Artists on OTV - Cycle 3 (2018)

By

Chelsea Peterson-Salahuddin
Department of Communication Studies
Northwestern University

This is an analysis of artists’ experiences working with OTV to develop and distribute their work during the platform's third release cycle. The analysis sought to answer two main questions: 1) How are independent artists producing their work, and being innovative and creative given limited resources? And 2) How artists who release OTV are developing and changing since the platforms earlier cycles. The analysis is based on eight artist interviews, recounting different parts of the development and distribution process. Themes were derived using thematic qualitative content analysis (Braun and Clark, 2006).

Innovations in Production

Fundraising & Promotion 

            In attempting to produce their shows on a limited budget, most artists turned first to fundraising and grant applications as a key way to secure the finances needed to produce their show. These funds were usually supplemented and boosted by a contribution from OTV and Northwestern University. Some artists also leveraged network connections and word of mouth to help expand their fundraising goals. For instance, in one particularly successful case, one creator recalled how their team relied on help from celebrity fan to help promote their two fundraising campaigns online. Through his help, they raised $2,300 in one fundraising campaign and which raised them $5,200. 

Conversely, other artists who did less fundraising or were less successful in their fundraising efforts noted this acted as an impediment on their production ability and said that they wished they had been able to do more fundraising. One artist and director of a short experimental film suggested that it may be helpful for OTV to help artist strategize ways to increase fundraising and find funding sources, commenting: 

On the project that we're about to do, there's not much of a budget, so that's also a thing: how do I get more budget and what does it look like? I don't know. Those are questions that I think OTV could help me answer. I feel like this isn't a slap to you. Sometimes you give me a quick answer and that doesn't work for me. I think that that doesn't help me. 

They noted the importance of fundraising to independent artists’ production processes, and the critical need for entities such as OTV to support this effort. 

DIY Production 

The strategies taken up by artists to produce creative, innovative and cutting-edge work given their limited budgets and lack of major financial backing, took many forms. At the outset, many artists took a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) approach to the production of their web series. As opposed to hiring for key production roles, such as producers, directors, and crew, artists took on most of these roles themselves. Stated simply by one creator: “We did it all by ourselves.” Similarly one creator of a pilot said in their interview, “It's one of those things where I just realized, one of the things I have to do is be the producer, executive producer myself. And then do the extra work to find out what that entails, and develop the skill set myself to do that… But again, also, the other part of this is being new to film,  I just don't really have the resources. As far as a writer, I know lots of people who write like I do, essays and novels and things like that, but the film is a different entity.” Thus a lack of resources, both financial and experiential, lead many independent artists to attempt a DIY approach to production. 

Leaning on Personal Networks & Building Community Partnerships

For many of these artists, a key part of the DIY production consisted of tapping into and utilizing existing personal, professional, and community networks to find individuals who would help support production through free or reduced-fee labor. One recounted how a friend who had prior experience working in production helped them navigate their production experience, saying:  “She was very, very helpful with just showing me the things that I would have to be able to do to either produce it myself or find someone else to produce it, which has been difficult.” They also noted how as someone with little background in film production, one of the first thing they did was call on friends who they knew had previously worked in film and television. Another also mentioned in their interview that, for them, production entailed a lot of a lot of “bartering favors” with community spaces, coffee shops, and yoga studios that she had connection with in order to secure production locations. In this way, they were able to build partnerships with community spaces and businesses through her pre-existing social ties, in order to alleviate the financial pressures of production. In addition, they also relied on previous experiences of friends, community, and partners in order to garner the labor force needed to produce their series on a limited budget.

The Limits of DIY Production

The strategy of DIY Production often saved artists potentially thousands of dollars in what it would have cost to hire professional producers film crew;  however, this approach also presented drawbacks for many artists in supporting and sustaining production. For instance, one artist said that when asking for help from friends, “People, they're like, ‘Wow, we want to help you. Please call on me for insight and advice,’ but no one wants to commit to it;” she continued: “The few people that I know who are in film and who've done that work, those were the first people that I asked. They were like, ‘Hey, love the project but can't commit. Can give you advice, but can't commit,’ you know?”  This statement highlights both the advantages and limitations of drawing on community and social networks in the service of DIY production -- on the one hand these networks provide experiential knowledge and support that aid these artists with limited resources in successfully producing their first series. However, because this support is voluntary, friends and associates called on for help may not be able to be a steady source of support, due to their own obligations and limited financial, time, and emotional resources. 

Further, relying on one’s own novice understanding of film production or friends who may lack expertise in production often leaves artists who are less versed in production lost as they attempt to navigate what is often a tedious and confusing process. For instance, one creator said that their lack of budget knowledge and preparation ultimately impeded their overall production capacity: “I definitely feel like I went over budget because I was like, ‘Okay, I didn't really need certain things.’ And craft service was like one of my biggest ones too, like feeding people. It's like you know you have to, but I think sometimes you can kind of underestimate how much that would cost. Because it's most likely you're not going to prepare food. You're going to need to order that food. So once you put in all those delivery fees and all the other things, you're probably not going to be paying what you thought you were going to pay.” Similarly, one artist noted the need for artists to understand upfront what is feasible based on a given budget and what it is that the process of producing and marketing a film or series entails: “What I think I want from OTV is to tell me this is the package that was going to get you 80% of what you need…I need to go in Google docs, make a synopsis, have three trailers, have my whole film, have my bio and everything.” 

This lack of knowledge of what may be needed on set or what potential production costs they would incur was cited by several artists as a key roadblock in trying to successfully carry out the DIY production process. In these instances, many artists noted how OTV could potentially play a role in supporting and shepherding their DIY approach to production. In a continuation of their earlier statement, the artist noted: “If left to the devices that I have myself and doing all the work myself, which I would hope that OTV would do more of because I don't have the time to do all of it and maybe the issue is OTV doesn't either, but a clear email saying, ‘This is what you need to do and get done,’ by someone who was directing that process. Less getting the materials together but just telling me would be super helpful.” As they highlight, while artists often choose a DIY approach for financial reasons, many of the independent artists producing with OTV have little prior experience with production and thus require more guidance from entities like OTV to help guide them as them set out to navigate production on their own terms. 

Echoing this, several other artists noted how it may be helpful in pre-production and production for OTV to send an email detailing the key roles in production so they can get a sense of what they might need. As one artist also noted, this “check-list” of sorts could also help verse artists in how much it would potentially cost to hire paid labor for one of these jobs, giving them a sense of when and where they could afford paid labor and what parts of production they could do themselves or do without. This effort would also help prevent artists from cutting potentially critical resources. For instance, in one case, the cast cut their own hair and make-up to save on production costs, which they later realized was problematic on a show with four black leads.     

It is important to note that despite these critiques, many artists cited the important role of  OTV role in helping to connect them to potential production resources. Many artists cited OTV as a potential resource for accessing members of the community who may be able to aid them in their production. For instance, one creator compared OTV to a “broker” bringing together artists and production professional such as sound technicians, musicians, and directors of photography. This highlights the importance of structures such as OTV in helping to guide and train independent artists in the craft of production. However, it seemed like the artists who benefited most from this were the artists who had experience in production and knew what to ask for. As that artist recounted: “I definitely know that there were definitely times when I reached out to [Aymar] about music and post people, and those people ended up being a part of the team.” However, for artists who may not know what to ask for or reach out about regarding production needs, OTV can help fill the knowledge gap as artists conserve resources through DIY production. 

Changes through the Cycles 

Marketing

Turning to the second question posed by this report, analysis of artists interviews did not find any key or significant changes in the way artists were producing or exhibiting their work between the third cycle and the previous cycles. The main shift seemed to be around feelings regarding the marketing of shows both before and after their release. In previous cycles, artists had noted that they wished OTV had offered more support in promoting and marketing their shows to audiences. However, in cycle three some artists did mention that they found OTV helpful in the marketing stage. One mentioned that they found OTV’s marketing meeting helpful in guiding their team on their approach to marketing. 

However, some artists still indicated that they struggled with the marketing of their show, and would have appreciated more support from OTV. Based on her experiences marketing her show with OTV, one artist suggested: 

That would be like another helpful tidbit would be like the marketing side of it. Because I know you guys can't do really all the marketing for all the shows. So I guess for me maybe like a template of maybe a press release that we could send out to different bloggers and journalists. Because I know you can't realistically do everything, but one of the places that you got press before, so maybe these other places you're going to contact so I don't have to contact them, like you can look at these places, and kind of split it up like that or anything. Any recommendations on marketing would be great for me because it feels kind of like up in the air for me. 

They also mentioned, potentially due to the timing of finishing their show and the release, that they did not have the opportunity to meet with the OTV marketing team about their show. This indicates that while the OTV support system to aid artists in marketing is growing, it is still not large or expansive enough to meet the needs of all OTV artists. Further, one artist noted that they did not do as much marketing for her show, not because they did not have the tools, but rather because of their own vulnerability around releasing their work, saying: “It was definitely a self-esteem thing.” This comment highlights the fact that as OTV continues to grow and build their marketing tools and support for artists, the marketing team may also benefit from strategizing ways to encourage artists to be open and confident. 

Level of Comfort with OTV 

Further, this analysis found more evidence of shifts in the way artists were producing their work, not based on the cycle, but rather based on whether or not they had previous experience producing shows with OTV. Artists who had either released shows with OTV previously, or were going into their second cycle producing with OTV all noted feeling more confident in their communication and relationship with OTV. For instance, one creator who had already released episodes during a previous cycle noted that having worked with OTV previously, and knowing that there was a space and a home for her series were key motivators throughout the production process. In talking about their experience in the post-production process they recalled: 

Because I was more in touch with you. I remember reaching out to you about needing help with either music or post-production help and I feel it's very helpful to know that we can go to you or Stephanie or anyone else on the team for recommendations on people that if you can't help us, somebody else that you can refer to, that we can have help. That, I feel, was something that carried me through the process because I always knew that if I ever hit a speed bump that I could always reach out to you…. Like I said, I don't think I would have had that same knee-jerk reaction as I did because I knew, okay, I have a place where this will be and where it will live and I also feel like you guys are all there if an issue should come up. So, I think that that just makes me feel safer, and when you feel safe, you are able to actually do the work you need to do.

Because they had already established a relationship with OTV and built both lines of communication and trust with the OTV, they felt more comfortable reaching out for the support they needed, allowing them to focus more of their attention on the work of producing. Similarly, another artist who at the time had finished the second season of their series, and was working to develop a second show on the OTV platform, noted that though still challenging they found production of the second season easier stating: “If you get it done, people will come along to see what more you can do.” This increased level of confidence going into a second season may also be a key factor in how artists confidence, attitude, and resources begin to shift the longer they work with OTV. As one noted, looking back on their team’s decision to cut hair and makeup in season one, they would not do the same things going forward because: “We’re a lot more confident in our voices now and we’re a lot more confident as leaders.”

Suggestions for The Future of OTV 

As OTV moved into its fourth cycle, some of the artists who released with OTV during cycle three had suggestions regarding how OTV could better equip it’s artists for success in the future, especially as it relates to accessing and procuring potential financial and professional opportunities.  One artist suggested giving artists digital access to their materials with OTV, commenting: 

I also think it would be cool to have like a flat file for artists that is digital so you have a digital flat file of those things so that we can access it. I don't know if that requires server space, but if artists can only OTV platform, not even platform like otv.com/me/VPN, whatever and can just go in and be like, ‘Here's all this stuff that's linked to OTV.’ I can just send all of this directly to me, not you guys, but just its own your space because I think the storage space is also a thing that you're going to have to mediate because you have 20,000 artists, but then we're going to have to mediate, can send to this call for art that's listed each week. So you've got this call, you've got a deadline section on the website. 

This, they note, would not only help artists keep track of and have easy access to the work they produce on OTV; it would also act as a portal through which they can easily share their work, allowing them a streamlined method for accessing funding, grant, and promotional opportunities.

One creator also suggested that, based on their own experience as a woman of color pitching a show in the industry, that it may be helpful for OTV to act as artist agents as well. Recalling their own struggles to procure access to Hollywood as an unrepresented artist, Puja noted:

...the biggest thing that's come out of it is, how is it that someone who could want to express interest in the show, where there may be a potential offer, but the artist can't even engage. And the last point of this that I'll tell you is that when I went to LA, I did meet with [a major network]. And they basically said to me, they were very generous, they were like, ‘We love [your show].’ And such a great meeting, but at the top of the meeting, the exec is like, ‘Yeah, you know, we were so excited about your show last year, but you didn't even have any representation or anything.’ And I said this, you know, this is part of the dilemma, is that it's wonderful that people want to engage with diverse- and have more diverse content and stories, but one of the challenges is that we don't have the tools to engage with you.

In this way, OTV acting as an agent would allow independent artists, especially multiply-marginalized artists with limited access to financial and social capital, an avenue to have a seat at the table and foster potential deals within the industry. Thus, in a potential capacity as artist management and representation, OTV would give more marginalized,  independent artists the ability and agency to engage with a seat at the table.