How to Create A Web Series

read Part One: Pre-Production here

One night in January, I was sitting on Ashley’s couch eating Thai takeout and sifting through hundreds of headshots. I was trying to figure out who I wanted to call in for auditions for our new web series, and this was the fourth day we’d met in a row trying to figure out who her co-star would be. Ashley, a good friend whom I had written one of the lead roles for, was just as overwhelmed as I was about the sheer volume of submissions we’d received for the remaining roles.

“Unfortunately I don’t think you can’t call in everyone,” she told me as I geeked out over resumes that included credits from Hawaii Five-O and Hunger Games, and acting schools such as Carnegie Mellon.

She was right, of course. Narrowing down 600 submissions to around 20 for each of the three roles was near-impossible, but finding quality actors is so important, especially for a web series with recurring roles.

With Antidote 15, we were incredibly lucky to find the cast we did. I distinctly remember during callbacks watching Conner and Ashley read together and just knowing that they were perfect for the roles– seeing them perform the lines made everything fall into place. Not to mention after Daniel left the audition room, we decided to cast him immediately and cancel callbacks for his role since we didn’t want to see anyone else.

Casting is a great process, but it needs to be highly organized in order to run smoothly. These talented performers are taking time out of their day to come and read for you– if your audition process is a hot mess of confusion and long waits and miscommunication, you’re starting off on the wrong foot. [Read more…]

This year is my year of doing big, scary things I’ve never done before. In December, I remember walking home from class and thinking, “what challenges scare me?” I came up with two: skydiving and helming a web series.

Since skydiving is a perfectly rational fear I don’t want to tackle anytime soon, I decided to create my own web series. It’s a good challenge since I want to be a showrunner one day, and this experience will help me hone important skills, like serving some of the best crafty you’ve ever had in your life. (People who have had my chocolate chip cookies know what’s up.)

My web series is called Antidote 15, and you can read more about it here.

Before You Start, Study What Works

I’ve always been a fan of web series since I think they’re a great way to experiment with an extended narrative on a smaller scale. Since I believe in studying the craft before trying it, here are my favorite action and thriller web series I’ve watched and why I think each one is particularly good:

The Booth at the End. The web series focuses on one guy at a restaurant booth who will grant your wish if you do what he wants. Study it for it’s crafty use of one location and ability to create good mysteries and characters on a low budget.
H+. While this series is most likely more ambitious than most web series out there and has the backing of Warner Brothers and Bryan Singer, it’s still a good series to watch because it has a good hook, solid concept, and great ensemble cast. Another interesting choice made on this series: each episode is no longer than 5 minutes. The brevity makes it easier to watch on coffee breaks, although can lend itself to a choppier story. It’s an interesting choice to keep in mind.
The Bannen Way. This is a fun con man series worth the watch because of its simple but stylish execution. Once again, probably outside most productions’ budgets, but still a template to look at nonetheless.

There are many more great web series out there to study before you make your own– but that’s for another post.

3 Phases of Web Series Pre-Production

Don’t get me wrong, I love Pre-Production. The quality of every project hinges on the question of ARE YOU PREPARED FOR EVERYTHING THAT CAN AND WILL GO WRONG ONCE THE CAMERA BEGINS TO ROLL? [Read more…]