1. Webisodes: The Future of Scripted Drama<br />Chris DaCroix<br />Submitted to<br />Teacher Moisés De Castro<br />In fulfillment of monthly project for Research Paper<br />A webisode is a short drama episode that is premiered over the Internet as opposed to regular broadcast or cable television. They initially began as a promotional item for upcoming or existing TV shows. However, once proven their popularity, they became a lot more common. The fact that a webisode costs a lot less to produce and can reach a wider, more international audience is very appealing; not only to production companies, but also to independent artists who struggle to find a spot on the media to reproduce their ideas. It’s recent spread is proof that at some point it’s going to be more popular that scripted television.<br />This project was suggested by Teacher Moisés De Castro to fulfill the monthly project for Research Paper. It will also serve the Science and Technology Department in Panamerican School to promote the dissemination of ideas. This paper, if approved, would become part of the department’s manual for school projects.<br />I bring first-hand experience to this study. I am a high school student finishing my senior year as a Science Bachelor. I have showcased throughout my years at Panamerican School my abilities to create and develop ideas in video. I was recently recommended a web series called Con Pelos en la Lengua and I became an immediate fan. The quality of the series is at least equal to any current awarded scripted drama on television at the moment. I went ahead and recommended the series to some friends on Facebook and their reaction was similar to mine. This led me to ponder whether the future of scripted dramas is at risk on broadcast television.<br />This paper will examine webisodes as an alternative for production companies and independent producers to share their artistic talent over the Internet. Creating a scripted drama on broadcast or cable television costs between $500,000 to $13 million per episode, whereas creating a webisode costs around $1000 per finished minute if the quality is high. Web series that have found success such as What Da Faq Show do not even reach the $1000 per episode mark, and have proven popular among fans around the world. If the web series industry becomes a permanent alternative method of production, people will have access to a bigger amount of scripted dramas that do not follow the Hollywood formula and quality in both acting and storytelling will increase significantly.<br />
