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’s Tale of Promotional Woe

promotionAdventures in Digital Series Land #111
by Leesa Dean

First, I’m finally over the hump. Meaning, about to start production on the last part of this new series. Something that should take about 6 – 8 weeks. Yes, I’m psyched! Also, a little scared. Not only about putting myself on the line again, but just the sheer volume of work ahead just promoting it is intimidating. I’m prepping so much stuff with so many plans I can barely see straight. But, it’s necessary. And I’m taking my cues from the big guys (even though I’m doing this on a minuscule level).

So what are the big guys doing?  Continuing to blur the lines between cable, tv and digital. If you’ve been on another planet (or, ahem, haven’t happened to read this blog where I rant and rave about it), things are now in full effect with execs and creatives from digital moving into cable and tv positions and visa versa.  And what that means for shows and series is: more and more content is being produced online to help promote shows. I thought it was really telling that The Daily Show with Trevor Noah hired Baratunde Thurston as a Supervising Producer for Digital.

Thurston has been at the forefront of all things digital content (he was the Director of Digital at The Onion) for many years plus, he did this which forever earned him my respect. It’s a big step for a show that’s that high profile, especially since all eyes will be watching Noah to see if he fills Jon Stewart’s shoes, to hire somebody with those specific internet credentials–someone who easily straddles both worlds but really and truly understands promoting on the internet–to set things up on twitter, instagram and snapshot. read article

Leesa Dean on Shooting Yourself in the Foot

bullet-in-footAdventures in Digital Series Land – Chapter 110
by Leesa Dean

Been working like a psycho, trying to bang out these mini-episodes and it’s been tough.  Wanna have 35 in the can before I return to final animation production on the new series—hopefully within 2 1/2 weeks. It’s a lot.

Meanwhile, in the midst of all of this, I spoke with a friend whose script recently made it into the first round of a prestigious competition.  She wrote about it on Facebook and when I congratulated her, she minimized the achievement. That mini act of self-deprecation stopped me in my tracks and I thought I’d write about it. Mostly cause it’s something I used to do all the time. Until recently.

Why? Three reasons: read article

Leesa Dean Asks, “Is Facebook Stealing Views?

no-stealing_designAdventures in Digital Series Land #108
by Leesa Dean

Things kinda ground to a halt this past week and I was stumped by the new voiceovers I’m doing for the mini-series I’m putting together.

I had already pre-corded the episodes (35 for starters) and once I started lip-syncing, something just wasn’t working. I suspected it was the voiceover but really liked the tone I had used. But once it was coupled with animation, it lost the funny factor.  Which is a big problem for me.

So I called my production partner (who’s not involved with this particular project) because he tends to have that great type of objectivity and confirmed my worst fears: the voiceover had to go.  He made some broad suggestions. After experimenting for a number of days, I finally locked in the new one and am LOVING it. And, it’s funny.  Either that, or I’ve become delusional after all this work. read article

Leesa Dean on a Death in the Web Series “Family”

Adventures in Digital Series Land #107
by Leesa Dean

blip_logo1BLIP is being shuttered on August 15th. I knew it was gonna happen ultimately, but still, am sad to see it go.

BLIP was one of the early platforms that showed and monetized web series.Chilltown, my series, was on there and I received nearly 50,000 views on just one episode when they featured it on their front page for just one day. And that amounted to cash. Which was great. It wasn’t a huge amount, but way more than YouTube’s payout.

The people there also were actively very supportive of the series on their platform. They promoted my show on Google + and Twitter. Which was really helpful and cool.

When Maker Studios purchased it in 2013, right in the middle of Chilltown’s run it didn’t affect things for me but I knew something was going to shift. At the time, they publicly stated (and sent letters to creators on BLIP) that they’d be dropping a lot of web series. I wasn’t dropped but a about seven months later, Disney bought Maker for $500 million and I was certain I’d be dropped. Mostly cause I thought the cursing in my series just didn’t fit the Disney brand. Surprisingly, I wasn’t. And even though I stopped adding content, I continued to receive some views. read article

Leesa Dean Tells Us “How Tennis Saved My Pitch Meeting”

220px-tennis_racket_and_ballsAdventures in Digital Series Land – Chapter 106
by Leesa Dean

I am a tennis fanatic. Love to watch matches, love to play.  Did I mention I kinda suck at it? Ok, maybe not suck, but…I’m inexperienced.  Been playing for about five or six years (just working on my strokes) but only started playing games last year. And found out the hard way that playing games is dramatically different than just hitting a ball around.  Aside from strategy and learning different shots that are game-specific, there’s the pressure.  And it is insane. You’re dealing with ego (mostly your own: OMG, am I gonna fail?), stage-fright (OMG, everyone’s gonna see me fail!!!) and fear of failure (OMG everyone just saw me fail!!!)  But I really really really wanna get better and feel I have the potential to, ultimately, be a good player. So I’m sticking with it.

A week ago I found myself prepping for a pitch meeting. And the same fears I have with tennis were cropping up (yeah, the fear of failure thing). The worst thing you can do in a pitch meeting is have them see you sweat. I mean, who wants to buy something from someone who’s nervous about their project?

I’ve taken a ton of pitch meetings and normally don’t get nervous about them anymore because I’ve been told I’m “good in a room” but since I’ve been holed up a while writing/animating a bunch of new stuff, it somehow felt new.  And I had a butterflies. read article