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A web series, also known as short form series and web show, is a series of short screenplay or Improvisation online videos released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), generally in Episode. A single installment of a web series program can be called a webisode or an episode. The scale of a web series is small and a typical episode can be anywhere from three to fifteen minutes in length (although some may be up to a maximum of 20 minutes). Web series first emerged in the mid-1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s.
Web series are distributed online on video sharing websites and apps, such as YouTube, Vimeo and TikTok, and can be watched on devices such as , tablet computer, desktop computer, laptop, and (or television sets connected to the Internet with a media streaming device). They can also be released on social media platforms. Because of the nature of the Internet, a web series may be interactive and immersive. Web series are classified as new media.
Web series are different from streaming television series, as the latter are purposed to be watched on streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Hotstar, with the streaming services offering original productions made for and by them, as well as acquiring the rights to distribute licensed content. The length of a streaming television series episode is thirty to sixty minutes (runtimes can also be longer). Although the designing of a web series can be similar to that of a television series their development and production does not entail the same financial investment required for a television series. The popularity of some web series, however, have led to them being optioned for television.
Web series differ from short-form content in that the latter are specifically designed for viewing on smartphones and intended for fast-paced consumption, with runtimes typically ranging from less than one minute to three minutes.
There are for web series, like Webfest Berlin, NYC Web Fest, LA Web Fest, and Vancouver Web Fest. Awards organizations have also been established to celebrate excellence in web series, such as the Streamy Awards, Webby Award, IAWTV Awards, and Indie Series Awards. Most major award ceremonies have also created web series and digital media award categories, including the and the Canadian Screen Awards.
In January 1999, Showtime licensed the animated sci-fi web series WhirlGirl, making it the first independently produced web series licensed by a national television network. In February 1999, the series premiered simultaneously on Showtime and online. The character occasionally appeared on Showtime, for example hosting a "Lethal Ladies" programming block, but spent most of her time online, appearing in 100 webisodes.Richard Tedesco, "WhirlGirl seeks big TV break" , Broadcasting & Cable, March 22, 2001
In 2002, Matt Jolly (better known as "Krinkels") released the first episode of Madness Combat to Newgrounds. The series is still ongoing, with the latest episode "Madness Combat 12: Contravention" released on Twitch in September 2024.
In 2003, Microsoft launched MSN Video, offering NBC-related content. Its web series Weird TV 2000, a spin-off of the syndicated television series Weird TV, featured dozens of shorts, comedy sketches, and mini-documentaries produced exclusively for MSN Video. The video-sharing site YouTube was launched in early 2005, allowing users to share television programs.Waterman, D., Sherman, R., & Ji, S. W. (2013). The economics of online television: Industry development, aggregation, and "TV Everywhere". Telecommunications Policy, 37(9), 725–736. YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim said the inspiration for YouTube first came from Janet Jackson's role in the 2004 Super Bowl incident, when her breast was exposed during her performance, and later from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Karim could not easily find video clips of either event online, which led to the idea of a video sharing site.
From 2003 to 2006, many independent web series began to garner and achieve significant popularity, most notably the science fiction series known as Red vs. Blue by Rooster Teeth. The series was distributed independently using online portals YouTube and Revver, as well as the Rooster Teeth website, acquiring over 100 million social media views during its run. (Rooster Teeth would eventually create computer-animated web series RWBY in 2013.) In 2004, adult animated series Salad Fingers was created, which amassed a cult following. The comedy series The Burg, hailed as the internet's first sitcom and starring Kelli Giddish and Lindsey Broad, rapidly gained an audience and notice from the press before its creators signed a creation deal with Michael Eisner. The drama Sam Has 7 Friends, which ran in the summer and fall of 2006, was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award, and was temporarily removed from the Internet when it was also acquired by Eisner. In 2004–2005, Spanish producer Pedro Alonso Pablos recorded a series of video interviews featuring actors and directors such as Guillermo del Toro, Santiago Segura, Álex de la Iglesia, and Keanu Reeves, which were distributed through his own website. lonelygirl15, California Heaven, "The Burg", and SamHas7Friends also gained popularity during this time, acquiring audiences in the millions. (Science fiction thriller lonelygirl15 was so successful that it secured a sponsorship deal with Neutrogena in 2007.)
In 2004, Stewart St. John, executive producer and head writer of 1990s webisodics The Spot, revived the brand for online audiences as The Spot (2.0), with a new cast, and as a separate soap opera on Sprint PCS Vision-enabled cell phones, creating the first American mobile phone series. St. John and partner Todd Fisher produced over 2,500 daily videos of the mobile soap, driving story lines across platforms to its web counterpart.
In 2007, the creators of lonelygirl15 followed up the series' success with KateModern, a comedy-drama series that debuted on social network Bebo, and took place in the same fictional universe as their previous show. Big Fantastic created and produced the soap opera Prom Queen, financed and distributed by Michael Eisner's production firm Vuguru, and debuted the series on MySpace. Vuguru partnered with Mark Cuban's channel HDNet to release All-for-nots, a mockumentary series by The Burg creators Kathleen Grace and Thom Woodley, which debuted at the SXSW Festival in 2008. These web series highlighted interactivity with the audience in addition to the narrative on relatively low budgets. In contrast, the eight-webisode series Sanctuary, starring actor/producer Amanda Tapping, cost $4.3 Million to produce. Both Sanctuary and Prom Queen were nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award. Award-winning producer/director Marshall Herskovitz created the drama Quarterlife, which debuted on MySpace and was later distributed on NBC.
In 2008, major television studios began releasing web series, such as the ABC comedy show Squeegies, the NBC sci-fi show Gemini Division, and the Bravo reality series The Malan Show. The Malan Show Bravo TV Index Warner Bros. relaunched The WB as an online network beginning with original mystery web series, Sorority Forever, created and produced by Big Fantastic and executive produced by McG. Meanwhile, MTV announced a new original web series created by Craig Brewer, $5 Cover, that brought together the indie music world and new media expansion. Joss Whedon created, produced and self-financed musical comedy-drama Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog starring Neil Patrick Harris and Felicia Day. Big Fantastic wrote and produced Foreign Body, a mystery web series that served as a prequel to Robin Cook's novel of the same name. Beckett and Goodfried founded a new Internet studio, EQAL, and produced a spin-off from lonelygirl15 titled .
Mainstream press began to provide coverage. In the United Kingdom, KateModern ended its run on Bebo. Bebo also hosted a six-month-long reality travel show, The Gap Year, produced by Endemol UK, which also made interactive sci-fi drama Kirill for MSN.
During MIPCOM in October 2008, MySpace announced plans for a second series and indicated that it was in talks with Australian cable network Foxtel to distribute their first series on network television. Additionally, MySpace spoke of their plans to produce versions of the MySpace Road Tour reality series in other countries. FOXTEL HITCHES RIDE ON MYSPACE ROAD TOUR CO-PRODUCTION , Digital Media Australia, Natalie Apostolou, Friday October 17, 2008. The emerging potential for success in web video caught the attention of top entertainment executives in America, including former Disney executive Michael Eisner, head of the Tornante Company at the time. Torante's Vuguru subdivision partnered with Canadian media conglomerate Rogers Media on October 26, securing plans to produce upwards of 30 new web shows a year. Rogers Media agreed to help fund and distribute Vuguru's upcoming productions, thereby solidifying a connection between old and new media. Web series could be distributed directly from the producers' websites, through streaming services or via online video sharing websites.
In 2009, the first web series festival was established, named the Los Angeles Web Series Festival.
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