The newest syndicated entrant in online video entertainment is "Afterworld," an animated series where a man wakes up to find the majority of the population of the world has disappeared.
There are 130 episodes in the series, which is created by Electric Farm Entertainment. Ten of those episodes will be released on MySpace today, and the rest gradually over the next several weeks. In what seems to be the model for online video lengths, the episodes are between two to three minutes in length each. You can visit the profile of the show on MySpace.
Electric Farm has dropped the usual licensing fee, and instead is sharing the ad revenue generated by MySpace. Afterworld has also shown through sponsored episodes in the past. Another way they made money was through selling international, cross-platform rights to Sony Pictures International, which was used to help finance the $3 million project.
With the brand already in place among a core audience, it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to migrate to MySpace, which will include new ways for fans to engage the show and its characters.
You will be able to interact with a map for users, which allows you to follow the journey of the lead character. You can also take a look at the blogs, which some of the characters in the show will have. Viewers will also be able to make suggestions for plots and solve puzzles.
This is important to watch because it's one of the first attempts to build an entertainment brand from the ground up on the Internet, which they will eventually try to put on all media platforms, including film, video games and television.
Sony Pictures president Andy Kaplan said: "This is as much about learning what works and what doesn't."
Stan Rogow, former Disney Channel executive producer of "Lizzie McGuire" added, "What we're trying to do is create a unique form of entertainment as well as an original business model."
Again, this is definitely a project worth watching from all angles. We are just tapping into what will or won't work in online entertainment concerning how best to monetize it. I think the multifaceted approach of ad-supported video, sponsorships and selling international rights, is a good initial look at how we can approach monetizing our video.
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