As a comedian, entrepreneur, writer and filmmaker, its clear Amy Rubin has never allowed anyone or anything to pigeonhole her into one role. After years of creating political videos on Capitol Hill, Rubin left to found her startup production company, Barnacle, creating video content for companies such as Vanity Fair and The Nature Conservancy. In 2013, she started her own web series, Little Horribles. Little Horribles isnt your typical web series. The slow, subtle humor of the show more closely resembles FXs Louie than something you might find on CollegeHumor. The largest demographic of the shows one million viewers lies in the 25 to 44 age range. Most of the content we produce is for this demographic that I feel is underrepresented. Theyre kind of left out of the world that is YouTube, Rubin tells Mashable. They have indie tastes. They arent, like, subscribing to channels. But they are out there and I think they want content. For aspiring filmmakers, writers and anyone who wants to create a web series, Rubin has a bit of advice that could save you plenty of time, money and headaches. 1. Writing is paramount — dont force it. If someone sent this to me, would I send it to my sister? Thats my test, Rubin says. Without an outline or a basic idea that youre passionate about, theres really no point to creating a web series in the first place. With online video, where things are shorter, I think a lot of things can be forced, she says. The lack of time for real character development and narrative arcs can lead many creators to rely too often on tropes. Rubin tries not to force any aspect of Little Horribles. 2. It doesnt have to be short, but short helps. While theres no clear answer to how long a YouTube video should be, the old standard is that viewership typically begins to drop after the three-minute mark. However, a growing number of creators, Rubin among them, arent so sure thats true anymore. If you gain trust with the audience, if you prove that youre capable of doing something, theyll watch longer content, she says. Little Horribles doesnt have a typical runtime — some episodes are five minutes long, while others go up to 11 minutes long. Length isnt an issue, Rubin says, if the audience likes what it sees. She stresses that creators shouldnt focus too much on length, as having a specific limit can put unnecessary strain on a script. [embedded content] 3. Stay a few episodes ahead of your production schedule. When I started with Little Horribles, I had six [episodes] totally done and ready to go, Rubin says. Staying multiple episodes ahead allows you to keep a consistent uploading schedule, which can help grow your viewership. Its a bad idea to make too many videos before knowing what the audiences response will be, but staying a few episodes ahead allows you to learn what your audience likes and doesnt like, as well as which lengths work best. Experimenting in the first few episodes is key. 4. Promote intelligently. You cant make shit and just throw ads at it. The biggest thing is the marketing and promotion of it. Its just as important as the content, Rubin says. If youre a creative who focuses on writing and editing more than promoting, this can be stressful — and Rubin feels your pain. Learning the ins and outs of getting people to see your work is basically a full-time job, and one she thinks is best left to an expert. With Barnacle, shes partnering her web series with others like it, allowing the two shows to feed off of one another and share audiences. I think there are ways to be sustaining other than ad sales. I think were in a place right now where people will pay for what they like with either a paywall or by paying for a service that curates this type of content, she says. While its getting more difficult to compete independently with startups and businesses on YouTube, there are still ways to create a successful series. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments. feeds.mashable/~r/Mashable/~3/kmzYyq3YEWE/
Posted on: Sun, 25 May 2014 14:00:01 +0000
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