Blip.tv is no NBC, but you can still be Tartikoff

Aspiring Brandon Tartikoffs (NBC's boy genius who created the Cosby Show, Cheers,  Miami Vice, The Golden Girls and a dozen other shows that have inspired Halloween costumes for decades), ready to launch your own series? Produce for the web, but don't expect your show to be television as usual. The "network" for online video series is Blip.TV. (Walletpop is on Blip). I attended last night's Blip.tv party at Mocca in New York and came away with a sense of what makes for a good online series. Know you can't replicate 30 Rock--online video needs to be more personal to make up for the lack of polish/salaried writers and props departments. In that case, get yo' niche on, as Lindsay Ellis does with Nostalgic Critic, one of Blip's popular shows thanks to its built-in network on ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com.  And if you want to know how to make a viral online video, even Rhett & Link, creators of The Facebook Song and socially conscious local commercials, don't know that, but their story is inspirational just the same.  Happy webcamming.

photo by Steven Ekerovich www.sbephotography.com of Blip.tv co-founders Mike Hudack and Dina Kaplan (middle)

Beet.TV has a good interview with Hudack and Kaplan that touches on web series versus TV shows

 

Follow Andrea Chalupa on Twitter: www.twitter.com/LifeB4Tw1tter