I really have to thank you guys for making so many comments on my previous blog post. It gave me a lot of food for thought over the weekend, both in regards to the web space in general and my personal involvement in it. Modelmotion brought up a great point (make that many great points) in one of his many comments: "information wants to be free". Lumping in, let's say, the current debate over whether newspapers should charge subscriptions to their online site, with the discussion about Hulu charging to stream its online videos, is counter productive as they are two different types of content. The argument with the online newspaper side of the monetization topic is that, though information wants to be free, the individual expression and interpretation of it by the Washington Post writer covering it shouldn't have to be...or should it? I'll leave you to ponder that as I'm not overly concerned about Rupert Murdoch's future earnings. 

When it comes to online content though, I have changed the way I watch webseries, or any online videos in fact, to reflect a cost benefit analysis that modelmotion alluded to. "Time is the most valuable commodity and it should be respected and appreciated.  And, it does cost time to watch anything." I concur sir and I had neglected to think on that point. The hours and minutes of our day have not changed but the amount of content that is available to us has tripled...to the nth degree. I have very few hours these days to commit to entertainment, televised or online, so the competition for my attention, especially my undivided attention, is fierce. What gets it? Something that makes me feel something...'Glee' makes me giddy because I love to sing and perform, 'Fringe' satiates my love of conspiracy stories and scifi, 'Gossip Girl' makes me laugh because of the whip smart, pop culture dialogue and heightened Upper East Side world (plus my husband is obsessed with Blake Lively)...and what do they all have in common? A defined 'world' that is just a bit escapist and removed from own. Did you notice that I didn't have an online series listed? Yup, noticed that too. I try to watch as many webseries as I can, both to support the space and for research, but there really isn't one that I eagerly await a new episode to land. I enjoy The Guild but I don't connect with it (though many people do!)...I was much more invested in Dr. Horrible because of the misfit superheroes breaking into song world. I love re-watching our After Judgment season 1 episodes (and I'm not just saying that for promotions sake). The dystopic world that we created really resonates with me and I love the characters, just as I did when I first read the scripts and pushed to get it made, and I know there are those out there that feel the same. Compulsions is also something that, even thought I'm involved with, I have an authentic desire to know what happens. 
So how do my personal tastes and reflection on the currency of time play out in the Hulu argument? Taking into account a new variable, speed of access. You missed 'Lost' and you want to watch it the next day? Well ABC.com and Hulu will charge you for that immediate gratification. You want to download that episode so you can watch it on a plane or on your ipod at the gym, they will charge you even more. If you are okay with waiting 2 weeks (or whatever window is established), then you can watch it for 'free', just as you could have live. The Syfy website has different windows for when people can watch their shows online. Established shows like 'Sanctuary' and 'Ghost Hunters' have a week delay before you can watch but new shows, the shows they are trying to build audiences for, are available the next day. Makes basic sense, no? The pay to view option, however, is not there. On the flip side, Dr. Horrible was available for free the first three days after each episode's release and then moved to a pay to download situation (it ultimately becoming available for streaming on Hulu).  The strategy worked as the die hard Joss Whedon fans came first and then spread the word to the masses (and then the die hard fans came back to buy it on iTunes). Again as modelmotion pointed out, it comes back to simple supply and demand. 
How does this circle back to valuing independent online content? I stand by my conflicted observation that to be valued, we need to be 'good'...and competing on that level, established by million dollar episodic television, is tough. And money begets money. A bunch of us on Twitter were discussing Riese the Series yesterday. My feeling on the series is that it is beautifully shot and styled, the steampunk world is pretty darn cool (and it has the wardrobe and art direction to give it life) and there is an intriguing mythology being laid out, but the story is unravelling too slowly for me, especially considering the fact that the episodes are eight minutes long, where maybe two plot points are revealed, and there are two weeks between each episode. How can I be judgmental? Well because I read that the nine minute pilot cost $50,000 (!) and a scifi wire article pointed out the host of notable tv guest stars that will be showing up in future episodes. This tells me that the production has financiers behind it and the producers have strong connections into Vancouver's production scene, so I automatically raise my level of expectation. We shot the entire season of AJ for a fraction of this budget, guerilla style on the streets of LA. I shudder to think of what we could have achieved with that sort of budget and the man power that comes along with it. That being said, Riese has done an extraordinary job of creating a 'world' that is unique and enticing for an audience to venture into. It can compete for your time because it offers something distinctive, something that doesn't exist in mainstream entertainment. I smell a Sanctuary type move to the Syfy channel brewing. 
For the rest of us who don't have the connections (or aren't VC savvy enough) to raise some serious dough for our online content, the argument for 'being good' is still in full force. Compulsions could not have made their deal for exclusive front page placement on Daily Motion and the 80000 views that have come along so far, if it wasn't good. But what's also become apparent to me is being unique. We talk about interactivity and online community, etc etc. but I'm seeing that occurring for shows which bring a unique world and experience to the space.  With the web, you can really 'enter' the world; you have more than just the video content but the site itself and its ancillary content, it's forums, its fan fiction, to differentiate and sweeten the experience. (Even though it's a multi-channel site, Daily Motion does it well by having it's front page (ie. the header and the wallpaper) dedicated to the headliner, even if there are 20 other videos on the page as well.) But there is that funding issue again...it costs money to create that portal into your show's unique world. 
Finally, with the traditional Hollywood system crumbling, more writers, directors, producers and actors will look to the web as a viable launching pad for their product. They know that they will have to prove themselves first online, where the cost and thus risk is lower before ascending onto the hallowed television or even movie platform. I know this because established producers, people I used to work with back in my William Morris days, are now coming to me for advice. They want to sit down, discuss how they can take all their projects in development and adapt them into a something that is fit for the web. They know this to be the future of entertainment but they have no idea how to do tackle it. This means that we have to either partner up or get better fast, because the regular Hollywood folks will learn how to turn their good idea into something viable for the web and the studios will want to green light that product first before ours. But then again, that means that better original content will start hitting the web and with it, an audience potentially willing to 'subscribe' to it. 
What is your time worth? What shows are worth your time, let alone your money? How do you see this playing out? Share your thoughts as I'd really like to know...

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Yeah, competing with Hollywood muscle moving into the digital space.  That is bothersome.  How about an alternative Hollywood, with us small players helping out each other's productions as much as possible, even if only in very small ways.  I will be playing a bit part (free) in my friend Anthony Avildsen's web pilot tomorrow, I offered some VFX work (free) to an upcoming web release to help get it in the can, I will participate in animating an associate's Motion Comic sometime in the near future (hopefully as participant, certainly for low cost), I am animating another friend's comical illustrations as a future participant.  When will I make money off this?  Got no idea, I just want to join the club and be known as a player who supports and delivers, like the Hollywood players do.  Perhaps a Web Entertainment Creation Community?  Don't know, but without money to play with, I do what I can.
That's great that you are working on so many web projects Erik- I actually wrote a post on my old blog about collaboration in the space and that is still something I feel strongly about.  The Hollywood players do band together, my experience with that is the different groups of assistants that have survived and risen through the ranks together and now can help each other out from a vertical perspective- one is an agent, the other a studio exec, the other a lit manger/producer etc etc...the new gen of the Kevin Misher Scott Stuber group from the late 90's early 2000's...we're definitely stronger than the sum of our parts... 
Yes, my time as an audience member is worth something, to me at least. And the number of web series competing for my viewing time seems to grow in HUGE amounts on a weekly basis. So I have gotten quite choosy, just like I do with television. I will give a series 1 or 2 episodes before I move on. The web series I follow most are the ones that intrigue me like Riese, The Vendala, and After Judgement (can't wait for season 2!). Any of these I would consider worth a small fee to view. I support every web series I come across buy word of mouth and twitter whenever I can, simply because it supports the ART, and makes no difference whether I like it or not. People should be made aware of everything available.

But that brings up another point about web series. I think one of the reasons there are so many choices is because, at they moment at least, they are only competing for audience. I, like almost everyone, foresee a time in the near future when they will be competing for dollars, instead. And then logistics will change and people will go from watching as many web series as they have time for, to watching only those they can afford to pay for. As former chair of a metro arts commission, I fimly believe in compensation for an artist's work. On the other hand, as someone with a fixed income, paying for web series entertainment is not very high on the list of priorites when it comes to spending my money.

There are no clear answers, but I would hate to see a time when a small production without a large budget, like yours, Taryn, and After Judgement, is forced to cease creating because they can't afford to compete with a Riese, that may have studio financing. The next few years will be very interesting indeed.
Glad you enjoy "Gosssip Girl".  That is indeed what you are up against.  Or, Supernatural, or Smallville........take your pick.  All "free", all with compelling content.  Then you have facebook, AIM, WAVE and e-mail all crying for attention.  This is perhaps where short form  contend has a point of entry.  If you keep it short (3-4 min max), unique, and entertaining you can slide into the viewers attention span for a home run. But, make every second compelling. You simply do not have the luxury of time that TV allows and the condensation of this art form is what often makes it compelling to those who live at Twitter speed.
That is not to say that longer content cannot work.  It is not unusual to hear viewers ask for longer shows and to a degree it depends on the content.  However "short format" is one of the competitive advantages offered to a web series.  If the creators think in terms of seconds rather than minutes they not only use the format better but they leverage that competitive advantage over TV.
Now lets look at the  barriers to entry  you can erect for viewers of a web series.
1. Paid content - this really comes down to a numbers game.  What is more valuable: a few paying customers or many more non paying viewers who can spread the word.  Do the math.  
2. Distribution channels - in a time when "discovery" is becoming as hard as production this has become vital.  The fact that KateModern got so many views was as much about having the right distribution channel as it was about the quality uniqueness of the show.  
Here there are trade offs too.  Is front page exposure on an obscure portal better or worse than more limited exposure on a more main stream portal? Perhaps instead of thinking of charging your "customers" you should think in terms of the cost of  customer acquisition.  How much are you willing to spend to make the customer aware of your offering.  Here again, it is not easy.  Harpers Globe had a weekly TV commercial and still only had very limited views.
3 The viewing experience - this is a group of barriers that can be grouped together.  You have the video player, the user bandwidth, the choice of whether to have a  web site, the time and effort to manage a community that can spread the word about your show. Then there are pre-rolls (aka the kiss of death) and credits (which unless done well add little to the viewer experience). It is a complex mix of factors that can lead to more viewers or the viewer walking away.
In a digital world the fewer barriers to entry the more likely it is you will have a fan base.  And, without a fan base good luck in finding any financial backing for a web series or any other entertainment property for that matter.
I'm so tuned in to the dilemma of how to keep afloat. Really appreciate your insights and conversation about webseries.  Hope you'll take a look at ours, ANYONE BUT ME at www.AnyoneButMeSeries.com  and give us some feedback.  So many of the concerns reflected in the give and take on your site is magnified for us as we go into our second season. But, I mean, COME ON! A second season! It's so amazing. And ABM gives me something writing for television and film never did - a real voice.  Would love to hear from you and I'll be checking out your blog. 
Just wanted to quickly say that I look forward to continuing this conversation...especially now the Streamy Awards have descended upon us and the world of scripted web content is put under more of a microscope. with The Bannen Way premiering in Jan and Vuguru about to put at least 10 new shows into production, there will be alot to anaylze...
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