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Back to Zero
Well, tomorrow marks the end of a year of hard work for me and two of my best friends: Web Zeroes draws to a close with its final episode. I’ve got some mixed feelings on this, some of which I can share at the moment and a few that will need some time to sort out and file in the appropriate boxes for later use.
I think the thing that I’m feeling most of all is relief. We’ve had a fairly brutal schedule over the last ten months or so, one that is finally letting up and giving us a chance to get our heads out of the production hole. The most analogous thing I can conjure up when it comes to producing a series is that it is like throwing the ring into Mt. Doom at the end of Lord of the Rings, but not as cool or dramatic. Also I don’t really look like a Hobbit, and I hope that nobody shows up to bite my finger off once the show’s over.
If you rewind to a year ago, we were on the verge of calling Smooth Few Films quits. We set out to make a mark on the Web with a goofy Counter-Strike: Source machinima series called Leet World, which ultimately got flattened because of Valve’s hard stance on licensed machinima. Namely, that they are not interested in it, nor will they ever be. After putting two years of work into that show, it was a fairly decisive blow to morale, and we had already made a few episodes of Web Zeroes and tried to pass that around with no luck as well.
And then out of the blue, we got contacted by Revision3. It turns out an intern at the time saw an episode of Leet World on YouTube, and followed it back to our site, where he caught one of the original (and now lost in the Web ether) pilot episodes of Web Zeroes. We were floored: one of our favorite networks wanted our show.
I’m not sure what our expectations were once we started production, but we knew it would be a grueling amount of work. It was more than we anticipated, really. We did everything we could to have half of the first season filmed by the time the show released in October. The result was a hammer blow to the nethers that almost completely deflated the experience for us within the first six episodes, which were all filmed in about four weeks’ time.
If I’m being totally honest, I’m surprised we didn’t quit after that first run, especially once the show debuted and didn’t click right away with some of Revision3′s audience, or ours. Some of our fans didn’t like the direction of the reboot, and some of Revision3′s fans didn’t care for the show for a variety of reasons. The main reason though, was that those first few episodes were pretty damn rough, crazy rushed and there was no story to be had there initially. But that’s the tale of almost every show ever produced. Eventually we found our footing, got into our rhythm, and the show started finding its audience, and continued to grow weekly.
Could it have grown more? A discussion for another time. Viewership never quite hit the marks that we were hoping for personally (enough to live on), but that was a pretty lofty bar we had set. Which is really what the whole Smooth Few Films experience has been like so far. In some ways, we’ve wildly exceeded any expectations of success we had when we first started putzing around on our computers three years ago. And in other ways, we’re still far shy of where we hoped to be after so much work. In the end, we wanted to take a step back and take a few months off to put ourselves back together again, as they say. We’ve essentially been running ourselves raw for a few years now, and the thought of a break to figure out what’s next is more than welcome. Fresh perspective and some distance will be like a phoenix down.
Here are the things I think I’m going to be ruminating over most of all, and will more than likely be posting about over the next few months, in addition to all of the other nerdery that goes on here. These topics are more specifically related to online content:
- Value of viewers vs. fans?
- The monetary dilemma: sell your product to an audience or your audience to a product?
- Network vs. self-distribution?
- Is YouTube the devil and is it worth your time?
- Do people truly want original online content?
- Can Web video survive in its current format?
- The job of the producer vs. the job of the network?
I’ve got some opinions on each of those things after a see-saw of peaks and valleys over the last few years. Like I said, I need a bit of time to collect my thoughts, and there are some things I won’t be able to say outright, but I’ll do my best to be candid and hopefully informative. And don’t worry, I won’t be throwing anybody under the bus. There are plenty of things I wish I knew about online video creation before we started, so hopefully I can share a few dirty nuggets of not so much wisdom.
In the meantime, I’m about to start enjoying approximately 20-30 hours more freedom a week for a couple of months. Already kicking around some ideas on how to properly spend that time.
To anybody that watched any episode of any of our shows: thanks. It means a lot. And a special thanks to Revision3 for giving us a chance to be the first scripted show on the network.
Looking back, we’ve produced over 10 hours of scripted story-based video content, with myself having penned 400 plus pages of those. Our videos have somehow gathered between 10-20 million total views. I’ve had the privilege of meeting and working with people I used to follow as merely a fan. I don’t say all this to brag, but it’s just a little capture of the kind of stuff our nerdy hands have wrought by luck, blessing or both.
Are we back to zero now? Who knows? But it’s been a heck of a ride.
Discussion
32 comments for “Back to Zero”
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*Wipes tear from eye* We’ll be here for ya whether you decide to continue you on or call it quits, although I do wish for a TLW movie…
I thought I was the only one crying. Like I said on smoothfewfilms.com,I really appreciate everything you guys have done. You guys are proof that the internet has not become a giant ghetto of viruses. I’m going to miss the show, just like I did L33T world, but I will never forget, and I will continue to cherish good times.
I can only hope for the best for SmoothFewFilms. I’ve been a fan since the LeetWorld Series and and really enjoyed WebZeroes. Good luck to you and the guys. You’ll always have us, the fans, behind you all the way ;]
Huge fan. Stumbled onto leet world during the last season, went back and re-watched all the episodes. Loved web-zeroes on Rev3 (along with most other Rev3 shows. Most importantly for giving hope to people outside the Valley to produce content on the web. Very inspirational please come back once you rest.
I don’t know how you guys do it, but whenever you end a series, it’s always a tear jerker. Seeing TLW end was extremely sad, both cuz it was awesome and it provided inspiration for how I got into machinima. And then seeing Web Zeroes end was sad, again cuz of it’s awesomeness but also to the people in it, and how it somewhat was a telling of how the show’s production went (Somewhat, not entirely) and what you guys had to deal with.
Whatever you guys decide to do, I’ll gladly watch and follow along with since you seem to have a midas touch with your shows.
Best wishes – Stephen AKA “HWE Vezon”
:(
I was wondering if I you could tell me who did the voices for each of the l33t world characters. (@sheffne) As I said above love you guys, hope you make more stuff.
All I can say is, thank you for all of your hard work and dedication. I’ve been following your site since Episode 10 of TLW, and will continue to do so until hell freezes over, or I grow old and die. Whichever comes first.
20-30 hours more freedom a week? I think I see Red Dead Redemption marathons in somebody’s future.
well big fan im sad to see one of my favorite series gone ive been following since the beginning of leet world and even before with the silly shorts like day in the life of a turret and im sure im not the only one whos gonna miss you guys but thx for all the lolz u brought me for so long
It certainly has been one heck of a ride and one I’m extremely proud to have been a part of.
I still have the original 3 Web Zeroes episodes squirreled away somewhere which were awesome in their own right, but I really do think the rebooted series comes off as a more polished piece of work.
As everyone has already mentioned, we’ll be following whatever SFF chooses to do in the future, and I’m keen to read the rest of your novel too.
Keep rockin’ the Web!
Sorry to see another great show go! You guys have done a great job on both TLW and WZ, and I can’t wait to see what you guys come up with! I do have a question though about TLW. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought that the main reason TLW got cancelled was because of someone moving or something? I don’t quite remember, but didn’t have anything to do with Valve, yet in this blog post, you mention Valve as the reason for TLW being discontinued. I was wondering if you would comment, and I also wanted to said good luck to all of the cast of Web Zeroes.
What a long ride it’s been. You deserve a hand shake.
Congrats on another awesome run, man. As always, I’m in awe of how well you guys pulled this whole thing off. Enjoy your hard-earned downtime – or should I say, your journey back to the shire ;)
Thanks for all of your hard work on WZ. I too am sad to hear that it is over.
I’ve loved the show. I’ve loved Houston being in the middle of something. Thanks for the hard work.
Awesome show guys, watched every episode and enjoyed them all. I really hope you guys do another show somewhere down the road, I’d love to watch it. Keep up the good work!
Sorry to hear the show is ending, really enjoyed it! (watched every episode).. Thanks for the great work!
i’ve being watching you guys since leet world, and it feels like it was worth it =)
ty guys for the great show, it was plenty of fun. And keep up the good work ^^
I enjoyed the series greatly. Looking forward to your future projects. Right now I’m going to check out The Leet World, cause I never heard of it before.
I stumbled across Leet World about three months ago and in that time have enjoyed watching every episode of TLW and WZ. Sad to see things end, but hoping the time off will result in something smooth from a few truly talented guys. And the fact that it all took place in my hometown is a Bonus. Thanks and good luck in the future to all of you…
ATW
Smooth Few Films will continue to me in my top visited sites even if you never release another video, checking the site has become a routine of mine, like checking my email… I hope you guys continue to create live action videos because I know every Wednesday Ive sat down and enjoyed Web Zeroes
Anyone who hasnt spread Web Zeroes to all your friends… what are you waiting for?
Wow, seriously guys, thanks for all the great comments you’ve posted here. These messages have meant a lot to us over the last few days. Let’s see if I can respond to a few of them…
@Yuriy Shefer: Check out our FAQ page on SFF for that info… http://smoothfewfilms.com/faq/
@Patrick: the reason one of us was moving is because of the dead end we hit with Valve. We thought we were pretty much done at that point, so he was going to take a job elsewhere. Web Zeroes convinced us to stay together for a bit longer.
@ANyberg: the Shire is nice this time of year.
@Austin: we love Houston. Glad for all the hometown support we’ve seen!
To everyone else, again, thanks for the support.
8 millions views? I’m sorry for what I’m about to say, but I feeling really bad right now just from reading this.
To be honest 8 millions views in total is quite low, consider the massive amount of work having to do in this production. Again, I really hate having to bring this burden up, but seriously you guys deserve MUCH MORE than this.
Youtube IS the devil spawn for uncreativity and idiotic fest. The more I watched youtube I hate society more and more everyday. The more retarded and time wasting a video are on youtube, the most views it will get…hell some even exceed 11 millions view in a few weeks.
I’m pretty sure me and the rest of the fan of WebZeroes would love to had spend more time clicking your ads and support you guys with views but clearly we are the minority in the mass of stupidity.
So I just want to give out this message
“Everytime you subscribed to a retard on youtube, you kill another good web show”
I never said 8 million was a super high figure, but it’s not something I’m going to dismiss. Plenty of videos get a million each week. I’m just glad anybody at all watched something I helped make.
Also, I should note that those are YouTube views. No telling how many we got on our site in total, but it’s probably around the same thing. Hence the plus. Went ahead and updated the post to reflect the numbers better, but I’m sure your point (and my response) still stand the same. :)
I’ve always loved all your stuff if you decide to call it quits i would understand. You guys have done a LOT!! of work. You guys have entertained many people and given me and my friends something to enjoy so i support whatever the choice you choose :D
of course i hope you continue making stuff but i support either choice
All the podcasts I love keep getting canceled :-( Web Zeros, The 1up Show, 1up Yours, and CO-OP. I can’t wait to see what’s next from you guys.
Loved both shows. I’ve been with ya guys since Ep 10 of the first season in Leet World, hard to see you go.
One question, now that WZ is over, is Daniel going to move as planned before WZ?
Thanks for Web Zeroes. It was a fantastic show and I loved every second of it. Looking forward to your next project. Thanks again.
I’m from Malaysia…and i really addicted to your Web Zeroes shows…really awesome and cool contents you put in it…i always introduce the show to all my fellow geeks and techies..and surprisingly they really like it and laugh on all the acts in it… keep up to good work! we all love it..~
Hey Eddy, first of all R.I.P Web Zeroes and TLW, you guys have had a great run as far as i am concerned.
Been watching your stuff since the first TLW ep. Instantly hooked by the raw quality of your work. Really epic stuff. As you mentioned it probably was no shocker that you lost alot of viewers after TLW went down, but i think Web Zeroes still had some great ideas and its a shame most of the audience missed out on that. I wonder how things would have gone if you had just started selling the DVD’s you had planned (buying the “behind-the-scenes” and getting TLW as a “bonus”). I’d definitively bought that.
Anyhow, cheers again guys, its been great, may you succeed at what ever comes next.
greets from Norway
P.S: I want to end with a question, how come you guys didnt get picked up by “Machinima” on Youtube? In my opinion you guys would have made a far better addition to the “premium directors” team than Shaun(Hutch), Ken Burton, etc etc. They have full jobs there producing content… Ok, so maybe you couldnt have continued with TLW (due to valve’s licensing) but you could have gotten the chance to make other kinds of machinima + get pay’d for it?). Too late now i guess *sigh* but again GL with the future, hope you guys don’t totally fall of the radar.
Too many commplients too little space, thanks!