savvy as possible but I no longer find that to be the weakness for content creators. Most of them, like me, ravenously consume every new media article that they can find, knowing that this is a period of trial and error and that the online distribution model is rapidly changing and evolving with varying results. What I find is lost in the shuffle is the desire of content creators to do something innovative in terms of not only the content, but also the manner in which it is presented.  For the medium of web series to mature, content creators must first carve out the unique value to be found within the platform. As of right now, the web series landscape is littered with content that has been unceremoniously dumped onto Youtube and plays more like a poor man’s sitcom than an exciting and creative new form of entertainment. If web series are to have a future and not just be a curious footnote in online distribution, there will need to be a shift towards experimentation with the varying creative tools available online rather than mimicking content which people already have available through more conventional means. With this perspective in mind, my partners and I set out to create Looking For Grace.

Looking For Grace was conceived as an online experience rooted in 10 chapters (or episodes) and aims to take full advantage of the storytelling tools that are unique to the web.  While the series can be found distributed on Youtube (since the majority of people are already accustomed to watching content there), we spent a great deal of time building a home site atwww.lookingforgrace.com which is hand crafted to not only enhance the experience of watching the individual episodes but to also create a fully developed world that can be explored. Taking advantage of blogging as an online creative tool, the site features a newspaper blog that posts news items from the fictional town the series is set in and a careful reader will be able to glean continued storylines for the characters in the show(lookingforgrace.com/gazette.php).  In addition, visitors can stream audible diary entries from a character named Mystery Girl. One diary entry in particular documents the character’s reaction to a scene in episode 4 after she has made a hasty exit(lookingforgrace.com/mysterygirl.php).  There are several more features housed on the site, including a hidden video puzzle page, but the guiding principle for all of these endeavors was that they brought an added value to the experience of Looking For Grace and not only expanded upon what has been seen in the series but also informs a users viewing of the show if they explore the above mentioned content first.

Since the site has gone live we have learned many lessons about general online user habits and how people navigate and interact with online content – some features proving more successful than others. We have also found that our facebook page(www.facebook.com/LookingForGrace) has proven to be the most useful forum to communicate with fans of the series and notify them of new content. More than anything, a strong lesson learned has been that it is near impossible to have a user’s full attention online. More than likely they will have other windows open wherein they’re checking their email, chatting with friends, etc… Perhaps this will change as more and more people use their televisions like computers and the “experience” of watching content will become comparable to watching a film or a TV show in terms of attention level. All in all, the only thing that is certain is that it is a very uncertain time in terms of distribution for both monetary gain and reaching a large audience – which is why I encourage content creators to explore the creative possibilities that are to be mined within the actual content at the same time as figuring out how to monetize it.