Thursday, August 20th, 2009
The Guild’s “Do You Wanna Date My Avatar” is a breakout hit
by Warren
It looks like web video series are finally hitting the big time, but not in the way the movie studios expected. Though TV networks and film conglomerates continue to try to appeal to an online audience, they do so with the same tired, lowest common denominator formulas that work n mass media, and the end result is pap like Quarterlife.
Enter The Guild. Created by Felicia Day, the web series chronicles the misadventures of a group of gamers involved in an MMO, or rather it milks the comic potential of what goes on beyond the game. The series has already been picked up by Xbox Live, and now a music video for the upcoming third series (which will also star geek hero Wil Wheaton) has hit over 1 million views, in addition to being the #1 tune on Amazon and iTunes.
How did this happen? Only a few years ago, this kind of traction just wouldn’t have been possible, but thanks to the internet, a small production company can target a sizable niche and actually do much better than studio product that targets everyone and pleases no-one. Plus the Guild just feels genuine, interacting with its audience about something they enjoy, rather than talking down to them and getting everything wrong.
One Response to “ The Guild’s “Do You Wanna Date My Avatar” is a breakout hit ”
The problem that I had with quarterlife was the guy was theying to redo his series my so called life but set with the character out of college.
I thing that felicia day has a series that she is able to do for a lot less money than what a network would give for a show and because she doesn’t depend on money form networks; they can stick their fingers into the series and say make these changes. I think that has been one of the best things about the Internet. As you said Warren, the internet has given groups the option to produce creative ideas that are right for some but not for everyone, so these series work.