Monday, October 4th at 11PM EST, the long awaited web series The Resistance will make its debut in a most unlikely place, cable television.
Syfy will air the series as a one hour special in place of its Ani-Monday animation block. This might be the first time a series created originally for the web will first premiere on TV.
The cable network will package episodes of The Resistance web series and air them back to back, along with approximately 9 minutes of behind the scenes footage in order to reach the 44 minute television runtime.
Following the TV broadcast, the series will revert to online video form. Viewers will be able to watch The Resistance in two parts on Xbox Live, Hulu and other distribution channels before it eventually lands on YouTube in four- to five-minute installments. If the series performs well, Starz will greenlight the program as a TV show or web series, and possibly even develop the property into a feature film.
The Resistance director, Adrian Picardi explained the genesis of the project and the partnership with Starz over e-mail:
The Resistance first got started after I had met up with Scott Bayless and Eric Ro back in late 2007. We decided to partner up and form a company called Northern Five Entertainment. Scott Bayless really helped giving us the tools and resources we needed to create The Resistance trailers and from those trailers we were approached by Ghost House Pictures and Starz Media.
When the first Resistance trailer debuted on YouTube in December, 2007, it promised to be a stylistic, action-packed show. Subsequent trailers only heightened the anticipation; however, as the months rolled on, the likelihood that the series would ever air seemed less certain. In 2008, Starz picked up the series and had it re-shot with better equipment and a budget rumored to be in the low six figures. But that had been the last word we heard from the producers about the series’ fate, until now.
The show’s storyline follows Syrus Primoris (Adrian Zaw), a chemist, who in exchange for absolute power provides the only known suppressant for a deadly plague. Opposing the tyrannical rule of the would-be world savior is Lana (Katrina Law), leader of the Aurordecan Resistance Movement.
While The Resistance is hardly the first web series to make the leap to television, it might be the first to do so by skipping its online debut entirely. Starz Media’s newfangled distribution and marketing strategy for the show further blurs the lines between online and traditional content. It also begs the question, “If it first debuts on television, can it still be called a web series?”
Good question Mathieas. In this case, I’m going to say yes, I’d count it as a web series. It began online – just had its TV window early.
[...] 2. TUBEFILTER NEWS: LINK: http://news.tubefilter.tv/2010.....et-second/ [...]
Does it matter if it is a webshow? TV web what is the difference? All that really matters is, is it any good. Although it does sound good, plus watching it all in one shot is probably a good idea.
For the most part, I don’t think it matters if it is a web series or some sort of new transmedia paradigm-shifting convergence thing-a-ma-bob. As I pointed out in my last article TV shows are popping up on the web and web shows are popping up on TV, so for most intents and purposes it is not relevant.
Fun fact, The pilot for the original Battlestar Galactica, while filmed as a TV movie/pilot was first released in movie theaters as a way of recouping some of its for the time exorbitant budget.
Where the discussion of is it or is it not a web series becomes highly relevant is in regards to the Streamys. If the show is as good as the trailers there is little doubt it will be in Streamy contention. The question is, “Will it be eligible?”
To be a web series it will have to be on the web. If it goes on Hulu as a geoblocked video it will only be on a regional intranet. That means it will probably have to wait till it goes on YouTube where it will actually be on the World Wide Web before it can be considered a web series.
And yes, I know the IAWTV does not agree. But hey, the great thing about the World is that we each get to have our own opinion……. and in the case of the Bannen Way my opinion is that the IAWTV made totally the wrong decision on the geoblocking issue…..just saying!
Where the discussion of is it or is it not a web series becomes highly relevant is in regards to the Streamys. If the show is as good as the trailers there is little doubt it will be in Streamy contention. The question is, “Will it be eligible?”
- Has the IAWTV made a decision to continue with the Streamy brand as opposed to developing an award show that they own?
Or, has Tubefilter decided to go ahead with the Streamys independentLY from the IAWTV?
SAG, AFTRA, DGA will not qualify this under new media unless it debuts on new media, I believe. This fundamentally shifts the economic model. It should be considered a TV film with early digital distribution.
Let’s say for argument’s sake that prior to October 4th, the producers decide to drop the first episode of the web series online, to satisfy mm’s geoblock crusade on YouTube, then does that erase any potential problems?
Also, I’m not in any position to comment on the future of the Streamys; however, I have always assumed and seen no evidence to the contrary that it will continue.
Truthfully, I hope this show is eligible. It looks to be rather good and well produced, which means it would be a strong contender, and, frankly, the drama category cupboards are a wee bit bare at the moment.
I saw this tonight on the syfy channel and I’m really hoping this becomes a tv show. It was really good.