New Media
ElfQuest: A SAG New Media Premiere
Our ElfQuest fan trailer came out a few weeks ago and the Screen Actors Guild held a red carpet premiere to celebrate its’ release. It was a fun event complete with popcorn and a Q&A with producers Paula Rhodes and Stephanie Thorpe. My friend Kristyn Burtt was also on hand interviewing cast members on the red carpet for Mingle Media. Here’s the interview she did with me:
Thanks to SAG for making our premiere a special new media event. Also, thanks to all the great press we received, the trailer is now listed on IMDb. If you have a moment, be sure to rate it for us!
ElfQuest teaser to tease Wondercon attendees!
Good news, ElfQuest fans! If you plan to attend Wondercon in San Francisco this week, be sure to check out the ElfQuest panel. Not only will the legendary Pinis be speaking about their recent exploits, but ElfQuest fan film co-producers Paula Rhodes and Stephanie Thorpe will also be there showing an exclusive teaser!
Yes, I just said exclusive teaser… so go check it out on Friday, April 1st!
Panel details:
6:30-7:30 Let’s Do the WaRP Time Again: Wendy Pini and Richard Pini— Wendy Pini (Elfquest, Masque of the Red Death) and Richard Pini (Elfquest) are the W and R in WaRP Graphics. Join them for an unscripted progress report on Elfquest: The Final Quest, the Masque of the Red Death graphic novel (and musical), and last but not least, the Elfquest movie. Room 220
Don’t Pitch Me, Bro! (i.e. Web Series Marketing 101)
It’s tough being indie. You work so hard writing, producing, acting, directing, editing, VFXing, scoring, encoding, and uploading… and just when you think your job is done, you realize it’s just the beginning. No one’s going to find your videos if you don’t get the word out.
Obviously the first people you think to tell about your videos are your family and friends. You use your personal social networks to get the word out and are probably very pleased at all the attention. Great! But what’s next?
Sadly, this is where a lot of web series creators get lost… I see a lot of people printing flyers and going to web series meetups trying to market their shows to other web series creators. I also see a lot of people forging fake friendships on Facebook to further market their shows to unsuspecting peers. The problem with this approach is that these people are most probably not your target audience (unless you’re making a resource web series for fellow creators), and ends up bothering peers instead of interesting them.
So how should you be marketing your web series? It’s pretty easy, actually… here are some tips:
- Identify your target audience: Think about who will love your show. This could be as general as identifying “RPG gamers” (e.g. Gold the Series), or as specific as “fans of Battlestar Galactica” (e.g. BSGcast).
- Once you know who they are, find out where they are: Do they have online forums (e.g. SyFy)? If so, start posting and building relationships while using an attractive signature that promotes your web series! Do they hold their own conventions (e.g. DragonCon)? Get a booth and host panels! Do they have news sites or fan sites devoted to them (e.g. io9)? Send them a news-worthy tip!
- Personalize your story: Whether you’re pitching a story to a major news site or a fan site, write them a personalized message. For the most part, no one’s going to write about just another web series, so give them a little background on what makes it different/special. The best way to get your story picked up is to inspire the writers. When A Comicbook Orange was nominated for a Streamy Award last year, I sent out a press release to Canadian media outlets with a personal message suggesting a story on all the great Canadian web series that had been nominated for this prestigious international award.
- Give your new-found audience a reason to stay: Give them ways to stay engaged; multiple subscribe options, feeds on all their favorite social networks, a behind the scenes series (blog or video), a way to participate in the show itself, etc.
The most important thing to remember is to do everything you can to find and consistently engage with your target audience. In time you might be lucky enough to build the kind of audience that propagates itself… but until then “never give up, never surrender!“
Stepping Into (the) Elevator
Back in early November, Elevator creator Woody Tondorf invited me to take part in the final season of his hit web series. I was asked to write a script and show up with whatever clothes/props I need. I said something along the lines of “HELLZ YEAH!” and racked my brain to come up with an awesome script.
While on set, I was told that an actress didn’t show up and they needed someone to play the role of Lucy in the episode entitled Harold the Janitor’s Dad. Again, “HELLZ YEAH!” was probably uttered. After some last minute memorization, here’s the result:
Stay tuned for the episode I wrote and starred in called Future Kate. I hope it comes out soon, but I know it takes a little more editing than most Elevator episodes, so keep your fingers crossed or tweet @WoodyTondorf to put the pressure on! ;)
The Elfpocalypse will be Web-Televised
Remember when vampires and zombies were the big thing and everyone was wondering what’s next? A lot of people thought werewolves would get big, and some even jokingly predicted mummies, but a couple of weeks ago we wrapped on our ElfQuest fan trailer shoot and a few days later my friend Felicia Day announced her next web series, Dragon Age: Redemption, in which she plays a badass knife-wielding elf!
I was never a huge elf enthusiast, but as a former Pixie (a Brownie in the Girl Guides, to be precise), and a girl obsessed with fairies after reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream in grade 8, I have to say that I’m pretty excited about the whole thing.
Our ElfQuest fan trailer should be online in early April, so until then be sure to check out all the great behind the scenes photos on Facebook and Flickr. I’ve also heard that G4TV‘s Attack of the Show will be showing some behind the scenes footage and interviews on an upcoming show, so I’ll try to keep you updated on that.
And for other elven awesomeness, check out Felicia’s Dragon Age: Redemption photos on Flickr and her behind the scenes interview that aired on X-Play last week. The web series is set to launch in August.
So, whether it’s our upward pointing ElfQuest ears, or Felicia’s backfacing Dragon Age ears, prepare yourself for the impending Elfpocalypse!
Damn it, Jim! I’m an actor, not a social media guru!
This past week my Twitter follower count crossed the 8000 mark (W00T!). It’s truly amazing to have such a big nerdy audience to share my geek references and get entertaining replies in return. I’m proud that my hobbies and my work has garnered such an awesome audience… and although I understand social media more than a lot of people in the entertainment industry, I am not a social media guru.
Every week I get emails and tweets asking me to link to someone’s online project, usually a web series or web comic. I don’t mind getting emails asking me to check something out, but asking me to link to it puts pressure on me to take action, even if I hardly know the people asking. After getting way too many of these requests, the straw has finally broken the camel’s back… and I feel it’s important for me to outline that there are really only three instances when I would consider linking to someone’s work:
- I have a prominent role in the work as an actor.
- A good friend has sent me a personal request, and I know that they would do the same for me.
- I happened upon something on my own and truly believe in it.
The best way to get me to link to your project is to involve me in it. I have built my audience with my passion, intelligence and hard work, and that audience, whether it be the 3000+ subscribers that read this blog, the 1100+ “Like”rs on Facebook, or the 8000+ followers on Twitter, is something valuable to me that I would never take for granted. So, if you really want to tap into that audience, hire me as an actor… the marketing will follow.
Guest co-hosting on TWiT’s NSFW again!
You know what they say… three times a charm! If you missed the first two times I was on TWiT show NSFW, you can watch them here and here.
Thanks to @Sandtiger for launching a Twitter campaign earlier this week to get me back on the show. F*ck yeah! That is how you do it!!!
Until next time… ;)
Equip the Elves!
As you know, I’m going to be acting in a fan funded Elfquest fan film produced by lovely web vixens Paula Rhodes and Stephanie Thorpe. There is still some equipment on their wish list and if you have any of the items listed below and are willing to lend them to us over the weekend of February 11-13, please email Paula to let us know!
The wishlist:
- 1 Ton Grip Package
- (2) 4×4 Diffusion Frames (250/Opal)
- (4) 4×4 Solid Floppy
- 1200 HMI Par
- 400 Joker w/Chimera
- 400 Slimverter
- (4) 30 Volt Batteries
- 1k 407
- 1k Variac
- (2) Combo Stands
- (3) Baby Stands
- (1) Primi Stand
- Suitcase Generator
- (10) 50′ Stingers
- Wardrobe rack
- 3 or 4 Walkies
- Monitor for 7D plus connecting cable
If you don’t have the equipment, but know people who might… please help us spread the news! Feel free to share this link or click the retweet/Like buttons above!
Musical Chairs: Running For a Seat on the IAWTV Board of Directors
The IAWTV is holding an election for six seats on the board of directors. I am pleased to announce that someone threw my name in the hat, and I’ve accepted the nomination with the following statement:
Thank you for considering me for a seat on the board of directors. As many of you know, I’m an international member (from Canada) whose been working in the web series field for over five years. I’m passionate about the issues we face and like to share my experience to help the community. Aside from my web productions, I have also written about my experience in the web TV industry for The Guardian, spoken on numerous panels in Canada and the US, judged the Canadian New Media Awards, and helped new community members with questions coming into our industry.
As a member of the IAWTV I have been helping the Awards Committee to come up with smart new ideas on how to further the “international” component of our organization; making sure whatever event we throw, we make it as inclusive and global as possible. I’d like these international ideals to apply to everything the IAWTV does, so people outside of Los Angeles and New York can reap the benefits of the organization. We can use technology and the web, two things we already know a lot about, as a tool to bring us closer together and further our collective goals.
Feel free to contact me with any questions, or see my biography or resume for details on my background and vision.
Thanks to whoever nominated me, I appreciate the vote of confidence! Now… may the best candidates win! ;)
New NSFW video is up!
Hopefully you got to tune in live to my guest appearance on NSFW this week, but if not… be sure to check it out here on in the YouTube video embedded above. It was a fun show, thanks to Brian and Justin for having me on again. If you like it, subscribe! Next week they have my friend Sarah Lane on the show!
