WHAT THE HELL IS NEW MEDIA?
by Brent on Mar.25, 2009, under Fresh Produce
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked this question I would have about ten dollars. Which, in this economy, is not a bad living. But after much research and pondering of this question… I don’t know. Seriously. I have no idea what New Media is. The online landscape is just too expansive and too fluid to accurately define it yet…
One could argue that New Media is the next iteration of Old Media1. But I would argue that New Media is actually the progeny of TV and Videogames. Serialized entertainment with interactive ambitions. In terms of specific characteristics, though, we’re still in the evolutionary stage, waiting for natural selection to refine the medium and, most importantly, the business model. We’re waiting for my new favorite term – a durable mutation. And until one arises, we lack agreement reality. A consensus view of New Media that content producers, distributors and advertisers alike all buy into.
1My colleague, Jeff Koenig @ http://broadcastassassin.com, doesn’t like the term Old Media because: “Old Media is not a grandpa sitting on the porch rooting for the new generation… it’s a lion in the grass waiting for the calf to get fat enough to be worth eating.” His point is well taken, but I like “Old Media” better than “Predatory Media.” Just makes me feel less… anxious.
If I was smart, I’d end this post right here. Admitting I’m like everybody else in this field who doesn’t know what New Media is. Unfortunately, I’m just dumb enough to believe I’ve learned something these last three years at EFE making webseries. So while we’re waiting (impatiently) for evolution to separate the proverbial wheat from the chaff, let me at least share a few ideas on what I personally think New Media should be:
AUTHENTIC
The internet is an equal opportunity distribution platform. Anyone with something to say can potentially grab the attention of millions. But ask yourself these questions: Do you have something worthwhile to say? A story that only you can tell? A story you are willing to pour your heart, soul and maybe even your savings into?
If the answer to all the above is “Hell yeah! I’m gonna own your sorryass company!” then you might have the chutzpah it takes to survive in this space. So please read on…
The internet is a 24 hr. public access channel with no standards and practices, no restrictions or rules. Everything goes, and anything can catch fire overnight. Old Media has made a decent living copy-catting success (can you say “procedural?”) and remaking anything with a clean chain of title. But on the internet the cultural currents are changing so fast there’s no point trying to predict what will be popular. I say abandon your expectations for success and, instead, focus on creating something singular. Something uniquely “you.” New Media is the perfect vehicle for passion projects.
Both “Afterworld” and “Gemini Division” were stories I wanted to tell for years. Stories more personal and more idiosyncratic than Old Media is usually willing to embrace. But they were stories I simply could not let die. This will no doubt sound corny, but bringing those shows to life was never about the money for me; the money was simply a means to squeeze more of my vision, and those of my collaborators, into the viewing experience. Truth is, I worked much harder (and for much less upfront money) on both of those webseries than I ever did during my 15 years toiling in Hollywood.
I believe that persistence of vision and purity of voice are key ingredients to success in New Media. Fresh is good, but authentic is the new cool. The long-standing division between content and creator has evaporated – you are your project online. Today’s fans can smell bullshit a virtual mile away. If you want them to care, you need to care (at least) twice as much. Don’t be scared of sincerity. Real passion is infectious. Share yourself with your audience. But most of all, really love what you do. Because making a good living in this New Media business can be, uh… challenging.
TARGETED
Repeat after me: “Niche is good. Niche is your friend. Niche rhymes with quiche.”
Unlike television which employs a “broadcast” approach, the strength of the internet is its ability to “narrowcast.” To target a specific audience of like-minded individuals, not just a general age group or socio-economic bracket. Whatever niche your show falls into there is a very good chance a corresponding audience already exists online and can be accessed through various social networks, community forums and blog rings. That audience may not be huge, but if you engage them properly, they will be loyal.
Most web creators do not have marketing degrees, let alone marketing budgets. But it does not take a rocket scientist to connect with your niche. Over the course of two webseries we have learned the hard way that cultivating an audience in New Media requires more than the tried-and-true methods of Old Media. Simply turning on the hype machine is no longer enough. In fact, it can be counter-productive. After all, nothing screams “unauthentic” more than the big Hollywood spin machine.
For our third webseries, “Woke Up Dead,” we are taking a New Media approach. The show is a “zomedy” (zombie+comedy) starring Jon Heder. If you Google “zombie” you’ll notice there is already quite a large fanbase of the genre. So we are going to begin now – in pre-production – connecting with that fanbase using one of the show’s main characters. Starting dialogues, adding to discussions, aggregating links on our show site and, eventually, posting teaser videos from our show. Our hope is that, rather than waiting for an audience to find our show, we will build an audience through interaction.
Whatever your niche may be, as web creators you have a unique opportunity to reach out to your audience and mold your show to fit their taste. In this way you make your fans stakeholders in the content. You give them pride of ownership and a reason to spread their passion about your series. In essence, your audience becomes your marketing department. A more powerful resource than even money can buy.
INNOVATIVE
For the most part, webseries cannot compete with the production values of film, TV or videogames. You can compete, though, in ways that don’t necessarily require money.
I’m not just talking about the kind of story you tell, but also how you tell that story.
“Afterworld” was originally conceived as a live-action TV series. The story generated plenty of interest in Hollywood, but the practical reality was that a post-apocalyptic road show (a series without any standing sets) would be far too expensive. Rather than compromise our vision, my partners and I decided to expand our vision online. Where there are no preconceptions about what will or won’t work. What’s possible or impossible. Where imagination is your only real limitation.
Yes, money can define the box you’re working in, but there are always creative ways to expand your boundaries. A five-hour story told almost exclusively in voice over? Episode outtakes presented in an interactive journal? Additional storylines written online and kept alive by fan fiction? There was no precedent for any of the ideas we tried with Afterworld, but we viewed the medium as a license to experiment. And so should you.
The best video game companies are always searching for new innovations to gameplay. Even if their stories aren’t groundbreaking, they are constantly trying new ways to deploy those stories. The parallel between videogames and webseries extends beyond interactivity. Both mediums are heavily technology dependent. As game engines and platforms evolve, so too do the games that utilize them. Similarly, as internet and handheld technologies rapidly iterate – not to mention video hardware and CG software – so too should web creators be pushing the envelope. Taking full advantage of all the tools at our disposal. Webseries should be telling stories that literally could not be told in any other medium. Let the functionality define the form.
TRANSPARENT
This is a new addition to the EFE lexicon. A word we’re still choking down like some mega-vitamin we’ve been told is good for us. But the benefits are starting to take effect.
In the old days, Hollywood used to paint itself as a “dream factory.” A magic place where movies were made behind studio gates. For a long time, the general public was left to scratch their head and wonder: “How’d they do that?”
The studios soon realized they could monetize that wonder. Offering tours of their backlots. Producing “Making of…” videos to air as TV specials. And, eventually, deconstructing the entire process as a value-add on home entertainment content. Old Media, though, is anything but transparent. They’ll share some creative secrets but they do not want you to know how they do business. Ha! As if we’d even understand…
Our approach at EFE is going to be to slowly pull back the curtains on our digital studio. This blog is the first sledgehammer blow to the wall that separates us from our fans. Eventually, we will start offering “live” video windows into our business. Not only how we do things, but why we do them. We will allow the same level of interaction with our audience that we will cultivate with our shows so the audience has a say in the content. The way I see it this level of transparency is not only an opportunity… it is an obligation.
Old Media traditionally operates on a one-way street – they deliver content, we pay for it. By nature, New Media is a two-way superhighway. Promising a much more dynamic exchange between producers and fans – instantaneous, reciprocal and mutually beneficial. So if web creators expect loyalty and activism from their fans, their fans should expect honesty and access from us. Wait a minute… I think I just stumbled onto one thing I can say definitively: New Media is a symbiotic relationship between content and consumer. Or, less pretentiously: We’re all in this together.
You’ve probably noticed I’ve done everything just short of calling out Old Media as the “Enemy.” It’s tempting, believe me. But the truth is that business model worked (it’s still working, for the most part) for decades. And Old Media proves the most fundamental rules of all media: Content is king, Marketing is queen and Talent the restless young prince who wants to kill them both and run the kingdom.
But seriously, there are many lessons to be gleaned from Old Media, many practices to emulate. In fact, here at EFE we are finding that rather than New Media replacing Old Media, maybe the future of entertainment will be a convergence? Several projects we are working on now truly combine the best aspects of both philosophies…
Whatever it evolves into, right now New Media needs to be flexible and open-minded. Towards that end, here at EFE we have no desire to make enemies. We want to make allies. Build an audience of fans and friends. We want to host the first virtual slumber party. (Just kidding… but who knows?) Towards that end, we are not only going to use this forum to promote our own shows. We are going to promote other creators’ shows. Shows we admire. Shows that inspire us. Shows we’re jealous we didn’t make. Because it’s great to monetize, but sharing is the most valuable currency on the web.
Passionately and Sincerely,
Brent V. Friedman
Co-Founder, EFE
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