Matthew Weiner on writing the Mad Men pilot (at 46:42):
I couldn’t get my hands on a one-hour script. I’d never read one even. I didn’t know about act breaks. I knew about act breaks from half hour. I knew I didn’t want to do them. I knew they wasted a lot of the audiences’ time.
This is a really interesting little interview with Matt. Watch it.
On Thursday June 16th, 2011, I’m sitting on a panel called Winning Hearts and Minds: The Human Element of Transmedia. Anthea Foyer is moderating and I’ll be sitting between two Jasons: Jason Leaver and Jason Gilmore. We’re in Regency D/E at 10:45.
On Friday June 17th at 9:30, I’m moderating Business Models for Web Series. The fabuloso panel includes Rob Mills, Tom Reynolds, Christopher Guest and Elize Morgan. This one is also in Regency D/E.
Everything is taking place at the Hyatt Regency at 370 King West in Toronto.
And don’t forget the Toronto Web Series Community Meetup, Thursday June 17 at 8 at the Monarch Tavern!
You can listen to our conversation about web series and a whole lot more on Oh What A Tangled Web Series We Weave.
We talk endlessly in the digital space about monetizing. But some of my most trusted advisors have advised me to build a community around my work first and that the money will follow.
The thing is the conversation is so overwhelmingly about business models that we don’t spend enough time talking about promoting our projects and building communities around them. How does an independent creator build a buzz?
My good friend Julie Giles has been giving me a lot of advice on how to raise the profile of Ruby Skye P.I. and now, she’s written a book for the Independent Production Fund on that very subject.
HOW TO BUILD AN AUDIENCE FOR YOUR WEB SERIES: Market, Motivate and Mobilize is like having Julie on staff — except for the fact that you still have to do everything yourself. 🙂
But seriously, there’s a lot of wisdom here for web series creators to take heed of. Lots of practical advice that you can start taking on day 1 or whatever day today turns out to be.
The book covers everything: building a website, SEO, press releases, social media marketing, analytics, awards and festivals, community development. It’s all there in short, easy-to-read language that even the most exhausted web series creator can read through.
There’s an eight month timetable and some rough budget estimates.
How much, you ask? Free thanks to the good folks at the Independent Production Fund. Download it here, pour yourself a cup of coffee and dig in. Great advice.
And I do truly believe that if you build an audience, the money will follow.
Yesterday,Ruby Skye P.I. was featured on Wired’s Geek Dad.
It’s a fabulous piece written by James Floyd Kelly
Do you know what a hockey stick looks like? That’s what our stats are looking like at this very moment. Talk about a spike in traffic.
Wired! How lucky are we, eh?
Actually, it wasn’t really luck that got us on Wired. There was a little luck involved, but a lot of hard work too. And nothing that revolutionary either.
Want big traffic? Go out and get it. Or rather, sit your ass down in your chair, wire yourself into the web and start asking for it.
I’ve been spending my days reading blogs, looking for places that might write about my web series. When I find a likely candidate, I read some posts. If there are multiple writers, I read their work to try to figure out which of them would be most be interested in my series.
The really hard work is finding email addresses for many bloggers. It takes research and perseverance.
Then I craft an email. I try to be personal, to tailor it to the interests of the blogger I’m reaching out to and to show the blogger what about my content might appeal to their readers. Because I’m writing about kid content, I try to figure out if their kids are the right age to enjoy the series. Any hook I can find, I use.
I fire off the email, record the name, email address and blog URL for my records and then I search for another potential blog.
I do this for hours and days at a time.
The response rate is dismally, depressingly low. But I love Ruby Skye P.I. I know that anyone who takes a look at it will love it too. All I have to do is convince them to take that first look.
Lately, I’ve been successful at getting Ruby Skye P.I. featured on a number of blogs not just Wired.
The amazing Parenting blogger Susan Heim has a post and a give-away going on right now.
And delightful Ottawa area Mommy-blogger, Alyssa at A Motherhood Experience has also done a terrific review of Ruby Skye P.I. You’ve got another chance at winning Ruby swag over there!
And edu-blogger and high school teacher Zoe French wrote a lovely piece about the educational potential of Ruby in the classroom a couple of weeks ago.
Yes, there’s luck involved: connecting to just the right person who takes the story the extra distance. But mostly, it’s a numbers game… one, which if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to!
Check out the amazing write up on Ruby Skye P.I. on Wired‘s Geek Dad blog. Written by James Floyd Kelly, the post includes a review of the web series and a long interview with me. And yes, I have too much to say, but how often do you get a chance to be on Wired?!!
Read the rest of the piece on Wired!
Are you going to NXNE Interactive?
I am.
I’ll be on two panels.
Winning Hearts and Minds: The Human Element of Transmedia is Thursday June 16, 2011 from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. Anthea Foyer is moderating and I’ll be seating between two Jasons, Jason Leaverand Jason Gilmore. I think it’s going to be great. When we met up to plan the session, we couldn’t stop talking to each other and it was incredibly interesting.
The following day, Friday June 17 at 9:30 a.m. I’m moderating the Writers Guild of Canada sponsored panel called Business Models for Webseries. The panelists are Rob Mills, Christopher Guest, blip.tv’s Tom Reynolds and Elize Morgan.
Everything’s taking place at the Hyatt Regency at 370 King West in Toronto. Both sessions will be in Regency D/E.
And don’t forget the Toronto Web Series Community Meetup the night of the 16th!
It should be great. Hope to see you there!
But if you can’t make it, there’s always Storytelling X.1 the following week… That’s right, there is no shortage of events to get me out of the house this June!
CANADIAN WEB SERIES RUBY SKYE, P.I. WINS BIG AT LAWEBFEST LOS ANGELES FESTIVAL RECOGNIZES TORONTO TWEEN WEB SERIES WITH EIGHT AWARDS
IN MULTIPLE CREATIVE CATEGORIES, INCLUDING “OUTSTANDING INTERACTIVE NARRATIVE COMEDY”
TORONTO, ON, [MARCH 31, 2011] – Tween Web series, Ruby Skye, P.I., was a big winner at the Los Angeles Web Series Festival (aka LA Webfest) over the weekend scooping-up multiple awards for its creators in the “Interactive Narrative Comedy” category, including the top award for “Outstanding Interactive Narrative Comedy”. Ruby Skye, P.I. is produced by Toronto-based, Story2OH, and features local teen Madison Cheeatow as quick-thinking tween detective, Ruby Skye.
“This project has been a labour of love for everyone involved,” said Ruby Skye, P.I. creator and producer, Jill Golick. “It is a thrill to see this amazing team be acknowledged for their outstanding work and commitment.”
Created especially for 8 to 14 year olds, Ruby Skye, P.I. tells the story of 15-year old would-be detective Ruby Skye (Madison Cheeatow) who spends every waking hour madly pursuing all sorts of peculiar clues her eccentric collection of friends and neighbours inspire. The first installment of the series, “The Spam Scam”, can be viewed online at rubyskyepi.com
Ruby Skye, P.I. was the recipient of eight awards in total, including:
• Outstanding Interactive Narrative Comedy: Jill Golick (Creator); Kerry Young, Steven Golick, Karen Walton, Jill Golick (Producers)
• Outstanding Lead Actress – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Madison Cheeatow
• Outstanding Supporting Actress – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Nawa Nicole Simon
• Outstanding Writing – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Julie Strassman-Cohn, Jill Golick
• Outstanding Directing – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Kelly Harms
• Outstanding Cinematography – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Alex Dacev
• Outstanding Editing – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Jennifer Essex-Chew, Ben Manthorpe,Mike Reisacher, Tiffany Beaudoin
• Outstanding Score – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Studio Cat, Composer
Ruby Skye, P.I. is created by TV writer, Jill Golick, and produced by Kerry Young, Steven Golick and Karen Walton. The 12-part Web series was financed through the Independent Production Fund?s Web Series program.
LA Webfest is the world?s first festival dedicated to original shows created for the Web. Over 50 Web series from around the world were screened over the three days of the event, which is held annually in Los Angeles, CA.
ABOUT RUBY SKY, P.I. – https://rubyskyepi.com/ Ruby Skye, P.I.: The Spam Scam is a production of Story2.Oh and is produced with the participation of The Independent Production Fund and, the generous support of sponsors in corporate Canada, local small businesses, organizations and the creative contributions of many, many independent film, video and digital artists. These include: Berman & Co. Ltd., The Dragon Academy, Eastern Script Inc., Steven Golick at Osler, Polaroid, Post City Sound, PS Production Services, Studio Cat Sound & Music, Rocket Science VFX, TEACH Magazine, Fat Cat Wine Bar, The Big Chill, Believerville Productions, Choroid Films, Inkling Entertainment Inc., GreenHAT Digital, Montefiore Films, Brendan Meadows Photography Inc., Richard Maslove Music, Film & Event Solutions, Total Two-Way – Motorola, Trew Audio, Office Coffee Solutions. And with the support of our distributors: KoldCast, MingleMediaTV, Blip.TV, DigitalChickTV, Clicker.
ABOUT STORY2.OH – https://www.jillgolick.com/ At Story2.OH is a Toronto-based production company. Stepping beyond the television model, Story2.OH combines video, photos, graphics, blogs and more to create the next generation of Web serial.
For more information, contact: Jill Golick, Story2.OH E-mail: jillgolick [at] rubyskyepi [dot] com
Please email Jill Golick at [email protected] for all other inquiries.
