dcu

all about digital content

Across the Pond: Director Norman Buckley talks about growing Online TV offering

online tv
(cc) by totalAldo/flickr

Director and frequent Josh "The OC / Gossip Girl" Schwartz collaborator Norman Buckley talks about the growing landscape for online TV in the USA in this article from the Star Telegraph.

The latest Buckley / Schwartz project, Rockville CA, is a web-only music-based show shot for next to no money, but aiming for TV quality. It makes sense that this should be getting easier and easier, and as TV starts to aim for film-grade special effects, it is only to be expected that naturalistic, non-special-effects-driven fare has a home on the even-smaller-screen.

Sadly - as seems to be the case more and more - the notion that the internet is international hasn't reached this production, which is only viewable in the USA. There is logic in the notion that having a show promoted by a local provider might help, but the fact is that most programmes that have retained territory boundaries have pretty much sunk without a trace in secondary markets. Think Afterworld for example. Or probably not - you've likely never heard of it! If they were released internationally, there'd be the economy of scale, and not least the social discussion - with Facebook and Twitter constantly climbing in influence on the audience's viewing habits.