Toons inherit the Earth? (cont.)
So what's the secret to a successful animation site? Not much, according to Simon Assaad, co-CEO of Heavy, the producer of Behind the Music That Sucks. It's "the same reason some TV shows work and some don't: whether they're compelling or not," he says. Animation draws more viewers because it's more creative and takes more risks, Assad adds, thus building a devoted, regular audience. "I don't think anyone's been successful at doing a live-action narrative show online," he says.
Michael Yanover, senior vice president of entertainment for Shockwave, says file size is another major issue; because of this, people with slow connections (who make up the bulk of the Net) can share high-quality animations. "If it's a great experience and only two people can see it, it doesn't help you," he says.
Robert Hertzberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research, sees the boom in animation's popularity as more of a cost issue, pointing out that it's a lot easier to draw something than to get a real actor to do it on cue.
"Film is inherently much more complex," Hertzberg says. "It's expensive. It's resource-intensive to create short-form movies, even where the actors don't get paid much. It's a lot less complex to create animationâ€"you can have one person alone creating it. And if you have a successful strip, you can develop a following. A microwaved gerbil doesn't hurt, either."
The visionaries of film, video, and animation have already set up shop online -- is Hollywood about to take the plunge? Our annual Hollywired report takes a look at where the industry is now and where it's headed.
