YouTube scripted series TV & film producers should know

21 scripted original web series from the past 20+ years.

A whole host of scripted shows have originated and found audience online - primarily on YouTube, but also on other platforms throughout the years such as websites, Myspace, Bebo, Vimeo and MSN Video.

In this post, I’ve focussed on projects that originated as web series rather than spin-offs from TV shows or films; there have been a whole host of these down the years, and I’ll do a separate post covering them at a later date.

Unsurprisingly perhaps because of the higher costs involved, many feel there hasn’t been the same enormous explosion of creator activity in this genre as there has been in factual. Even so, all of these examples were groundbreaking in their own way. Some of the creators went on to become successful YouTubers, others gained enough online buzz to build a launch pad to produce TV or film projects. Several involve big stars enjoying the creative freedom of making and distributing scripted series without any studio or network involvement. And many if not all inspired the next generation coming through the ranks.

Each one is an interesting example in its own right, but to pick just one as a quick little teaser: the last channel on the list epitomises the benefits of identifying and serving a specific niche audience, and building a multi-revenue model across YouTube, TV and cinematic, as well as production services.

As always, the data on each channel below requires a health warning, as the views are for the entire channels and not just the individual series. Plus the lifetime revenue estimate especially for projects in the 2000s and early 2010s are likely to be off considering how YouTube’s ad model has changed since then. Nor do these numbers include any other revenue beyond advertising. The reason for including them is to give a rough value on the ad income in today’s market.

If you know of any scripted producer (or indeed, aspiring scripted producer) that might find this useful, then please do share this post with them.

Lonelygirl15
Channel launch date: 2006
Views: 307m
Channel subscribers: 183k
Lifetime YouTube advertising revenue estimate: £1.6m

Lonelygirl15 was one of the first scripted series that became an internet sensation and showed the potential for dramatic storytelling online. It was a sci-fi thriller involving a 16 year old, Bree, who over time unearthed gruesome details about her parents’ religious cult. When the videos were originally posted, people believed her to be a real person sharing realtime events. However, users started to become suspicious and eventually traced her IP address to the offices of CAA, where one of the creators worked. The popularity of the series continued to grow, and it became the first YouTube channel to reach 50,000 subscribers and was the most subscribed channel in 2006 and 2007. The team behind Lonelygirl15 went on to other successes such as KateModern, which was originally released on Bebo.