Clip from the trailer for The Bannen Way, a Web series due to premiere on Crackle in January.
An Associated Press article run in the Washington Post today notes that major studios are starting to back more Web series with talent and cash. The subject of this article, the series The Bannen Way, got $1 million in funding from Sony Pictures through their online network, Crackle.
Here’s an excerpt from the Washington Post article with a link to the full story:
Hollywood adds money, talent to made-for-Web shows
By RYAN NAKASHIMA
The Associated Press
Sunday, December 20, 2009LOS ANGELES — Web sites that buy original video clips often pay so little that “The Bannen Way,” a flashy crime thriller debuting online, looked destined to be made poorly if it could be made at all.
Yet budding filmmakers Jesse Warren and Mark Gantt managed to hire 40-odd staff, including a boom operator, camerapeople – yes, more than one – and even production assistants on hand to offer sunscreen and sandwiches. And the production had actors familiar to some TV and movie audiences, including Michael Ironside, Robert Forster and Vanessa Marcil.
The secret to their success? Treat the Internet run like a TV or movie release, which often loses money on its on-screen debut, but can make healthy profits when issued on DVD or Blu-ray and later sold for reruns on cable or overseas.
With that in mind, major movie studios are now getting behind such productions, giving them a lift in budgets and quality – a far cry from the shaky camerawork and dubious special effects prevalent when Web video became a new phenomenon a few years ago.
