Marc Hustvedt has thrown down the gauntlet challenging web series creators to step up and be leaders of their creative visions. 2009 is going to be a break out year for web series and creators need to get serious and step it up. The audience is out there he says in his article, Web Series Creators: It's Time To Step It Up - Tubefilter News, and you have to go out and find them. Mingle online and offline, find that niche or better yet, get off your butts and do something to engage your audience.Hustvedt says, "Having an actual personal connection with your audience means you have to be the one that responds to comments, emails, tweets, phone calls. You are the only one who owns your brand and you are the only one who can make real connections with it. This isn’t an easy idea to fully embrace. We are ingrained with the arcane and stupid idea that we just need to be discovered or seen by the right people and our careers will suddenly be awakened. Get that load of crap out of your heads right now."
He pointed out that The Guild and Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show creators spend countless hours connecting with fans who become their ambassadors and not a distant fan sitting in a dark movie theater or a passive couch potato. Gary Vee also talks about why it's important to be authentic and engage in the community and this is a great example of why. There's been an explosion of web series like Joss Whedon's game changing series Dr. Horrible which is and probably the most successful web series to date.
"Web series are Startups" Hustvedt says, "Creators are entrepreneurs and need to think that way. Seriously, ditch the old Hollywood mindset right now. Stop waiting for someone to pick you, find you, groom you or pitch you. You have everything you need right now to grow your audience. So get off your asses."
These are bold words and a downright call to action for online video creators. The next Joss Whedon or Felicia Day is out there waiting to break out, Hustvedt says, and web series producers need to be renegades and fight like hell everyday and night to grow your audience. As the viewing trends shift online so does the online advertising dollars which may head into the billions this year. There are a lot of opportunities out there and web series creators like Michael Buckley are even quitting their day jobs to make six figures as YouTube partners.
Read the full Tubefilter News article here and join the revolution.
