Bracken Has a Secret…

After almost a month of debating what the heck to do with the blog attached to the front of my website, I know of at least one thing I definitely want to do more of. I have a lot of fun writing reviews of shows for Tubefilter and I always try to get in touch with the creators of the shows with follow-up questions before I go to publication. Oftentimes, I end up asking way more questions then I can cover and get answers way more through than I need for the one or two quotes I try to include. So there is a lot of fun stuff that doesn’t make it beyond my inbox or digital voice recorder.

I’ve decided to start sharing some of the particularly juicy nuggets here. Whether I think they impart some wisdom about an aspect of web series production, or a philosophy to the space I respect, or something just plain funny that doesn’t quite fit into the tone I try to keep with my pieces, I want a place where I can give them a home. Consider them homeless no more!

To begin, I have a quote from Bracken J. Batson, producer of the delightful web series Normally This Weird, that kind of encompasses all the aspects of what I hope to share here with you.

“Wanna know a secret? It is all a trick. This whole new exciting idea of “web series” is really a big trick…Before the web series was the thing, when did any of us ever have time to organize a weekly/by-monthly/monthly production of anything? If someone told me I was going to produce a short film every month for a year I’d laugh at him or her on my way out of YC’s Mongolian barbeque (that’s where we first decided to do NTW). But hey: lets do a “web series” and I start nodding my head like it is no big deal – I was tricked! And I trick people all day long using the same approach. For instance, it has always been a challenge to find a full crew to volunteer on a short film, but I have no problem finding free crew for a web series! It is like a new magic word. And it works on viewers also…people are instantly enchanted when they hear you have a web series, it is no longer a short film but rather an epic event, a grand destination online! We’ve all been tricked. I often wonder what the actual difference is between a television show released on hulu.com and a “web series.” So-what if one was made intended for the web, and the other just found its way there by necessity, they are both essentially episodes connecting characters and story arcs. How can an independent production like ours really compete with the complete first season of Arrested Development online at hulu.com? …Because of those magic words, we’re a “web series”. Level playing field? Well, until more people realize it is a trick, I’m going to keep tricking them. (So can you keep a secret?)” –Bracken J. Batson, Normally This Weird