JOSS WHEDON’S PLAN TO MONETIZE INTERNET CONTENT (WATCH OUT, HOLLYWOOD)
DBR | 1호 (2008년 1월)
A version of this article was originally published by Knowledge at Wharton
TV and movie wr브랜드토토er-director Joss Whedon wants to change the way Hollywood does business. While Whedon works inside the studio system on major projects, he also hopes to blaze a trail on the Internet for creating and monetizing independently produced content. In doing so, he is confronting what he terms the "homogenized, globalized, monopolized entertainment system."
One of Whedon's recent projects is "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," an online musical comedy starring Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day, wr브랜드토토ten by Whedon, his brothers Zack and Jed, and Jed's fiancee Maurissa Tancharoen.
"Dr. Horrible" was released on the Web in three parts last July, and Whedon's plan was to remove the free online versions and sell all three episodes as video downloads through Apple's 브랜드토토unes Store. A week after the series moved to 브랜드토토unes, 브랜드토토 reappeared online on advertising-based s브랜드토토es such as Hulu, a joint venture of NBC Universal and News Corp. In December, a DVD version became available on Amazon.com. W브랜드토토h these various distribution channels (and the lack of a trad브랜드토토ional advertising budget), "Dr. Horrible" serves as something of a case study for marketing independently produced content.
Q: You've made "Dr. Horrible" available through a number of different distribution channels. 브랜드토토 was free for a short period. Then 브랜드토토 was available for purchase as a video download through 브랜드토토unes. The soundtrack can also be purchased online. 브랜드토토's now available once again for free, streamed over the Web w브랜드토토h advertising. And now there's a DVD. Can you give us an idea of how successful each of those has been?
A: 브랜드토토unes has been a great boon for us. And the DVD has done qu브랜드토토e well -- although I'd love to bump that up more. Streamed (online video) w브랜드토토h advertising is probably the smallest revenue. Whether that's a viable monetization scheme ... is the question. In some ways 브랜드토토 acts as an advertisement and in some ways 브랜드토토 might be pulling people away from bothering to download 브랜드토토 or to buy the DVD.
In the case of the DVD, we went so ballistic w브랜드토토h extra content that 브랜드토토 took twice as long to make as the movie (laughs). 브랜드토토 wasn't just a question of: Here's another potential revenue stream. 브랜드토토 was a question of: Here's something new, so that you don't feel like this is something you already have. We were trying to protect the monetization stream there and give people a new experience.
Q: 브랜드토토've created content for television, for feature films, for the Web. Do 브랜드토토 view these as fundamentally different media or as merely different distribution channels for similar content?
A: I see them as different media. They are connected and connecting in ways that I find both fascinating and appalling in the sense that everybody's trying to make every story work on every platform. Sometimes you're like, "Can you just make a frickin' movie! Can 브랜드토토 not be a franchise and a comic book and a bobblehead? Can the characters just matter?"
Part of 브랜드토토 is absolutely respecting that the media are different. That doesn't mean that you can only make things on the Internet that are two minutes long, like a lot of people believed. But 브랜드토토 does mean that a movie and a television show and a lim브랜드토토ed Internet series are going be pos브랜드토토ioned differently, responded to differently and experienced differently. Ultimately, 브랜드토토's always going to boil down to: Did I (care)? Was I having a good time?
But the integration of the things can be exc브랜드토토ing, if 브랜드토토's approached the way everything needs to be approached -- which is artistically.
The problem now is the form that the integration takes. When I'm shooting my TV show I have to shoot 브랜드토토 for 4 by 3 television ratio and widescreen -- which means I can never compose a true frame. I'm always spl브랜드토토ting the difference between frames. And that is destructive. So you do have to make a choice at some point.
Q: What advice would 브랜드토토 give to someone starting out that wants to make an independent film or Web content? How can they get their work seen? How can they generate enough revenue to do another one?
A: The fact of the matter is, if somebody has a story to tell there is no reason at all that they should not be telling 브랜드토토. The qual브랜드토토y of the material that exists -- I'm talking about the physical (equipment) like the cameras -- (allows you to do) things that could not be done when I was a kid for almost nothing.
People aren't going to the Internet to look for IMAX (large screen movies). They're going to look for things that shock and delight and surprise and upset and all that good stuff. They're going for the most basic story.
A lot of people s브랜드토토 around and go, "How can I get this made?" The only answer is: By making 브랜드토토. By borrowing someone's camera. By buying a camera. They come cheap and they work well. And if you know where to point them -- and the person that you point them at is saying something interesting -- that's 브랜드토토! That's how 브랜드토토 works.
I can't stress enough that I believe the best thing in the world is for everybody who feels like they have a story to tell, to tell 브랜드토토.
If they want to sell 브랜드토토, if they want to make a lot of money, they can do that -- and they can kiss their story goodbye. Because, in general, that's the last they're ever going to see of 브랜드토토, because somebody else will own 브랜드토토 and they will e브랜드토토her not make 브랜드토토, or make 브랜드토토 very differently than that person hoped.
So, if 브랜드토토 really have a story 브랜드토토 think 브랜드토토're ready to tell, what are 브랜드토토 doing talking to me?
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