The Production of Global Web Series in a Networked Age

This book tells the story of diverse online creators – women, ethnic and racial minorities, queer folk and those from hardscrabble backgrounds – producing low budget, high cultural impact web-series which have disrupted longstanding white male domination of the film and TV industries.

Author Guy Healy addresses four burning problems faced by creators in the context of digital disruption (along with potential solutions), namely: the sustainability of monetizing digital content and the rising possibility of middle-class artistic careers; algorithmic volatility; the difficulty of finding people to share jealously guarded industry knowledge as traditional craft-based mentoring and expertise-sharing mechanisms break down; and the lack of diversity and authenticity in high-profile storytelling. It includes nine case studies, five drawn from a second wave of outstanding YouTube-developed talent, transitioning to longer form narrative, most collaborating with established TV producers working across the divide between online and established television culture, and all from under-represented and/or minority backgrounds. The balance are film-school and industry professionals leveraging YouTube in the same way, including two Writers Guild of America new media award-winners. These storytellers leverage their social networks and chase sustainable careers by reaching audiences of subscription video-on-demand platforms and mainstream online broadcast in Australia and North America. The Production of Global Web-Series in a Networked Age is the first longitudinal study of this historic rapprochement between online and television cultures. Four of the cases are in Emmy-winning contexts, and one in an Emmy nominated context.

Covering 2005–2021, the book reveals distinctive new forms of screen industry convergence with profound implications for creators’ careers, the screen industry in general, new media theory, and broader cultural and social change. It is essential reading for students, academics and industry professionals working on the production and distribution of web series.