Author: ChilltownTV

I'm primarily a writer. Sold a few series to tv networks and production companies but never had anything get on the air. So I taught myself how to animate and completed 3 digital series, launching two. The first, Chilltown has been named one of "Five Web Series That Should Be on Your Radar" by ABCNews/Univision and a "Show to Watch" by Tubefilter. The second, Lele's Ratchet Advice Show, garnered a fanatic cult following. As a result, I now do Lele's 60 Second Wrap Up, a weekly comedic entertainment report (which I write & perform) that airs on urban radio stations Rhythm 105.9fm and the Just Wake Up Morning Show on WWRNfm.

Leesa Dean: Having a Hard Time Finishing a Script? This Might Be Why

Adventures of a Web Series Newbie – Chapter 69
by Leesa Dean

perfect1I am a perfectionist. You might not know it from my work, but it’s a trait that I and a lot of other writers/creatives share. Being a perfectionist can drive you crazy and can set up situations where you never ever finish anything. Which will also drive you crazy cause never finishing is like failing. Argh.

It is not atypical for me to write over 20 drafts of a script and continue to pick at it, even after I’ve submitted it or started production. Some people never finish. They’re like Sisyphus. Pushing that script up a hill and never getting there.

Luckily, when you’re writing for the web, because everything is short form and sorta disposable with insane deadlines and an unquenchable thirst for content, it forces you to just finish and not look back. Which, trust me, is the healthiest thing to do. read article

Leesa Dean: Adventures of a Web Series Newbie

directingChapter 68 – The Directing Workshop
by Leeza Dean

Last Sunday I attended an intense twelve hour workshop on directing motion here in NYC. It was a part of a nationwide tour featuring a well-known commercial director, Vincent Laforet, and since I’m gearing up to finally buy a camera in by the end of the year and start shooting I thought it would be be really worthwhile and fun.

It was and, in part, wasn’t. It was a looooonnnggg day. I was up at 5:30 am because the people who ran the workshop suggested everyone arrive at 8:15 am to get situated, get a seat, etc.

I got there and it was packed, about 200 people. Some even flew in from Europe to attend. It appeared to be a mix of producers, crew people and directors. And given the recent publicity about how few women directors there were, it was kind of depressing to be one of, probably, 20 women there. read article

Leesa Dean: Adventures of a Web Series Newbie

Chapter 66 – Is Crowdfunding Worth It?
by Leesa Dean

This week’s entry is gonna be short. I’m actually taking a mini-vac and leaving early today, but wanted to write a bit more about crowdfunding. And just how important is it right now if you’re doing a web series.

I’m part of the camp that believes that the primary way videos should be paid for on the web, as annoying as it sometimes is post release, via advertising. If you’re lucky. Very lucky. In other words, to me, at this moment in 2014, if you’re an indie web producer, crowdsourcing is a losing exercise.

Why? Cause nearly everyone I know who’s done it recently hasn’t met their goal. And I’m pretty plugged into the web community. I know one person who did and it’s only because they had a bunch of relatives and some close friends with money contribute so it created the illusion that fans actually were contributing. In fact, after that series was released (post crowdfunding), it barely got any views. I mean barely. read article

Leesa Dean: Adventures of a Web Series Newbie

epic-fail-purple-demotivational-poster-1232615141Chapter 65 – Does Online Popularity Translate into the Real World?
by Leesa Dean

Hmmmm. This week a few big YouTube and Vine personalities failed spectacularly as live-streamed red carpet hosts of the Daytime Emmys. I watched videos of it and their “hosting” skills were embarrassing. They made dumb, seriously distasteful racist and rape jokes, admitted on camera that they never heard of any of the people they were interviewing (who were nominated for awards) although they had time to prep, told awful stale jokes mostly mugged for the camera and, just in general, sucked the big one. Worse, a number of them tweeted after and were bitter, unapologetic and unprofessional. One of them even wrote: “Your opinion < my dog’s left nut.” Way to be classy!

Apparently, a few weeks before the ceremony the NATAS (the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences) issued a casting call for social media mavens to host and, specifically, the organizers wanted millennials between the ages of 18-35 who have a very strong social media following (300,000 followers minimum). The organizers, stupidly, thought, a big social media following will translate into more viewers and publicity.

Boy were they wrong. read article

Leesa Dean: Adventures of a Web Series Newbie

promotionChapter 64 – Promotion Revisited
by Leesa Dean

Last week, there was an article in The Wrap that said more Game of Thrones fans watch fan-generated videos on YouTube than official GoT content. In fact, less than 11% of GoT videos viewed are from the show’s official channel. And the thing I thought was: Instant free promo! Wow. If you’re lucky enough to have that happen.

One of the hardest parts of releasing a web series is promoting it. When I first launched, I stupidly and literally thought, ok, I’ll release this video, go to sleep and wake up in the morning to millions of views and internet fame.

Wrong. read article