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: How NOT to do Social Media

Adventures of a Web Series Newbie Chapter 95
by Leesa Dean

dontsI have a friend who has a fair amount of Facebook friends (about 800) and hardly any twitter following (about 50 followers).  He’s launching a creative project online and we had a long conversation about promotion last month. Since I’m prepping for my new series and am ultra-focused on promo, am just curious about what other people are doing. But we spent most of the convo with him just telling me all about his project. I figured he wanted to keep his promo plans under wrap.  I was wrong.

I was actually shocked to hear from him this week via text. Turns out he just launched his project and the way he’s promoting it is totally old school. And by old school, I mean, kinda like the way I launched Chilltown billions of years (ok a couple of years ago). Without any real social media strategy to speak of.

I thought I’d put together a few things NOT to do when you’re launching an online project.  These are kind of no-brainer tips but it’s shocking how many people (my friend included) don’t pay attention to them.  And believe me, I learned these the hard way: read article

Leesa Dean: Tips from YouTube

Adventures of a Web Series Newbie – Chapter 94
by Leesa Dean

youtubeThis week I went to a workshop that was part of series called Build Your Channel and held at and run by YouTube in their NYC offices. This event had been previously scheduled a few weeks back but they had to change the date because of the blizzard. The series is intended to help creators broaden audiences and this one specialized in Channel and Video Optimization. It was packed.

Since I’m planning on releasing a series later this year and promotion and audience building is what my main focus is this days, I was chomping at the bit to check this out.

Turns out a friend, Robin, who’s in the process of upgrading her site was also going so we met and went together. They took us a few flights down to a special classroom, set up just for these workshops. Which was pretty impressive. They had refreshments and about 120 people were there. read article

Leesa Dean: Adventures of a Web Series Newbie #93

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#Clausegate
by Leesa Dean

There’s a big brouhaha happening in the web series community.  It’s been dubbed#Clausegate and this is what it’s about:

There are many web series festivals springing up all over the place. But in Los Angeles, there are three fairly prominent ones: LA WebFest, Indie Series Awards (or ISAs) and the Hollyweb Festival which all take place around the same time.  Many web series creators have submitted to all three and recently, LAWebFest, when it opened for 2015 submissions, imposed exclusivity requirements, which, web series creators believe are meant to keep them from submitting to Hollyweb and the ISAs.  Hmmmm.

Web series creators weren’t too happy about it and there was huge backlash online and LAWebfest responded in kind, by doubling down and actually stating that entrants must withdraw their shows from Hollyweb and the ISAs or they’re be disqualified from LAWebfest. read article

Leesa Dean: Adventures of a Web Series Newbie #92

Baby Steps
by Leesa Dean

baby-steps-arrow1I’m deep into the promo prep phase of the new series.  And what that involves is brainstorming, writing promo bits, writing the trailer and figuring out a social media strategy.

I want to approach this show differently than I did Chilltown, which I essentially just launched without much forethought.  Put out a trailer. Put out a few sneak peaks of the show.  But I was learning while I was in the middle now.

Now, hypothetically at least, I’ve learned a few things so I’m trying to do this with some structure. It’s hard to tell when things literally change constantly and unpredictably all the time.  The main thing is: how to stick out in a wildly glutted market?  When you don’t really have a budget to pay a real publicist. It’s tough.  And it takes time. read article

Leesa Dean: Adventures of a Web Series Newbie #91

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Chapter 91 – Next Steps
by Leesa Dean

Things are moving so quickly, not just on the personal front but in the world of web series/digital media.

First, tons of interesting and cool things going down on the web, including Discoverlaunching on Snapchat with partners Comedy Central, ESPN, CNN and more. This is the one I’m really keeping my eye on.  Mainly because I’m thinking of doing some promo on Snapchat for my new series.

Also, Hulu just picked up a few more shows from YouTubers Freedie Wong and Flama.  More instances where being online, staying consistent, not just with delivery of content, but also with your niche. For anyone out there thinking of launching a web series or show online, those are two biggies to keep in mind. read article