How Do I Make A Web Series?

You might think that an article entitled “How do I make a web series?” would be full of helpful tips on how to make a web series, spelt out for you in easy-to-follow steps.  Not this one.  I’m actually asking.  How do I make a web series?

At this point I’m just a guy with an idea.  Admittedly, it’s a great idea.  It’s funny, it’s got heart, it’s got characters so richly imagined that Dickens and Dostoyevsky would have a knife fight over them.  But it is just an idea.  How do I go from that starting point to having something real up on the screen, to be enjoyed by all the differently-hued peoples of the world?

What I can say is that the first thing I did, after coming up with the concept for Ultra Clean and writing a couple of scripts, was to bring in John Wood as director.  John has a lot of directing experience  and – having met him through a theatre project last year – I know he’s got bucketloads of enthusiasm.  That’s the most important quality I can think of in any collaborator.  In John I know I’ve got someone who will help push the project forward.

“Okay,” I hear you say, “so you’ve got at least one step there.  Probably two.  You could write those down for us at least, lazyface.”  To that I say, while I don’t appreciate being called lazyface, I will do it, because I respond to assertiveness.

1.  Come up with good idea

2.  Find collaborator(s) to share your vision

Now I hear you say: “Tell us what you plan to do next.  And write it out in steps just like those two – otherwise I will force your jaws open and gently push my entire fist into your mouth.”  The things you’re saying are increasingly sinister, and maybe after I finish this blog post we should take a break from each other.  But okay.  Here’s what John and I plan to do next for Ultra Clean:

3.  Meet and cast actors

4.  Assemble art designs, logos and the ‘look’ of the series

5.  Pitch to production companies to make a pilot “on spec”

6.  Spend a day shooting the pilot

7.  Edit the pilot

8.  Use the pilot to generate interest from corporate sponsors

9.  Get paid to make a web series

10. Investigate good lawn care products

That last step isn’t strictly to do with making a web series, but it is something I need to do and 10 steps is a nice round number.

These steps are by no means set in concrete.  They’re sure to change as we proceed, but they provide a pretty good road map for where we intend to go.  In future blog posts we’ll expand on each step.  We’re meeting with actors early next week, for example, and we’re in the process of putting together the art elements of the show at the moment.

Stay with us and you’ll learn how to make a web series as we do.